ever feel stupid/self conscious about asking questions around others?

[intuition]

I hate asking questions in all my classes sometimes, because I feel like the majority of the questions I ask my friends, teachers, TAs, are just plain dumb, and make me seem really behind in my work, and just not up to par.

I need a way to combat this..fast

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[kronickm]

I hate asking questions in all my classes sometimes, because I feel like the majority of the questions I ask my friends, teachers, TAs, are just plain dumb, and make me seem really behind in my work, and just not up to par.

I need a way to combat this..fast

1. You must ask with a confident tone.

2. Set up the question by stating a few things you do know and then throw in something like "but the one thing I don't really get is..."

 

[MattEvers]

One thing I learned a long time ago: Most people aren't that smart. They pretend to be so not to look stupid.

The fact you ask questions says a lot about you. It is a good thing. Don't be afraid; just ask.

I think you will find that a lot of times you are smarter than a lot of other people--not that keeping score is important.

 

[Kthanksbye]

I hate asking questions in all my classes sometimes, because I feel like the majority of the questions I ask my friends, teachers, TAs, are just plain dumb, and make me seem really behind in my work, and just not up to par.

I need a way to combat this..fast

People are conditioned to be proud of what they know and ashamed of what they don't know, but this is a recipe for never learning anything new!

Don't be afraid to ask dumb questions. I do it all the time. I think most rational and intelligent people will not criticize you for it, but recognize it as a genuine interest in discovering the answer. People who criticize this are not being good educators, in my opinion.

Edit: Also, people criticize others who ask questions because they do not want to admit that they don't know themselves! You have caught them in their bluff!

 

[LikeClockWork]

I used to be this way too. Not wanting to stop the flow of class to ask a question and feeling stupid if I did. Then I started to notice how relieved I was when someone else would do it for me. I was always glad when someone else would ask the question I had been trying to convince myself to ask. It occurred to me that I must not be the only one in the room relieved that the question was asked, but the person asking was the only one with enough guts to actually ask it. After that, I would see it as not only asking the question for myself, but for anyone else who needed it. Now, maybe I was the only one who needed clarifying, and maybe there were people in class who were peeved that I'd halted class, but after a while I just decided they could go to hell.

 

[Kthanksbye]

Actually, for many of my classes, I feel like I hold back a lot of questions just because I often find I'm the only one asking them at all! I would actually like more people to take part, so that it's not just me all the time. If the professor solicits student responses, I always try to wait a beat to allow someone else to respond, but they never do! People are sooooo shy.

 

[FutureDoc2012]

First of all, asking questions are a sign of intelligence, not the other way around...

If you truly are keeping up with your work (which I assume you are), then you can safely assume that there are others in your classes that would benefit from your questions. However, if you really are too shy/unsure to ask questions in front of your peers, then use it as a good opportunity to go to office hours and develop a relationship with your professor. They are there to teach, not to mindlessly lecture, and will appreciate the fact that you care enough to want to learn.

To recap... In the long-run, you should work on being a bit more assertive/confident (w/o being annoying), but in the short term, go to office hours!

I hate asking questions in all my classes sometimes, because I feel like the majority of the questions I ask my friends, teachers, TAs, are just plain dumb, and make me seem really behind in my work, and just not up to par.

I need a way to combat this..fast

 

[qualityhealth]

it doesn't matter. they don't matter.
ask if you must...because trust me, if you don't you're only going to be screwing yourself far more.

-what ever happened to the curious nature of children who constantly ask questions about anything and everything. for ie, 'Why is the sky blue". I know I asked that many times.I don't understand why these days asking questions is seen as a bad thing. where wanting to know a bit more physics than what is needed is seen as "nerdy" or pointless to others who only chase that damn A. Just look at it this way...if you don't ask, you won't know. if you don't know, you are just going to regret it down the line.

--hope that helps

 

[pluripotent]

I used to be this way too. Not wanting to stop the flow of class to ask a question and feeling stupid if I did. Then I started to notice how relieved I was when someone else would do it for me. I was always glad when someone else would ask the question I had been trying to convince myself to ask. It occurred to me that I must not be the only one in the room relieved that the question was asked, but the person asking was the only one with enough guts to actually ask it. After that, I would see it as not only asking the question for myself, but for anyone else who needed it. Now, maybe I was the only one who needed clarifying, and maybe there were people in class who were peeved that I'd halted class, but after a while I just decided they could go to hell.

I was about to fall asleep reading your post and then this jumped out of nowhere and gave me a laugh. To hell hell hell they go.

 

[luv2sd]

ask question after the class
you get to know your professor and eventually ask for LOR

 

[Ginzo]

I hate asking questions in all my classes sometimes, because I feel like the majority of the questions I ask my friends, teachers, TAs, are just plain dumb, and make me seem really behind in my work, and just not up to par.

Actually, the professor is more likely to assume that you're not getting it if you don't ask questions. There's nothing most professors hate more than a class that doesn't give them any feedback, any inkling as to whether they're learning/paying attention or not.

If you ask questions related to the current lecture, how are you making yourself seem behind? You're demonstrating that you care enough to try to understand the current topic that is important enough to be included in lecture.

Make it a goal to ask one intelligent question at each lecture that you attend. You're paying the school to teach you something. So get some value for your money.

 

[etf]

Make it a goal to ask one intelligent question at each lecture that you attend. You're paying the school to teach you something. So get some value for your money.

oh my god, you're one of THOSE people.