Accession Number:

ADA247382

Title:

Questioning Mechanisms During Complex Learning

Descriptive Note:

Final rept. Jan 1990-Jan 1992,

Corporate Author:

MEMPHIS STATE UNIV TN DEPT OF PSYCHOLOGY

Personal Author(s):

• Graesser, Arthur C.

Report Date:

1992-03-11

Pagination or Media Count:

66.0

Abstract:

This research investigated human question asking and answering during comprehension and complex learning. The primary studies investigated questioning during tutoring. We collected and analyzed transcripts of tutoring sessions on research methods college students and basic algebra 7th graders. Student questions were 100 times as frequent in tutoring sessions as classroom settings, which might partially explain why learning is substantially better in tutoring. We analyzed the knowledge states, properties of questions, strategies, and interaction patterns of students and tutors. Students did attempt to self- regulate their knowledge by identifying knowledge deficits and asking questions that repair such deficits, but they need substantial training in improving question asking skills. Students answers to deep questions e.g., why, why-not, how, what-if were poor in quality, so the tutor helped answer these questions in a collaborative process that took several conversational turns. In one auxiliary study, we designed a human-computer interface that facilitates the speed and quality of questioning, called the Point and Query P and Q interface. The frequency of student questions on the P and Q software was approximately 800 times that in a classroom setting. In a second auxiliary project, we investigated the stimulus conditions that trigger questions when students comprehend text and attempt to solve mathematics problems.

Descriptors:

• *FREQUENCY
• SCHOOLS
• STUDENTS
• INTERACTIONS
• ALGEBRA
• COMPREHENSION
• PATTERNS
• MATHEMATICS
• STIMULI
• MAN COMPUTER INTERFACE
• LEARNING
• AUXILIARY
• REPAIR

Subject Categories:

• Psychology

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE