Teachers and publishers should know question types and their cognitive demands before deciding how to teach about and use questions¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q1 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

The report argues that decisions about teaching students to handle questions and about using questions in classrooms and materials require prior knowledge of the question landscape: "We think teachers and publishers need to know what types of questions exist and the cognitive demands of answering those questions before they can make reasonable decisions about how to teach students about questions and how to use questions in the classroom and in instructional materials." The taxonomy is offered as the tool for gaining that knowledge, with each category specifying the information a question type provides and requires.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Users of the principle need a working classification of question types, such as the taxonomy presented, including the answer structures each type demands

Constraints¶

• The taxonomy was developed for intermediate-grade American history; the authors assume each content area has its own unique structure, so question types may differ across disciplines

Target Learners¶

• middle school history students, as served by their teachers and textbook publishers

Target Learning Objectives¶

• understanding and answering questions across instruction, study guides, and tests

Claims¶

• Answering history explanation questions often requires causal inferences because causal relationships are frequently left implicit in textbooks [+W]

Related Principles¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Armbruster, Bonnie B.; Anderson, Thomas H.; Bruning, Roger R.; Meyer, Linda A. (1984). What Did You Mean by That Question? A Taxonomy of American History Questions. Technical Report No. 308. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED240511