Explicit training in constraint-seeking questions showed only moderate, non-generalizing benefits, whereas prompting explanation supports better question asking¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r3 · q1
Currency · newest study 2022 · checked against its sources 2026-10-19 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q1 i? Direct training on constraint-seeking questions achieved only moderate success with benefits that did not generalize or persist, but prompting children to explain previous observations promoted more effective question asking without extensive training. → Azzurra Ruggeri 2022

Evidence¶

Azzurra Ruggeri 2022¶

Azzurra Ruggeri. (2022). An Introduction to Ecological Active Learning. Current Directions in Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214221112114

q1 · i? · review · r3

The review reports, citing Courage (1989), that explicit training in generating constraint-seeking questions achieved only moderate success. It separately reports, citing Ruggeri, Xu, & Lombrozo (2019), that 'prompting them to explain previous observations' can promote identification of features applying to multiple objects, supporting more effective question asking.

"Most children did not improve their performance, and the modest training benefits, when present, did not generalize to other sets of stimuli or domains and were no longer apparent just a few days later."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Children aged 7 to 10 adapt their question-asking strategy to the likelihood distribution of hypotheses as promptly as adults — related
• Children's exploratory behavior is related to their question asking — related
• Self-questioning improves comprehension — related
• Prompting learners to self-explain, one generative strategy, improves learning by a moderate average amount; other generative activities are not tested by the evidence recorded here — a broader claim this one bears on
• Prompting learners to self-explain improves understanding and problem solving on immediate tests by a moderate average amount, with little evidence yet on delayed or classroom gains. — a broader claim this one bears on
• Questioning Strategies Improve Learning — related
• Self-regulated learning improves achievement — related
• Teacher interventions that are not explicit encourage learners' self-awareness of the limitations of their current understanding without prescribing a solution — related
• Perceived improvement after prompt-engineering training was concentrated among students with little or no prior prompting experience — related