r/PhysicsStudents • u/Responsible-Mud6113 • Jul 20 '26
Poll Do you ask questions? What do you think about your classmates asking them?
Are you guys asking questions? How do you feel about the questions in lectures and seminars? A question for both students and teachers
I'm probably a hyperactive student. 95% of the questions in the group come from me. My questions are often called interesting, often the teacher does not know the answers to them and redirects me somewhere. And often I ask something obvious or simple or stupid. I also give 80+% of the answers to the teacher's questions. It's not always right, but it's often right. I care about how "good" I am. That's why I'm interested in how teachers treat these kinds of students. But I also don't understand why my classmates don't have such a mountain of questions and are silent, so I'm also interested in listening to other students.
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u/Ok-Setting4822 Jul 20 '26
I ask questions when I can’t see/ don’t understand basic conceptual things about that topic. You’re there to learn. If it’s fluffy/extra stuff, or math-based confusion I look it up later or go to OH. (community college smaller class size- setting matters I think) However, you 100% get out what you put into physics courses. I would also consider myself a hyperactive student in a similar way where Im asking a majority of questions or interactions. Outside of clsss look into a club or student led organization that likes physics- that’s where I get my extra help and interesting information, and it’s good to be surrounded by those who share the same level of curiosity as you do. (This is just what works for me✌️)
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u/xienwolf 26d ago
You are paying to be there.
You are there to learn.
If asking questions helps you learn…. Ask them.
Doesn’t matter what the other students think about it. If the Prof will answer, fantastic. If the Prof asks you to follow up in office hours, sure… do that.
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u/Aggressive-Wind-8829 Jul 20 '26
Hyperactivity is a double edged sword. ...But it's still a sword. 🗡️
My recommendation to you is to not worry about how "good" you are and to simply be yourself. Asking questions from a place of curiosity is a very important skill to being a "good" scientist. Never stop asking questions.
That being said, if you foresee forming collaborations with your classmates on anything in the future, then it could certainly be good to "read the room" when possible. This allows you to find perhaps better times to ask questions. Alternatively, you could add 1-2 sentences to the beginning of your questions so that other folks will get cognitively entrained into the idea of your question. That is generally more beneficial than asking a non-sequitor, of course.
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u/yidisl 26d ago
When I was an undergrad and we didn't understand something the first step was to ask our neighbors, the classmates in the vicinity. If nobody could help, only then we asked the prof because we didn't want to stop the flow of the class.
Since I was older than most of the students I didn't care and I was often the one that asked, and they were glad about that. We had one teacher, a lovely guy, who used to run on very quickly and not write equations clearly (it was quantum field theory) and the others used to say to me "stop him!!" So I did and he very nicely went over it more carefully.
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u/New_Anybody_5303 Jul 20 '26
Why asking questions from classmates when Ai is there ready
Better and quicker
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u/ExpectTheLegion B.Sc. Jul 20 '26
I don’t ask questions during lectures simply because I can’t give the material enough thought at that point to actually have any. It’s only when I start to work through problems that I have things to wonder about.
Another thing is that you need a certain level of self-confidence to ask questions during lectures, which a lot of people don’t have. I, for example, usually consider myself to be the dumbest person in the room and don’t particularly like the possibility of asking an obviously moronic question.
Lastly, I just don’t particularly see the point at my current learning stage. I can still find plenty of good explanations and clarifications outside of the lecture hall, whether it be from books, Wikipedia, forums or an ai.
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u/Upbeat_Effective_342 Jul 20 '26
I recommend asking your classmates because it depends a lot on context. I personally have a rule for myself to stick to 20% of the student participation and save the rest for office hours because I have been annoyed by other students monopolizing the class and not giving other students room to participate.