The Socratic Method is a process of inductive questioning used to successfully lead a person to knowledge through small steps. The chief benefits of this method are that it excites students' curiosity and arouses their thinking, rather than stifling it. It also makes teaching more interesting, because most of the time, we learn more from the students or by what they make us think of than what we knew going into the class.

I use the four types of Socratic questions (engaging, probing, analyzing, and guiding) in my online classes. The two of the interesting, perhaps side, benefits of using the Socratic method are that it gives the students a chance to experience the attendant joy and excitement of discovering (often complex) ideas on their own. And it gives instructors a chance to learn how much more inventive and bright a great many more students are than usually appear to be when they are primarily passive.

I believe using the Socratic Method helps us to find out the weak points of the students. So we can concentrate on that area. Socratic questioning allows the instructor to determine the learning needs of the student, to address those needs, confirm the student's understanding, and to offer further examples of how the concept may be used. The initial question usually required the definition of the concept. Subsequent questions elicited an analysis of the definition in all its implications.I have noticed most of the students appreciate this method. Using the Socratic method in an online class helps the student to develop his/her own abilities. We instructors are there to help students get over a hurdle that is keeping them from acheiving a goal. Using questions to help the student with the critical thinking necessary to solve a problem helps the student to see that he/she is able to do the problem but just wasn't using the right thinking skills.

Faculty Spotlight:

Esmaail Mehvari Nikjeh has been facilitating courses in Computer Science, Research (statistics), and Mathematics for about 20 years. He has been a software engineer and computer programmer for over 30 years in different programming languages. He was a scientific programmer in DWP and NAVY. He holds a Bachelor's of Science in Engineering Science (Mathematics) from Sharif University of Technology. He holds a Master's of Science degree in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) from California State University, Northridge. He is working on his second Master's degree in Mathematics at California State University, Channel Islands. He is planning to complete his Ph.D. in computer science (Artificial Intelligence) or Mathematics.

He has a lot of hobbies and interest, but probably the one he is most found of coaching young children. This is nothing more rewarding than to see a smile on a kid's face when you have told them how great they are doing. He enjoys traveling, watching movies, home renovation, and gardening. He also likes swimming, playing soccer, and walking.