Is there any evidence of a benefit to students answering questions in front of the whole class?
There is an actual benefit of asking questions for students to answer openly in class, even so most of the times it definitely is a recipe for awkward silence.
There is a list of ten benefits from &quot;Uses for Participation.&quot; (The Teaching Professor, 23.9, 2009, 4)
Personally, I think the benefits 9 and 10 are most important:


Participation can be used to develop important speaking skills [...]

Participation gives students the opportunity to practice using the language of the discipline [...]