Can undergraduate biology students learn to ask higher level questions?

Abstract

Our goals in this study were to explore the type of written questions students ask after reading one or more chapters from their textbook, and to investigate the ability of students to improve their questions during the course of a single semester. In order to classify student's questions we used a taxonomy that we have developed specifically for this purpose. Two comparable populations were examined: Undergraduate students in a large, introductory biology class who were taught in traditional lecture format, and students in a similar class who were taught in cooperative/active learning style. After the taxonomy was presented to the active learning class, more students were able to pose better, written questions. Their questions became more insightful, thoughtful, and content‐related, and were not easily answered by consulting the textbook or another readily available source. The best questions could be recast as scientific research questions (i.e., hypotheses). In contrast, when the taxonomy was presented to students in the traditionally taught class, the quality of student‐posed questions was largely unchanged. Various explanations for the difference in outcomes are discussed, and methods are suggested about how generally to encourage students' questions and to improve their question‐asking skills regardless of overall teaching style. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 854–870, 2000

Student-Generated Questions to Assess Learning in an Online Orientation to Pharmacy Course

“…3,13,14,[16][17][18][19][20]29 However, inquiry alone is not optimal. Having to provide the correct answer and explain why it is the best choice extends learning in a way that cannot be reproduced by simply posing questions or answering instructor questions.…”

“…12 In the sciences, inquiry is an especially important skill that instructors try to help their students develop, yet students are rarely engaged in this activity due to the instructor workload challenges. 13 The argument that students must apply, practice, and struggle with the material in a way that is purposeful, situated, and collaborative is supported in many theorists' works, but these theoretical frameworks require complex learning experiences (coupled with necessary learner scaffolding) that engage both cognitive and affective domains to facilitate meaningful learning and knowledge transfer.…”

“…Using student-generated questions as a formative assessment is one potential approach to achieving this balance. 3,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] …”

The View of Primary School Fourth Grade Students and Teachers’ Questions about Turkish Language Lessons in the Terms of the Revised Bloom Taxonomy

“…Bu bağlamda öğretmenlerin sınıfta üst düzey düşünmeye olanak sağlayacak sorular sormalarının yanında öğrencilerinin de soru sormalarına fırsat vermeleri gerekir (Watts, Alsop, Gould ve Walsh, 1997). Ancak Marbach-Ad ve Sokolove (2000), öğretmenlerin öğrencilerin soru sormalarını sevmediklerini belirtir. Biddulph ve Carr (1992), ise bu durumun nedenlerine ve öğrencilerin sınıfta özgürce soru sormalarını engelleyen bazı unsurlara dikkat çeker.…”

“…İlgili alan yazın incelendiğinde öğrencilerin veya öğretmenlerin soru sorma becerilerini inceleyen araştırmaların genellikle fen alanında olduğu görülmektedir (Jesus ve Moreira, 2009;Koray ve Yaman, 2002;Koray, Altunçekiç ve Yaman, 2005;Marbach-Ad ve Sokolove, 2000;Shodell, 1995;Woodward, 1992). Bununla birlikte bazı araştırmalarda yalnızca öğrenciler (Jesus ve Moreira, 2009;Meij ve Dillon, 1994;Otero ve Graesser, 2001;Watts vd., 1997) bazı çalışmalarda ise yalnızca öğretmenler veya öğretmen adaylarının soru sorma becerileri incelenmiştir (Aydemir ve Çiftçi, 2008;Çalışkan, 2011;Kawanaka ve Stigler, 1999;Parker ve Hurry, 2007;Şahin, 2007).…”