Maleka Hashmi
 Anyone
got any questions?
 Why
so hesitant?
 Ignorance?
 Fear?


Public speaking
Social embaressment
 Gentle
persuasion!

Question generation is a fundamental component
in cognitive processes that operate at deep
conceptual levels, such as:
The comprehension of text and social action
 The learning of complex material
 Problem solving
 Creativity

 Evidence
that improvements in the
comprehension, learning, and memory of
technical material can be achieved by
training students to ask good questions
 Does
question asking improve learning?
 With practice, do they get better at asking
questions?
 Is this just a strategy to read the textbook?
Period 1
(Control)
Period 2
(Test)
Period 3
(Control)
• Read the textbook
• Exam 1
• Read the textbook
• Submit 3 questions before every class
• Exam 2
• Read the textbook
• Exam 3

1.
I enjoyed generating and submitting questions.

2.
It was difficult to think up questions.

3. Generating questions caused me to read the textbook even
more
Stronglythan I would have done normally.
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Agree

4. Having to generate questions resulted in a better understanding
of the course content.
1
4
5
2
3
5. Question-asking is important to learning.

6.

7. Having to ask questions in class is important for developing my
communication skills.

8. I would recommend this question-asking strategy for other
courses.

I am comfortable asking questions in class.
71 students
57 participated
14 declined
57 students
Asked to submit 36 questions
<18 Qs
18-35 Qs
36 Qs
4%
49%
44%
100
90
80
84
78
70
Exam Score %
60
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Exam 1 (Reading Text)
Exam 2 (Reading Text & Question
Submission)
Exam 3 (Reading Text)
100
90
88
80
85.8
70
Exam Score %
68.3
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
> 18 submitted (n=4)
18-35 submited (n=28)
# of Questions Submitted
36 submitted (n=25)
3
2.8
High Grades
Medium Grades
Low Grades
2.6
2.4
Rubric Score
2.4
2.3
2.2
2.3
2
1.8
1.8
1.7
1.6
1.6
1.6
1.4
1.4
1.4
1.2
1
First
Middle
Last
First
Middle
Last
Set of Questions
First
Middle
Last
Likert Scale Score (1-5)
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
1
2
3
4
3.65
5
6
Reflection Activity Question #
7
Q asking rec for other courses
3.59
Q asking important for
communication skills
3.59
Comfortable asking Qs in class
4
Q asking important to for learning
Q generation = better
understanding of content
2.5
3.19
Read the textbook more
3
3.26
Difficult generating Qs
3.5
Enjoyed generating Qs
5
4.5
3.93
4.1
3.68
8
 Test
period correlated with higher (average)
exam scores
 Students who submitted 18-35 questions
scored higher than any other group
 High achieving students has highest quality
questions
 Medium achieving students had most growth
 Low achievers peaked midway
 Students read the textbook more than
normal
 Thanks
to:
 OPID
 UW-Stout
Provost’s office
 Fellow WTFS