The advantage of questioning

During the third hour with the third year students, I realised that I have started questioning the class quite a lot... and the most frequent question is 'Why?' From what I see, it works. Coming back to the full time teaching line after a gap of six years has indeed done some good. I now see the great value in helping the students reflect and critically analyse facts placed before them (not that it was not the intention earlier, but somehow was not the focus, I feel). Perhaps earlier my focus was on getting them merely understand what I am presenting. Now I get the answers from them while I try to tickle their minds with appropriate questions. For the third year students who are running in and out of the library for their final paper(as though the paper is in there and they've got to locate it), I've reversed the order. I've told them to submit to me a list of questions (as long and as varied as possible) to which they intend their dissertation to be an answer.