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I caught my Macro professor doing this and it works wonders. It really encourages people to ask questions, even if they might think they are inane. He always st

I caught my Macro professor doing this and it works wonders. It really encourages people to ask questions, even if they might think they are inane. He always started with a ~sincere~ "X, that is a really good question." It makes everyone feel really welcomed to give their input no matter how small. Even though it might not be "sincere" at all it still feel like it is. How would you feel if you asked a question in class and the professor said: "That's actually a really stupid question but I'll answer it anyway." Good job.

wapz 10y ago
My biology lab instructor (she was a grad student at the time) started the first day of class saying "don't worry there are no dumb questions." About 30 minutes into the lab someone asked a fairly unintelligent question and the instructor goes "well that was a dumb question.." I think she learned her lesson after that though. You gotta start somewhere!
kasparsklavins 10y ago
In my experience, the _stupid_ questions are the best ones, provided they are on topic. They hint at an edge case or something not covered deeply enough.