Conscientious teachers encourage students to ask them questions and make a special effort to give full, meaningful answers, complete with examples and analogies, where appropriate. They do this because they have been taught, or have concluded from experience, that the ability to explain effectively is a hallmark of teaching excellence. That is certainly true. However, it is also true that students achieve independence of mind only by developing the skill of answering questions themselves, without the aid of the teacher. Ironically, when teachers reserve the role of "answer person" to themselves, they can stifle that development in students.

For the first week or two of the course, you may decide to answer students' questions yourself to put them at ease and give them confidence. But after that, begin deflecting their questions to the class by saying, "That's a good question, Sally. What might one possible answer be?" Or "Good question, Sally. Ralph, how would you answer it?" If Ralph can't answer it, ask someone else or make it an open question to the class.