So Why is the sky blue?

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

I would expand this buzzer to the entire class, allowing fellow students to be able to grade the comments of fellow students, thus discouraging those students who don't make a point and talk simply for the sake of talking.

Why stop at comments? Why not have us all rate one another on more or less every interaction--study groups, the international experience, awkward urinal conversations. Then everyone could have a social acceptability rating (SAR), which would be posted next to our pictures in the online facebook--like an eBay seller's rating. It would introduce an important element of communal policing and enforce strict middle-of-the-roadness that would really benefit everyone.

Before we implement this plan, let's make sure to put lots of armed guards and metal detectors everywhere, so we can prevent the problems we create by making students that are already a bit dim feel hated and looked down upon. Terrible plan that begs for terrible repurcussions.

A good teacher can bend those questions into something good for all. A bad teacher is likely to be grumpy and call your idea/question "terrible" & fail to see past the end of their heavily warted nose. I'm just sayin...

Anyway, the need to deal with "that one" person in every group seems to be universal, but the buzzer would only help teachers who probably should not be in that situation in the first place. Maybe the button could be more of an "Easy Button" where humor can be used to ask if anyone present can help move the oddball question into the main topic, because it seems like it does not fit in with the current flow.

The current methond I use: "That is a parking lot issue for another date; a good idea for another time" -- and I am not always completely honest.

The instructor simply asks the student to hold their questions and to see them after class. Instructors struggle to get students involved with the topic at hand. Having a buzzer would most likely intimidate some students.

Instructors know that no single student will have a complete answer. And often times a student thinks about the topic from an alternate perspective that other less creative students have trouble understanding.

Instructors are more than capable of controlling their own classrooms.

Rather than a buzzer, I agree with maquisard, I could see each student having a series of "buttons" to indicate their own comprehension and interest of a student presented question. This could help instructors better present the material in subsequent classes.