Should a student keep asking questions to a faculty even if the faculty is unsure of the answer?

You're studying psychology. That doesn't make you telepathic.

There's a wide variety of possible reasons for what's going on:

  • you are mistaken, your lecturer is not uncomfortable. Crazy, I know, but you just might be wrong.
  • your lecturer has indigestion, or piles, or tight shoes
  • your questions indicate you're missing basic knowledge
  • the questions take the group away from the core material that the lecturer has to get through, and answering them will slow the teaching down
  • your lecturer doesn't know the answer, and can't bring themselves to say as much, and doesn't have the nous to turn it around and ask you or the rest of the class to find the answer. That's quite a failing in an academic, to be unable to say "I don't know".

Note that repeatedly asking "why A?" "So why B?" "So why C? ..." is something that toddlers do, it's often just time-wasting and attention-seeking and is likely to annoy a lot of people; even if those aren't your motives, be aware that it could come across as that. So instead of just asking questions, look for some answers yourself. You are doing a higher degree, after all, so you should be looking for answers yourself, as well as seeking help from staff and other students.


Generally, there is nothing wrong with asking questions. But, asking the same one may be perceived as badgering the professor.

Perhaps a course of action would be to:

  • As Faheem suggests, talk privately to the professor, not only about how they feel about the questioning, but the question itself.

  • Offer to perform some research on finding an answer - this could be an opportunity for you to potentially perform new research that could answer the question.