Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T15:09:20.538Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

12 - Teaching and Learning by Questioning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2020

By
Deanna Kuhn ,
Anahid S. Modrek  and
William A. Sandoval
Edited by
Lucas Payne Butler ,
Samuel Ronfard  and
Kathleen H. Corriveau
Lucas Payne Butler
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park
Samuel Ronfard
Affiliation:
University of Toronto Mississauga
Kathleen H. Corriveau
Affiliation:
Boston University
Get access

Summary

How can we encourage adolescents to ask the most effective questions? Several different lines of research design children’s and adolescents’ learning environments in ways that capitalize on self-initiated, largely self-directed question-asking and answer-seeking. We describe a number of studies indicating that such contexts yield effective outcomes for several different kinds of learning and across different populations. We discuss inquiry, and its importance for students developing a sense of agency and value in conducting their own inquiry and their learning more broadly. The role of argument, a context in which claims are expected to be justified by appeal to evidence, is highlighted as it can lead one to question a claim being made, and thus be seen as a driving factor to engaging in discourse about a claim. Finally, we stress that teachers must learn to cede control to an extent that allows students autonomy in choosing questions they find authentic and worthy of pursuit, and in letting students engage and address one another directly, allowing them to develop the norms of discourse that reinforce accountability to one another.

Keywords

inquiryargumentlearningself–regulationself-directed learningpedagogyteacher developmentdiscoursecausalityautonomy
Type
Chapter
Information
The Questioning Child
Insights from Psychology and Education
 , pp. 232 - 251
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baron, J. (1994). Thinking and deciding (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Capon, N., and Kuhn, D. (2004). What’s so good about problem-based learning? Cognition and Instruction, 22, 61–79. https://doi:10.1207/s1532690Xci2201_3Google Scholar
Chi, M. (2009). Active–constructive–interactive: A conceptual framework for differentiating learning activities. Topics in Cognitive Science, 1, 73–105. https://doi:10.1111/j.1756-8765.2008.01005.xGoogle Scholar
Collins, A. (2017). What’s worth teaching? Rethinking curriculum in the age of technology. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Dean, D. Jr, and Kuhn, D. (2007). Direct instruction vs. discovery: The long view. Science Education, 91, 384–97. https://doi:10.1002/sce.20194Google Scholar
Dewey, J. (1997). Experience and education. Free Press. Reprint edition. Originally published in 1938.Google Scholar
Eccles, J. S., Buchanan, C. M., Flanagan, C. et al. (1991). Control versus autonomy during early adolescence. Journal of Social Issues, 47, 53–68. https://doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1991.tb01834.xGoogle Scholar
Eccles, J. S., Midgley, C., Wigfield, A. et al. (1993). Development during adolescence: The impact of stage-environment fit on young adolescents’ experiences in schools and in families. American Psychologist, 48(2), 90–101. https://doi:10.1037/0003-066X.48.2.90Google Scholar
Feldlaufer, H., Midgley, C., and Eccles, J. S. (1988). Student, teacher, and observer perceptions of the classroom environment before and after the transition to junior high school. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 8, 133–56. https://doi:10.1177/0272431688082003Google Scholar
Friedman, T. (2014, February 22). How to get a job at Google. [Reporting on an interview with Laszlo Bock, vice president of people operations at Google Inc.] The New York Times.Google Scholar
Gopnik, A., O’Grady, S., Lucas, C. et al. (2017). Changes in cognitive flexibility and hypothesis search across human life history from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114, 7892–99. https://doi:10.1073/pnas.1700811114Google Scholar
Greene, J., Sandoval, W., and Braten, I. (eds.) (2016). Handbook of epistemic cognition. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Gweon, H., and Schulz, L. (2008). Stretching to learn: Ambiguous evidence and variability in preschoolers’ exploratory play. In Proceedings of the 30th annual meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 570–4).Google Scholar
Gweon, H., Pelton, H., Konopka, J. A., and Schulz, L. E. (2014). Sins of omission: Children selectively explore when teachers are under-informative. Cognition, 132, 335–41. https://doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2014.04.013Google Scholar
Hemberger, L., Kuhn, D., Matos, F., and Shi, Y. (2017). A dialogic path to evidence-based argumentive writing. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 26, 575–607. https://doi:10.1080/10508406.2017.1336714Google Scholar
Inhelder, B., and Piaget, J. (1958). The growth of logical thinking from childhood to adolescence. New York: Basic Books. https://doi:10.1037/10034-000Google Scholar
Iordanou, K., Kuhn, D., Matos, F., Shi, Y., and Hemberger, L. (2019). Learning by arguing. Learning and Instruction, 63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2019.05.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jewett, E., and Kuhn, D. (2016). Social science as a tool in developing scientific thinking skills in underserved, low-achieving urban students. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 143, 154–61. https://doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2015.10.019CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnston, A. M., Johnson, S. G., Koven, M. L., and Keil, F. C. (2017). Little Bayesians or little Einsteins? Probability and explanatory virtue in children’s inferences. Developmental Science, 20, e12483. https://doi:10.1111/desc.12483Google Scholar
Kuhn, D. (2005). Education for thinking. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Kuhn, D. (2011). What is scientific thinking and how does it develop? In Goswami, U. (ed.), Handbook of childhood cognitive development (pp. 497–523, 2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Kuhn, D. (2012). The development of causal reasoning. WIREs Cognitive Science. https://doi:10.1002/wcs.1160Google Scholar
Kuhn, D. (2015). Thinking together and alone. Educational Researcher, 44, 46–53. https://doi:10.3102/0013189X15569530Google Scholar
Kuhn, D. (2016). What do young science students need to know about variables? Science Education, 100, 392–403. https://doi:10.1002/sce.21207Google Scholar
Kuhn, D. (2018). Building our best future: Thinking critically about ourselves and our world. New York: Wessex Learning. https://doi:10.1080/00098655.2018.1480742Google Scholar
Kuhn, D., and Crowell, A. (2011). Dialogic argumentation as a vehicle for developing young adolescents’ thinking. Psychological Science, 22, 545–52. https://doi:10.1177/0956797611402512Google Scholar
Kuhn, D., and Ho, V. (1980). Self-directed activity and cognitive development. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 1, 119–33. https://doi:10.1016/0193-3973(80)90003-9Google Scholar
Kuhn, D., and Katz, J. (2009). Are self-explanations always beneficial? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 103, 386–94. https://doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2009.03.003CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuhn, D., and Modrek, A. (2018). Do reasoning limitations undermine discourse? Thinking and Reasoning, 24, 97–116. https://doi:10.1080/13546783.2017.1388846CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuhn, D., and Moore, W. (2015). Argumentation as core curriculum. Learning: Research and Practice, 1, 66–78. https://doi:10.1080/23735082.2015.994254Google Scholar
Kuhn, D., and Zillmer, N. (2015). Developing norms of discourse. In Resnick, L., Asterhan, C., and Clarke, S. (eds.), Socializing intelligence through academic talk and dialogue (pp. 77–86). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association. https://doi:10.3102/978-0-935302-43-1_6Google Scholar
Kuhn, D., Ramsey, S., and Arvidsson, T. S. (2015). Developing multivariable thinkers. Cognitive Development, 35, 92–110. https://doi:10.1016/j.cogdev.2014.11.003Google Scholar
Kuhn, D., Hemberger, L., and Khait, V. (2016a). Argue with me: Argument as a path to developing students’ thinking and writing (2nd ed.) New York: Routledge. https://doi:10.4324/9781315692722Google Scholar
Kuhn, D., Hemberger, L., and Khait, V. (2016b). Tracing the development of argumentive writing in a discourse-rich context. Written Communication, 33, 92–121. https://doi:10.1177/0741088315617157Google Scholar
Legare, C., and Lombrozo, T. (2014). Selective effects of explanation on learning during early childhood. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 126, 198–212. https://doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2014.03.001Google Scholar
Lehrer, R., and Schauble, L. (2015). The development of scientific thinking. In Liben, L. and Mueller, U. (vol. eds.) and Lerner, R. (series ed.), Handbook of child psychology and developmental science (pp. 1–44), vol. 2: Cognitive process (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi:10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy216Google Scholar
Michaels, S., and O’Connor, C. (2015). Conceptualizing talk moves as tools: Professional development approaches for academically productive discussion. In Resnick, L., Asterhan, C., and Clarke, S. (eds.), Socializing intelligence through academic talk and dialogue (pp. 347–62). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association. https://doi:10.3102/978-0-935302-43-1_27Google Scholar
Modrek, A., and Kuhn, D. (2017). A cognitive cost of the need to achieve? Cognitive Development, 44, 12–20. https://doi:10.1016/j.cogdev.2017.08.003Google Scholar
Modrek, A. S., Kuhn, D., Conway, A., and Arvidsson, T. S. (2018). Cognitive regulation, not behavior regulation, predicts learning. Learning and Instruction. https://doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2017.12.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moshman, D. (2014). Epistemic cognition and development: The psychology of justification and truth. Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Moskowitz, E., and Lavinia, A. (2012). Mission possible: How the secrets of the Success Academies can work in any school. John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Muldner, K., Lam, R., and Chi, M. (2014). Comparing learning from observing and from human tutoring. Journal of Educational Psychology, 106, 69–85. https://doi:10.1037/a0034448CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Papathomas, L., and Kuhn, D. (2017). Learning to argue via apprenticeship. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 159, 129–39. https://doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2017.01.013Google Scholar
Paus, E., Macagno, F., and Kuhn, D. (2015). Developing argumentation strategies in electronic dialogs: Is modeling effective? Discourse Processes, 53, 280–97. https://doi:10.1080/0163853X.2015.1040323Google Scholar
Pease, M., and Kuhn, D. (2011). Experimental analysis of the effective components of problem-based learning. Science Education, 95, 57–86. https://doi:10.1002/sce.20412CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pintrich, P. R., and Schunk, D. H. (2002). Motivation in education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.Google Scholar
Putnam, R. T., and Borko, H. (2000). What do new views of knowledge and thinking have to say about research on teacher learning? Educational Researcher, 29, 4–15. https://doi:10.3102/0013189X029001004Google Scholar
Reiser, B. J., Tabak, I., Sandoval, W. A., et al. (2001). BGuILE: Strategic and conceptual scaffolds for scientific inquiry in biology classrooms. In Carver, S. M. and Klahr, D. (eds.), Cognition and instruction: Twenty-five years of progress (pp. 263–305). New York: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Resnick, L. B., and Nelson-Le Gall, S. (1997). Socializing intelligence. In Smith, L., Dockrell, J., and Tomlinson, P. (eds.), Piaget, Vygotsky and beyond: Central issues in developmental psychology and education (pp. 145–58). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ross, H. S., and Killey, J. C. (1977). The effect of questioning on retention. Child Development, 48, 312–14. https://doi:10.2307/1128919Google Scholar
Ryu, S., and Sandoval, W. (2012). Improvements to elementary children’s epistemic understanding from sustained argumentation. Science Education, 96, 488–526. https://doi:10.1002/sce.21006Google Scholar
Sandoval, W. A. (2005). Understanding students’ practical epistemologies and their influence on learning through inquiry. Science Education, 89, 634–56. https://doi:10.1002/sce.20065CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sandoval, W. A. (2015). Science education’s need for a theory of epistemological development. Science Education, 98, 383–87. https://doi:10.1002/sce.21107Google Scholar
Sandoval, W. A., and Reiser, B. J. (2004). Explanation-driven inquiry: Integrating conceptual and epistemic scaffolds for scientific inquiry. Science Education, 88, 345–72. https://doi:10.1002/sce.10130Google Scholar
Sandoval, W. A., Deneroff, V., and Franke, M. L. (2002). Teaching, as learning, as inquiry: Moving beyond activity in the analysis of teaching practice. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Educational Research Association. New Orleans, LA.Google Scholar
Sandoval, W. A., Sodian, B., Koerber, S., and Wong, J. (2014). Developing children’s early competencies to engage with science. Educational Psychologist, 49, 139–52. https://doi:10.1080/00461520.2014.917589Google Scholar
Sandoval, W. A., Kawasaki, J., Cournoyer, N., and Rodriguez, L. (2016). Secondary teachers’ emergent understanding of teaching science practices. In Looi, C. K., Polman, J. L., Cress, U., and Reimann, P. (eds.), Proceedings of the transforming learning, empowering learners: The international conference of the learning sciences (ICLS) 2016 (Vol. 2, pp. 737–74). Singapore: ISLS.Google Scholar
Sandoval, W. A., Cournoyer, N., Eggleston, N., Modrek, A., and Kawasaki, J. (2017). Secondary teachers’ struggles to create coherent NGSS instruction. Paper presented at the NARST Annual Meeting. San Antonio, TX.Google Scholar
Sandoval, W. A., Kwako, A., Modrek, A. S., and Kawasaki, J. (2018) Patterns of classroom talk through participation in discourse-focused teacher professional development. In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference of the Learning Sciences: Volume 2 (pp. 760–7). International Society of the Learning Sciences.Google Scholar
Schank, R. (2011). How cognitive science can save our schools. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Shafto, P., and Goodman, N. D. (2008). Teaching games: Statistical sampling assumptions for pedagogical situations. In Proceedings of the Thirtieth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 1632–7).Google Scholar
Shafto, P., Goodman, N. D., and Frank, M. C. (2012). Learning from others: The consequences of psychological reasoning for human learning. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(4), 341–51. https://doi:10.1177/1745691612448481CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sloman, S. (2005). Causal models: How people think about the world and its alternatives. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195183115.001.0001Google Scholar
Stanovich, K. (1999). Who is rational? Studies of individual differences in reasoning. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. https://doi:10.4324/9781410603432Google Scholar
Steinberg, L., and Monahan, K. C. (2007). Age differences in resistance to peer influence. Developmental psychology, 43(6), 1531–43. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012–1649.43.6.1531CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trilling, B, and Fadel, C. (2009). Twentieth century skills: learning for life in our times. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Walker, C. M., Bonawitz, E., and Lombrozo, T. (2017a). Effects of explaining on children’s preference for simpler hypotheses. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 24, 1538–47. https://doi:10.3758/s13423-016-1144-0CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walker, C. M., Lombrozo, T., Williams, J. J., Rafferty, A. N., and Gopnik, A. (2017b). Explaining constrains causal learning in childhood. Child Development, 88, 229–46. https://doi:10.1111/cdev.12590Google Scholar
Windschitl, M. (2003). Inquiry projects in science teacher education: What can investigative experiences reveal about teacher thinking and eventual classroom practice? Science Education, 87(1), 112–43. https://doi:10.1002/sce.10044Google Scholar
Wirkala, C., and Kuhn, D. (2011). Problem-based learning in K-12 education: Is it effective and how does it achieve its effects? American Educational Research Journal, 48, 1157–86. https://doi:10.3102/0002831211419491Google Scholar
Zimmerman, C. (2007). The development of scientific thinking skills in elementary and middle school. Developmental Review, 27, 172–223. https://doi:10.1016/j.dr.2006.12.001Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×