Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leave 94-98). Also available in print.

Imagine living one day without asking a single question. Why not try it. How long before a question surfaces in your mind. How long before you are compelled, by force of necessity or habit, to ask it. Questioning is an integral part of our everyday lives. We use it to learn, to communicate, to express ourselves and to understand our world. Questioning binds us to common goals, allows us to establish common ground and is a vital tool in our daily search for information. What we ask, how we ask and where, when, and who we ask determines a large proportion of what we come to know about our world and the people that we share it with. That’s why questioning matters. Regardless of who we are, questioning occupies a familiar, ubiquitous, and indispensable place in our lives. This thesis examines the nature and value of questioning. It opens in Chapter One with an overview of the history of questioning in the Western philosophical tradition, uncovering divergent roles for questioning in distinct historical contexts, and changing attitudes towards the practice in line with underlying epistemological commitments. In Chapter Two a contemporary context for the epistemology of questioning is offered, providing an indication of the nature and scope of contemporary philosophical inquiry into questioning, and outlining a contemporary epistemological context for the investigation. Chapter Three begins the analytical investigation, presenting a characterisation of questioning as a social epistemic practice, and a characterisation of questions as acts, drawing on the results of a large online survey. Chapter Four investigates the value of questioning, highlighting its role in the acquisition of epistemic goods, such as knowledge and understanding, and in the dissemination of these goods within epistemic communities. Chapter Five examines the nature and practice of good questioning, presenting a component-based account of good questioning, drawing on the results of an original empirical study conducted with schoolchildren. Chapter Six explores the nature of virtuous questioning, offering a characterisation of the intellectual virtue of inquisitiveness and highlighting the distinctive role of inquisitiveness in the intellectually virtuous life. Finally, Chapter Seven investigates the role that questioning plays in education and presents an argument in support of educating for virtuous questioning. The epistemological examination of questioning captures its essential character and significance. Questioning matters because of the purpose that it serves; that of finding things out. We ask questions in order to gather information on the basis of which we form beliefs and decide how to act. Through the information that we gather and the beliefs that we form, we arrive at knowledge and understanding. Questioning matters because it forms the basis of what we know and understand, as individuals and communities. This thesis examines questioning in light of its central epistemological significance. As such, it provides the groundwork for an epistemology of questioning.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the direct instruction and guided practice of question-generating as a thinking skill was an influence on students' higher-level thinking skills. Additionally, this study investigated the levels of questions generated by the students throughout the five week study. Thirty sixth grade students in a Southwestern urban public elementary school were instructed daily in the use of Bloom's taxonomy as a guide in designing and composing questions. Higher levels of the taxonomy were emphasized for higher-level question generating (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation). A pre- and posttest measuring cognitive abilities was given to determine the level of the students' higher-level thinking skills. Scores were analyzed to determine the influence of the treatment. A significance difference was found between means by use of a t-test for correlated samples. Student questions generated throughout the study were coded according to Bloom's taxonomy levels by independent coders with a reliability of .93. Qualitative matrices were developed to display the levels, numbers, and percentages of the questions generated. A significant increase of higher-level questions were generated between week one (3.8%) and week five (80.5%). A shift occurred in the fourth week, with a higher percentage (61.7) of higher-level questions generated than lower-level (38.3). The results indicate support for the proposition that the direct instruction and guided practice in question generating as a thinking skill influenced students' higher-level thinking skills. The analysis of the question levels suggest support for recommendation that autonomy follows with mastery of instruction and guided practice in the thinking skill before using that skill in a new content area. Guided practice in this study was in the familiar content area of reading.

The present study examined jurors' evaluations of retracted confessions as a function of the amount of trivial detail within the confession and level of interrogation pressure. Participants in the experimental conditions read a transcript of a murder trial involving a suspect who confessed in a high-pressure or low-pressure situation and provided either a high or low amount of detail. A no-confession control version, in which the suspect denied all allegations against him, was also included in the study. Although one analysis suggested that a high-amount of detail within the confession might make it more likely that jurors would give higher estimates of guilt, it did not lead jurors to give more guilty verdicts. In contrast to previous findings, the presence of a confession did not make it more likely that a juror would render a guilty verdict or give higher estimates of guilt, as no difference was found between the experimental groups and the control group. / Department of Psychological Science

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The study examined the relationship between grade five natural sciences teachers’ perceptions and their use of questioning for formative assessment (FA). Literature indicates that formative assessment improves both teaching and learning. This study was conducted with thirty-three teachers from a district in Gauteng Province. They responded to a questionnaire in which they gave their opinions about questions and formative assessment. Their responses were documented quantitatively. Lesson observations were also conducted in two teachers’ classes, in the same district, to establish the relationship between questioning practices and perceptions. Teacher questions were quantitatively analysed using Anderson/Bloom’s Taxonomy (2005). Lesson transcripts and field notes of the recorded lessons were qualitatively analysed and discussed in themes. Findings based on the questionnaire indicated that most teachers had a poor understanding of formative assessment and were unaware of its teaching and learning benefits. In practice, the two observed teachers mostly used factual and conceptual knowledge questions but worked differently with learner responses. The observations indicate that questions, irrespective of their categorisation, could be more effectively used for formative assessment purposes. The study indicated that teachers believed that a role is played in the questioning practices by, for instance, learner language competency, socio-economic factors and lack of teacher reflection.

The ability to successfully distinguish truthful and deceptive messages within forensic contexts is important to preserve the integrity of the legal system. Research has shown that confession evidence is highly persuasive at a trial level and that false confessions leading to wrongful convictions are problematic within the judicial system. Some recent research also suggests that that neither lay observers nor law enforcement professionals are able to successfully distinguish truths and lies in the context of confessions. Therefore, the present safeguards in the judicial system may be inadequate to detect a false confession and prevent subsequent wrongful convictions. The research presented in this thesis was designed to explore the effectiveness of methods of detecting deception within forensically relevant contexts, specifically confessions. Study One examined the impact of presentation modality and the effectiveness of indirect deception measures on credibility assessments of autobiographical accounts depicting truthful and deceptive confessions. The outcome of this study revealed that fact finders were unable to accurately classify truthful and deceptive confessions across presentation modalities and that indirect measures were unsuccessful in this context. In light of these findings, subsequent studies examined the validity of statement content analysis to discern truth from deception within the context of confessions. Study Two assessed evaluations of Criteria-based Content Analysis and the Aberdeen Report Judgment Scales, as applied by untrained observers to discriminate truthful and deceptive confessions. Findings revealed null effects and demonstrated that training in the application of content-based evaluations is an integral element of the valid application of such measures to detecting deception. Studies Three, Four and Five, therefore incorporated a comprehensive training program and focused on the application of a theoretically based method for detecting deception, the Aberdeen Report Judgement Scales, to the analysis of forensically relevant statements describing confessions, alibis and victimisation accounts. Overall, findings revealed some modest evidence for the application of this framework within deceptive contexts, however, account differences as a function of truth status were often rather small and assessments on many dimensions produced null findings. These results are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications for discerning truths and lies within forensic contexts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-134).

This study investigates and assesses the effects of the QARs (Questions Answer Relationships) strategy on sixth grade students using a literature program. QARs is a strategy designed to help students better answer teacher and text questions by being able to categorize questions. One sixth grade, consisting of twenty-four students, participated in the study as the treatment group. A second sixth grade, consisting of twenty-four students, was used as the control group. Procedures included three days of training, four days of maintenance, and five days of students generating their own questions based on the QARs strategy. This was followed by one day of post test. The data was analyzed by comparing the total response scores of both groups on a set of comprehension questions and with the treatment identifying questions by using the QARs categories. Results indicate that training in QARs increases comprehension and enables students to answer with greater detail in responses.

Nursing schools today are bound by accreditation agencies to produce graduate nurses who can think critically. Clinical instructors play the dominant role in transitioning students from the didactic experience to the clinical experience. The clinical experience is where students practice higher levels of thinking under the supervision and guidance of a clinical instructor in order to arrive at safe patient care decisions. Regardless of the teaching method used to develop critical thinking skills, it is the underlying questioning skill of the instructor that facilitates the growth of critical thinking (Giddings, Dyson, Entwistle, Macdiarmid, Marshall, & Simpson, 2000; Hermiz, 2001, p. 183; Myrick & Yonge, 2002).The purpose of the descriptive study was fourfold: (a) to examine the cognitive characteristics of questions asked by clinical nurse faculty of baccalaureate nursing students, (b) to examine faculty perceptions of the questions being asked in the clinical setting, (c) to examine the questions asked under the categories posed by Myrick and Yonge (2002) of theoretical knowledge, clinical decision-making and action in an effort to determine if systematic questioning is occurring that moves students from theoretical knowledge through to nursing action, and (d) to compare faculty perceptions of the questions asked. Questions were examined for level and type as defined by Craig and Paige (1981); and context in which the question was posed utilizing the guidelines posed by Myrick and Yonge (2002) as theoretical knowledge, clinical decision-making and action. The academic and professional characteristics of clinical faculty were captured utilizing a demographic survey.Findings mirror that of previous research. Clinical faculty continue to ask low cognitive level questions of baccalaureate nursing students. Approximately 71.8% of the questions represented the categories of knowledge, comprehension and application. In addition, over 21% of the questions posed fell into the category of "other" representing questions that were primarily yes/no, and information seeking type questions When looking at sequencing of questions, again, primarily the questions fell into the theoretical knowledge category, and did not move the student through to the evaluation of nursing care. / Department of Educational Studies