After a higher-order question about a vendor gift in a municipal ethics class, the room goes silent. What does active listening require of the instructor?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Silence after a hard ethics question is thinking, not a broken class. Filling it with the answer is like shouting the crossword clue. Give the room a beat and listen.
Full Explanation
Active listening includes wait time after a higher-order question. Learners need that pause to reason about the vendor-gift case. Jumping in with the answer, cold-calling before thought is possible, or abandoning the question treats silence as failure. The instructor stays quiet long enough for a real response.