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... SimQuest allowed the students to run their own computational experiments while creating their assignments, hence gain new knowledge or be reminded of prior knowledge. In the last 15 years, Yu and her coworkers (see [30][31][32][33][34] for example) have published a body of work on student-generated assignments and student-constructed tests. They created a web-based learning system for question-posing and peer assessment [30][31][32]. ...
... In the last 15 years, Yu and her coworkers (see [30][31][32][33][34] for example) have published a body of work on student-generated assignments and student-constructed tests. They created a web-based learning system for question-posing and peer assessment [30][31][32]. They proved and documented all benefits associated with this educational approach. ...
... The significant positive effects of involving students in the assignment-generation process was documented by Rosenshine et al. [22], Yu et al. [30][31][32][33][34], and the references therein. The different approaches of studentgenerated questions, problem posing, student item construction, student-developed assessment items, and so forth emphasize self-reflection and self-regulated learning and help cultivate a learning environment that prompts and mobilizes higher order thinking on the part of the learner [22,31]. ...
The finite element method (FEM) is one of the most important numerical methods used to solve various engineering problems in many physics' domains. In this study, engineering students enrolled in “Computer‐Aided Analysis and Design” course were first introduced to FEM through a simple computer code for analyzing two‐dimensional (2D) and 3D trusses. Computational tools called “Truss Builder” and “Truss Analyzer” were provided to help modeling and analyzing large and complicated trusses. Students were then asked to generate assignments for their peers on analyzing 2D and 3D trusses that simulate real‐world structures or practical applications of their choice in two mini projects. In each mini project, each student selected a practical truss problem and, then, chose questions on this truss from a pool of questions designed to check the students' ability to navigate through the computer code, understand the results of the analysis, and investigate the effects of the various parameters on the results. Students exchanged their assignments with their peers, solved their peers' assignments, and then graded the solutions of their peers and discussed the mistakes. The proposed approach has been assessed through a comparison of exam scores with the scores of a previous cohort that was taught FEM traditionally and took the same exam. The assessment results showed that the improved performance of the students who were part of this intervention, compared to those who were not, is statistically significant. The anonymous students' written comments also supported the hypothesis that this new approach is more engaging to students compared to traditional approaches.
... Question generation or sometimes referred to as test construction by learners usually forces them to engage in different cognitive activities, which in turn lead them to better monitor their own learning and to deeply understand the materials (Gulikerset, Bastiaens, & Kirschner, 2004;Papinczak, Peterson, & Babri, 2012;Yu, 2005). Test construction can help learners rehearse, process, and organize the learning materials, which can all be explained by metacognition theory and information processing theory (Yu & Liu 2008). It by nature makes learners more attentive to their learning, assisting them the better coverage of learning materials in an EFL class. ...
... Despite the reviewed literature on the benefits of SQG and given the opposing results of some few studies indicating the inefficacy of this technique, there exist far fewer studies investigating the effects of this technique in language learning (Aflalo, 2018;Yu & Lai, 2014;Yu, Chang, & Wu, 2015). To be more exact, previous studies have mostly looked at the effects of this technique on thinking flexibly (Brown & Walter 2005), learning motivation (Chin et al. 2002), positive attitudes toward the course (Perez 1985), language comprehension (Brown & Walter 2005;Drake & Barlow 2008), cognitive and metacognitive strategy development (Yu & Liu, 2008), and communication skill (Yu & Liu 2005). Neglecting the potential benefits of this technique, students and teachers, on the other hand, do not seem to use this technique very often in their classes (Chin, et al, 2002;Middlecamp & Nickel, 2005). ...
Student Question Generation (SQG) is one of the learner-centered constructive learning techniques which might be a helpful too for engaging students in the learning and assessment processes and increase their interest in the learning materials. This study attempted to investigate the effect of this technique on ESP learners' achievement in an English course and to study the learners' views on the efficacy of using this technique in teaching English. To reach the said aims, a mixed-method research design was employed to answer the questions. The research was conducted at Islamic Azad University in Hidaj with 60 participants (male and female) who were majoring at accounting and civil engineering and were divided into experimental and control groups. Data were collected through an achievement test which was administered at the end of the course and a focus-group interview held in experimental group class. Independent samples t-test was used to analyze the quantitative data, while the learners' responses were analyzed through content analysis. The results revealed that using SQG helped the students in learning the course materials significantly. The analysis of the qualitative data revealed seven themes related to the effectiveness of using SGQ, of which the most important ones were usefulness of the technique, creating a relaxed and cooperative atmosphere, and increased motivation. They further reported that their interest in the course increased, and the quality of their learning increased. Based on the results, some instructional implications are provided for the teachers, syllabus designers and researchers.
... Studies carried out by Palmer and Devitt (2006), Yu and Liu (2008) and Shakurnia and Aslami (2015), all used an experimental approach to investigate the effectiveness of MCQ creation using a control group of students who did not create MCQs. All three studies required participants to complete a post-test while two also included a pre-test as a comparative measure. ...
... Palmer and Devitt (2006) found that performance in the pre-and post-tests showed similar improvement before and after the intervention in both groups and there was no statistically significant differences. Yu and Liu (2008) also found no evidence that the question constructing group did better in terms of academic achievement. In contrast, Shakurnia and Aslami (2015) did find that the post-test mean score of the experimental group was significantly higher than the mean score of the control group. ...
While research and practice centred around students and academics working together to co-create in the higher level sector has increased, co-creation in assessment remains relatively rare in a higher education context. It is acknowledged in the literature that deeper comprehension of content can be realised when students author their own questions and solutions, rather than just answering teacher-designed questions. However, to date, studies measuring the impact of students co-creating assessment instruments on academic performance are limited. Situated within a constructivist learning paradigm, this study examines the effect on academic performance of students creating their own multiple-choice questions using an on-line peer-learning environment. We use a novel experimental approach, designed to overcome many of the acknowledged limitations of prior studies, to quantitatively measure the effectiveness of the co-creation assignment on student learning. We find that co-creation has a statistically significant impact on their academic performance in relevant topic in the end-of-semester exam.
... Students who have written and answered student-generated questions in other disciplines had increased exam performance (Draper, 2009). There is also evidence that student-generated questions favours the lower performing students (Jobs et al., 2013), and those writing questions had more increases in metacognitive learning than those answering questions (Yu and Liu, 2008); this suggests that merely providing revision questions for students to use for practise at answering questions during their own exam preparation may not achieve the same benefit as student-generated questions. Given that nursing students find bioscience challenging, the process of writing student-generated revision questions for bioscience was utilised in the current study. ...
... Therefore, in the current study, students reported some benefit in writing questions, although expressed some preference for teachergenerated questions. It has been reported that there was no difference in academic achievement between those students in civil engineering doing question writing compared with question answering, but of significance is the finding that those doing question posing had greater increases in their metacognitive learning (Yu and Liu, 2008). Within computer-science, student-generated questions led to improvements in content knowledge, as well as metacognitive skills such as reflection to judge quality of information, and improving self-assessment (Luxton-Reilly and Denny, 2010). ...
Background:
Nursing students find bioscience subjects challenging. Bioscience exams pose particular concerns for these students, which may lead to students adopting a surface-approach to learning.
Objectives:
To promote student collective understanding of bioscience, improve their confidence for the final exam, and improve deeper understanding of bioscience.
Design:
In order to address exam anxiety, and improve student understanding of content, this student engagement project involved nursing students collaborating in small groups to develop multiple-choice questions and answers, which became available to the entire student cohort.
Settings:
This study was conducted at two campuses of an Australian university, within a first year bioscience subject as part of the undergraduate nursing programme.
Participants:
All students enrolled in the subject were encouraged to attend face-to-face workshops, and collaborate in revision question writing. Online anonymous questionnaires were used to invite student feedback on this initiative; 79 respondents completed this feedback.
Methods:
Students collaborated in groups to write revision questions as part of in-class activities. These questions were made available on the student online learning site for revision. An online feedback survey was deployed at the conclusion of all workshops for this subject, with questions rated using a Likert scale.
Results:
Participants indicated that they enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate in this activity, and almost all of these respondents used these questions in their exam preparation. There was strong agreement that this activity improved their confidence for the final exam. Importantly, almost two-thirds of respondents agreed that writing questions improved their understanding of content, and assisted in their active reflection of content.
Conclusions:
Overall, this initiative revealed various potential benefits for the students, including promoting bioscience understanding and confidence. This may improve their long-term understanding of bioscience for nursing practice, as registered nurses' bioscience knowledge can impact on patient outcomes.
... Rather than having students respond to a set of questions provided by teachers for evaluation purposes, allowing students to reflect and generate questions on course content grants them an opportunity and responsibility to self-assess their levels of understanding and comprehension (Birenbaum & Dochy, 1996;Silver, 1994). Student question-generation activities engage individual learners in actively constructing their internal knowledge representations and structures, and enable them to elaborate and transform received information into personally meaningful forms (Barr & Tagg, 1995;Palincsar, 1998;Yu & Liu, 2008;Yu, Liu, & Chan, 2005). ...
... Existing studies on student question-generation mostly highlight its value as an instructional intervention and examine its cognitive, affective and social effects via experimental or action research methods. Even though theoretical arguments and conceptual explanations have been proposed with reference to information processing theory, metacognition, constructivism, instructional communication and self-determination theory (Chiu & Yu, 2011;Yu & Liu, 2008;, and empirical studies generally find positive learning effects, the nature of the underlying learning processes involved remains unexamined empirically. Therefore, one purpose of this study is to unearth the nature of the learning process experienced by students while engaged in a student question-generation task via two frequently cited theories on learning processes-information processing and SAL theories. ...
Studies on student question-generation have mainly emphasized its value as an instructional intervention and examined its effects using experimental or action research methods. Although the theoretical foundations of student question-generation are sound and its empirical bases are solid, issues with regard to the nature of the enacted learning processes and their relationships with perceived value remain largely unexamined empirically. These issues should have important instructional implications, as well as empirical, methodological, and theoretical significance. Therefore, this study aims to reveal the nature of student question-generation learning processes using information processing and student approaches to learning theories; establish empirical evidence for multiple learning approaches and investigate whether any learning strategies and task value differences exist among different learning approaches; and examine the relationships among learning strategies, learning approaches, and task value. This study uses a survey research method and incorporates a student question-generation component into an undergraduate course that is part of a teacher preparation program. Instruments with established reliability and validity are used. This study has four major findings. First, within a student question-generation context, learners tend to activate learning strategies and use a deep learning approach when studying. Second, students may commit themselves to more than one learning approach during a specific task. Third, learners with different learning approaches are found to have statistically significant differences in their use of learning strategies and perceived task value. Fourth, learners who perceive more value in student question-generation tend to adopt a deep learning approach. The theoretical, methodological, and empirical significance of this study is highlighted, followed by suggestions for instructional implementations and future work.
... More recently, Yu and Liu studied the effects of question-posing as compared to question-answering during weekly post-lecture sessions in a cohort of 69 civil engineering sophomores [8]. While there was no difference in academic achievement the question-posing group had significantly higher abilities in cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies after the intervention. ...
... number of questions, introducing a rating, limiting to reviewed questions) could have changed the results. Letting the students write the questions for their own exam might therefore indeed be a valuable learning tool [8]. However, we were not able to find a positive influence of our method on the learning behaviour and abandoned it in the curriculum. ...
Writing exam questions can be a valuable learning tool. We asked students to construct multiple choice questions for curricular exams in Internal Medicine. The questions for the particular exams were chosen from a pool of at least 300 student-written questions. The uncorrected pool was accessible to all students. We studied the influence of this approach on the students' learning habits and their test results. We hypothesized that creating a pool of their own questions for the exams could encourage students to discuss the learning material.
All students had to pass 4 exams in 7 fields of Internal Medicine. Three exams were comprised of 20 questions, and we applied the new method in one of these exams. The fourth exam was comprised of 30 questions, 15 of which were chosen from a students' pool. After all exams had been completed we asked the students to fill in a web-based questionnaire on their learning habits and their views on the new approach. The test-results were compared to the results of the lecturers' questions that defined high and low performing students.
A total of 102 students completed all four exams in a row, 68 of whom filled in the questionnaire. Low performing students achieved significantly better results in the students' questions. There was no difference in the number of constructed questions between both groups of students. The new method did not promote group work significantly. However, high performing students stated a stronger wish to be rewarded by good performance.
Creating a curricular exam by choosing questions from a pool constructed by students did not influence the learning habits significantly and favored low performing students. Since the high performing students sought to be rewarded for their efforts, we do not consider the approach applied in our study to be appropriate.
... The proposed pedagogical approach differs from a Socratic approach, lectures organized around instructor-determined question sets, or in-class sessions for answering questions students post in a journal submitted weekly for grading (Crow-ley et al., 2008;Harper, Etkina, & Lin, 2003). It also differs from student-written multiple-choice exam questions submitted after each in-class session (e.g., Shakurnia, Aslami & Bijanzadeh, 2018;Snow et al., 2019;Yu & Liu, 2008). Unfortunately, students are apt to lose interest and not write reflective/relevant questions when they must wait 1-2 weeks for answers (Petrović et al., 2012). ...
Student interactivity and engagement are fundamental to creating an effective student-learning-centered in-class experience. This meta-essay presents a novel pedagogical approach to non-experiential in-class sessions for core undergraduate business courses. The proposed a priori customizable and spontaneously adaptable approach, which organizes in-class sessions around instructor-graded presubmitted questions, can augment case studies, simulations, student teaching exercises, and the like. This approach provides incentives missing from other question-centric in-class methods and eliminates the discomfort of otherwise apprehensive questioners. Many non-quantitative and non-skills-centric undergraduate courses are candidates for this pedagogical approach.
... Many of these programs, ranging from prematriculation programs to programs to improve test-taking skills, have shown gains in academic performance for these students. [52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64] However, few institutions have implemented a comprehensive overhaul of medical curricula. One institution that has done this is the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, which implemented an integrated preclinical medical curriculum that emphasized problem-based learning, early identification and intervention for potentially at-risk students, and opportunities for deliberate practice through an internal question bank provided by the administration, among other measures. ...
The achievement gap is a disparity in academic and standardized test performance that exists between White and underrepresented minority (URM) students that begins as early as preschool and worsens as students progress through the educational system. Medical education is not immune to this inequality. URM medical students are more likely to experience delayed graduation and course failure, even after accounting for science grade point average and Medical College Admission Test performance. Moreover, URM students are more likely to earn lower scores on licensing examinations, which can have a significant impact on their career trajectory, including specialty choice and residency competitiveness. After the release of preliminary recommendations from the Invitational Conference on USMLE Scoring (InCUS) and public commentary on these recommendations, the National Board of Medical Examiners and Federation of State Medical Boards announced that the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 would transition from a 3-digit numeric score to pass/fail scoring. Given that another of InCUS's recommendations was to "minimize racial demographic differences that exist in USMLE performance," it is paramount to consider the impact of this scoring change on URM medical students specifically. Holistic admissions are a step in the right direction of acknowledging that URM students often travel a further distance to reach medical school. However, when residency programs emphasize USMLE performance (or any standardized test score) despite persistent test score gaps, medical education contributes to the disproportionate harm URM students face and bolsters segregation across medical specialties. This Perspective provides a brief explanation of the achievement gap, its psychological consequences, and its consequences in medical education; discusses the potential effect of the Step 1 scoring change on URM medical students; and provides a review of strategies to redress this disparity.
... Student-generated questioning SGQ is an active learning strategy that emphasises empowering students to engage in knowledge construction. Many researchers have regarded SGQ related to class subject matter as a meaningful and engaging activity that extends students' content learning (Gonzales, 1998;Silver & Cai, 1996;Stoyanova & Ellerton, 1996) and develops their higher-order thinking skills (Rosenshine, Meister, & Chapman, 1996;Yu & Liu, 2008). For example, according to Ikuenobe (2001), SGQ is a way of encouraging students to engage in analysis, problem solving and inquiry. ...
Student-generated questioning (SGQ) has been widely used to facilitate English learning in the Foreign Language classroom, with questions surrounding its quality and use in flipped classrooms remaining at the forefront of discussions. This study aims to explore the implications of integrating SGQ using a game-based learning platform named Kahoot, on students’ English performance in flipped classrooms. Participants were 77 university students and sub-divided into an experimental group labelled SGQ_FL and a control group determined by teacher-generated questioning (TGQ), labelled TGQ_FL. The results suggest that SGQ is effective in enhancing students’ English performance. No significant difference was found in the mental load between groups, yet SGQ induced a higher mental effort than TGQ. These results reflected that greater effort was required to formulate and answer questions compared with only answering them. Further research incorporating SGQ strategy in a game-based learning platform shows promise for fostering students’ English performance.
... [11] More recently, Yu and Liu in their study have discussed the effects of question-posing as compared to question-answering. [13] The question-posing group had significantly higher cognitive abilities and metacognitive learning strategies. This is line with our study, wherein there was no statistical significance in the pre-and postclass test scores, but higher-order cognitive skills were demonstrated by the activity. ...
... However, they also suggest that assignments of this type are not greeted with much enthusiasm by students on the basis that they involve unfamiliar methods and may even be considered as an inefficient use of study time. Yu and Liu (2008) investigated the value of student MCQ construction with civil engineering students. They found it promoted higher abilities in cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies than question answering. ...
In recent years, research and practice focused on academics and students working in partnership to co-design learning and teaching in higher education has increased [Deeley and Bovill 2017. ‘Staff student partnership in assessment: enhancing assessment literacy through democratic practices.’ Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 42 (3): 463–477. doi:10.1080/02602938.2015.1126551]. Student generation of content has been advocated as a means of fostering deep learning and high levels of students engagement, leading to enhanced conceptual understanding [Draper 2009. ‘Catalytic Assessment: Understanding how MCQs and EVS can Foster Deep Learning.’ British Journal of Educational Technology 40 (2): 285–293.]. However, within the discourse exploring staff-student co-creation, some concerns have been raised about whether students ought to, or indeed can, meaningfully act as partners in assessment [Cook-Sather, Bovill, and Felten 2014. Engaging Students as Partners in Learning and Teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.]. This paper describes the introduction of a co-creation assignment into an undergraduate tax module. Students’ and instructors’ perceptions of several aspects of the assignment were examined, facilitating the cataloguing and elucidation of the tensions involved in assessment co-creation. The paper suggests techniques to manage these challenges effectively, thereby providing a case study for others with an interest in implementing assessment co-creation within their own disciplinary context.
... Asking students to generate questions (along with the answers) based on the learning content could help students develop skills by consciously directing their attention to the target knowledge (Yu, Chang, & Wu, 2015). Previous literature has indicated that the SQG strategy has positive effects with regard to student performance (Chin & Brown, 2002;Chin & Osborne, 2008;Ikuta & Maruno, 2005;Song et al., 2017;Yu & Wu, 2012;Yu et al., 2015;Yu, Tsai, & Wu, 2013), such as comprehension (Drake & Barlow, 2007), learning motivation (Chin & Brown, 2002;Yu et al., 2015), positive attitudes toward subject matter (Perez, 1986), more diverse and flexible thinking (Brown & Walter, 2005), problemsolving abilities (Dori & Herscovitz, 1999), and cognitive and metacognitive strategy development (Yu & Liu, 2008). However, despite the growing awareness of the benefits of using SQG in the classroom, there is little empirical research addressing the incorporation of SQG in flipped classroom activities. ...
In recent years, flipped learning has grown in popularity and been more widely adopted as a mechanism of enabling active learning, which is used in different educational scenarios. This paper describes a novel extension of flipped learning by integrating student question-generation and an instant response system into the higher education curriculum and examining the impacts of this extension on students’ learning motivation, attitudes, and engagement. Data were obtained from 54 sophomores at Zhejiang University, China, and the data were tested using the partial least squares structural equation modeling approach. The results indicated that this research model predicted 47.3% of the variance of learning motivation, 78.6% of the variance of attitudes toward learning, and 62.4% of the variance of learning engagement. Also, the results showed that the constructs of flipped learning and student question generation have a positive impact on the students’ learning motivation, attitudes, and engagement. In contrast, though the instant response system also has a positive impact on students’ engagement, it does not influence motivation or attitudes. Instructional implications and research suggestions are provided based on the results of the study.
... Among 78 students, 61 students selected game elements such as ''Ranking'', ''Score'', or ''Level'' which were directly related to their extra credit in the course, while 17 students selected game elements such as ''Badge'', ''Feedback'', and ''Avatar''. These research results may be expected because the previous studies point out that one of the shortcomings of gamification focuses on extrinsic motivation [43,44]. However, for the question regarding enjoyment, around 50% of students (22 for badges; 8 for feedback; 6 for avatar) responded that game elements that were not related to reward facilitated their enjoyment. ...
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of lab activity gamification on students’ motivation, engagement, and learning outcome based on students’ performance and students’ perspective. This study was an extension of our previous studies, which only considered the data from gamification systems, leaving several open questions about students’ perspective. Two types of websites, Gamification (GM) and Non-gamification (NG) were used. While the GM website included game elements such as a Badge System, Score, Avatar, Leaderboard, Level, and Feedback (Notification), the NG website was a traditional website without game elements. In these websites, students conducted two main activities: creating their own questions (MCQs) and answering questions authored by classmates. Students were asked to complete the questionnaire regarding active learning, game elements, and motivation. Several statistical analyses were conducted to test four hypotheses, and results indicated support for all hypotheses. The results suggest that the application of gamification in engineering lab activities as a supporting tool has a positive effect on students’ motivation, engagement, and learning outcome based on the consistency between students’ performance in and subjective satisfaction with the gamification system. In addition, the results of frequency analysis indicate that 80% of students were motivated by ‘‘Ranking’’ and ‘‘Score’’ and 50% of students felt fun due to ‘‘Badges’’, ‘‘Feedback’’, and ‘‘Avatar’’. Students chose ‘‘Ranking’’ and ‘‘Score’’ as the game elements to be retained in the new gamification system.
... With reference to the set of criteria associated with question-generation (e.g., pertaining to the main ideas of the study material, clear wording and expression, accurate answers, appropriate levels of difficulty for the target audience) (Yu & Wu, 2013), question-generation enables students to engage in various cognitive and metacognitive strategies, such as attending to and locating personally deemed important and relevant materials in the study content, monitoring comprehension and assessing personal understanding of the study material, and framing, phrasing, and solving the questions generated (Yu, 2005;Yu & Hung, 2006). Information processing theory and metacognition theory both help to conceptualise and understand why these enacted mental processes (e.g., rehearsal, organization, elaboration, planning, monitoring, and evaluation) may promote cognitive and metacognitive development (Yu & Liu, 2008). ...
Although research has found that student-constructed tests (SCT) have some potential for promoting cognitive elaboration, as yet there are no systems available to support the associated activities. This study designed and developed an SCT learning system guided by the ideology of contribution-based pedagogies, accentuating the principles of adaptability and flexibility. To assess its learning potential, a group of 54 student teachers used the system, and data on their perceptions, generated work, and online log files were collected and analysed. The constant comparative method, descriptive and inferential statistics, and content analysis were employed in the data analysis. Several important findings were obtained. First, a global and macro view accentuating the integration and inter-connectedness of the study material was obtained by the participants based on the SCT activity. Second, a significant proportion of the participants considered SCT as their preferred assessment and learning approach, highlighting its affective and cognitive potential, in comparison to the traditional teacher-constructed tests. Third, SCT encouraged a majority of students to generate questions involving cross-chapter topics and engage in question revision behaviour to different extents, indicative of knowledge integration and elaboration. Significance of this study and suggestions for instructional implementations, online system development, and future study are provided.
... With the support of sound theoretical foundations, a number of studies that investigate the effects of student question-generation have been published since the 1960s. Studies demonstrating the cognitive, affective and social effects of question-generation include its aiding comprehension of the learned content (Barlow & Cates, 2006;Brown & Walter, 2005;Drake & Barlow, 2008;Gillespie, 1990), and the promotion of cognitive and metacognitive strategies (Andre & Anderson, 1978-79;Bondy, 1984;Rosenshine, Meister, & Chapman, 1996;Yu & Hung, 2006;Yu & Liu, 2008), active learning behaviours (Liu & Yu, 2004), diverse and flexible thinking (Andre & Anderson, 1978-79;Brown & Walter, 2005;English, 1997), intra-group communication , self-confidence (Whitin, 2004) and motivation (Chin, Brown, & Bruce, 2002). ...
p class="ICCENormalText1stparagraph">This study examined the effects of online procedural scaffolds (in the form of generic question-stems with context-specific examples) and the timing of scaffolding provision (immediate versus delayed) on supporting the online student question-generation learning process in a science class. A total of 78 fifth-grade Taiwanese students participated in eight online question-generation sessions. An online learning system equipped with a customizable scaffolding design in terms of content and timing of access was used. The results of ANOVAs on the students' week-by-week question-generation performance showed the immediate positive effects of immediate procedural scaffolding. However, the delayed procedural scaffolds group did not statistically distinguish themselves from the no-scaffolds group in any of the eight question-generation performances, nor did the delayed approach engender productive failure, as postulated by some researchers. The significance of this study is discussed, along with suggestions for related instructional implementations, online systems and future research.
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... Research that applies the student question-generation (SQG) strategy in various fields has generally found positive effects with regard to outcomes such as comprehension (Brown & Walter 2005;Drake & Barlow 2008), motivation (Chin et al. 2002), positive attitudes toward the subject matter studied (Keil 1965;Perez 1985), problem-solving abilities (Dori & Herscovitz 1999), cognitive and metacognitive strategy development (Yu & Liu 2008), intra-group communication (Yu & Liu 2005), and more diverse and flexible thinking (Andre & Anderson 1978-79;Brown & Walter 2005;English 1997). While there is a growing body of empirical evidence substantiating the educational value of SQG, a majority of related studies deal with math and natural science subjects, and there are still a limited number of works exploring its effects in language instruction (Yu & Lai 2014). ...
Recognizing the potential of online student question-generation to engage language learners in communicative activities and use the target language in a personally meaningful way for language and learning motivation development, an experimental study examining the English learning effects of this approach, in comparison to an online drill-and-practice strategy, was conducted. A quasi-experimental research design was adopted. Four sixth-grade classes (N = 106) participated in this study and were randomly assigned to different treatment groups. An online learning system supporting the various learning activities was adopted. The results of analysis of covariance (ANCOVAs) showed that students in the online student question-generation group performed significantly better in English assessments and exhibited higher learning motivation than those in the contrast group. The significance of this study and suggestions for instructional implementation and future works are also presented.
... Questions of this type are referred to as explanation prompts and have demonstrated to be a promising instructional support feature (Berthold et al. 2011) and highly beneficial for learning (Chi et al. 1994). Questions can not only be used as a teaching technique by teachers; Yu and Liu (2008) reported that requesting students to pose questions by themselves during the learning process helps students develop both cognitive and metacognitive strategies. ...
Discourse and argumentation are effective techniques for education not only in social domains but also in science domains. However, it is difficult for some teachers to stimulate an active discussion between students because several students might not be able to develop their arguments. This paper proposes to use WordNet as a semantic source in order to generate questions that are intended to stimulate students’ brainstorming and to help them develop arguments in a discussion session. In a study including 141 questions generated by human experts and 44 questions generated by a computer system, the following research questions have been investigated: Are system-generated questions understandable? Are they relevant to given discussion topics? Would they be useful for supporting students in developing new arguments? Are understandable and relevant system-generated questions predicted to be useful for students in order to develop new arguments? The evaluation showed that system-generated questions could not be distinguished from human-generated questions in the context of two discussion topics while the difference between system-generated and human-generated questions was noticed in the context of one discussion topic. In addition, the evaluation study showed that system-generated questions that are relevant to a discussion topic correlate moderately with questions that are predicted as useful for students in developing new arguments in the context of two discussion topics and understandable system-generated questions are rated as useful in the context of one specific discussion topic.
... Questions of this type are referred to as explanation prompts and have demonstrated to be a promising instructional support feature (Berthold et al. 2011) and highly beneficial for learning (Chi et al. 1994). Questions can not only be used as a teaching technique by teachers; Yu and Liu (2008) reported that requesting students to pose questions by themselves during the learning process helps students develop both cognitive and metacognitive strategies. ...
The comparative effects of student-created feedback for online student-created multiple-choice questions (the experimental group) and online student-created multiple-choice questions alone (the control group) on middle school-aged students’ learning motivation and both positive and negative academic emotions were examined. A non-equivalent control group design was adopted. One hundred and nine seventh graders from four intact classes participated for 9 weeks. The results of the ANCOVA indicated that students in the experimental group scored significantly higher than those in the control group in learning motivation and positive academic emotions in the subject matter studied. No statistically significant differences in negative academic emotions in the subject matter studied between the two groups were supported by the ANCOVA results. Based on the findings, suggestions for instruction and future studies were provided.
Student question generation is a constructive strategy that enriches learning, yet is hardly practiced in higher education. The study described here presents a potential model for integrating student question generation into an education setting. In all, 133 students generated questions in groups, answered and assessed the questions of their peers. Comparison of the examination grades before and after question generation found that the activity did not result in a statistically significant improvement in achievements. However, a comparison of only the achievements in answering the higher-order thinking questions revealed an improvement in the students’ ability to cope with these types of question. Moreover, the students reported advantages, such as reduction of test anxiety, productive group learning and the creation of a question bank resulting from the activity, which helped the students study for the examination. The educational implications of the findings are discussed.
This study examined the effects of online access to peer-generated questions during question-generation activities on question-generation performance. This study adopted a quasi-experimental research method. Two eighth grade classes (N = 63) were randomly assigned to different groups—the online access experimental group and the no access contrast group, and participated in six weekly question-generation sessions. An online student question-generation learning system was adopted to support the activity. Independent-sample t-tests done on student week-by-week question-generation performance did not reveal significant differences between the two groups in any of the 6 weeks. The implication of the study is provided.
The study examined the predictive effects of online peer-assessment on student question-generation. Specifically, the individual and collective predictive effects of two types of feedback (i.e., quantitative ratings and descriptive comments) available in peer-assessment learning systems on student question-generation performance were investigated. A total of 233 students participated in the study for six weeks. An online learning system that allows students to contribute to and benefit from the process of question-generation and peer-assessment was adopted. The regression result found that quantitative ratings and descriptive comments individually and collectively significantly predicted question-generation performance. Suggestions for learning system development are provided.
While the learning potential of student-constructed tests for the promotion of knowledge integration and elaboration has been suggested, its learning effects warrant further empirical examination. Three fifth-grade classes (N=76) participated in this study for nine consecutive weeks. A one-group pre-post experimental research design was used, and an online student-constructed tests learning system was adopted to support elementary students' science learning. The results from the paired t-tests found significant increase in students' attitudes toward science and science learning motivation as a result of the incorporated activity. Yet, no significant differences were found in students' use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies after the activity. Based on the collected data, suggestions for instructional implementations are provided.
Currently, more than a dozen online learning systems to support student-generated questions are on the market. In view of the fact that constructing "tests"made of questions generated by students would promote further cognitive processing on the part of the students, but no systems supporting such activities have been developed, this study aimed at developing an online student-generated tests learning system. Anevaluation study was conducted to collect preliminary data with regard to the learning support of the developed system. Descriptive data analyzed highlighted two distinct aspects of the thought and learning process mobilized by student-generated tests. First, a global and macro view that highlights the integration and inter-connectednessof the entire study material. Second, technical issues associated with test construction skills. Suggestions for future study are provided.
Student question-generation (SQG) procedural guides differ in terms of level of concreteness, demands on cognitive skills and appropriateness for respective instructional units. Because existing studies exclusively examine the effects of individual guides, this study was aimed at an investigation of the effects of online SQG with multiple guides intended to promote elementary students' use of cognitive strategies and to improve academic performance while learning Chinese and science. A quasi-experimental research method and an online learning system with dynamic scaffolding designs were adopted to support student learning of Chinese and science via the SQG approach. Two fifth-grade classes (N=56) participated for eight weeks. Twice per week, in accordance with the instructors' schedules, students engaged in online SQG or self-study activities in their randomly assigned groups. The results of the analysis of covariance indicated significant differences between the two treatment groups in their use of cognitive strategies while learning Chinese and science, with students in the SQG group scoring significantly higher than those in the comparison group. However, academic achievement between the two groups did not differ significantly. Suggestions for instructional implementations and future studies are provided.
The focus of this study was to investigate the effects of student-question generation with online prompts on student academic achievement, question-generation performance, learning satisfaction and learning anxiety. This study adopted a quasi-experimental research design. Two classes of eighth grade students (N = 64) from one middle school participated in weekly 45-minute online question-generation learning sessions for 6 consecutive weeks. Data analyzed using ANCOVA indicated statistically significant differences between the two groups in regard to academic performance and question-generation performance with students assigned to the online prompts group performing significantly better than their counterparts assigned to the without prompts group. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in the areas of learning satisfaction and anxiety. Empirical and pedagogical significance of this study together with its implications for instructional implementation, system development, and future studies are provided. © International Forum of Educational Technology & Society (IFETS).
The differential effects of online student-constructed tests (SCT) and student-generated questions (SGQ) strategies on knowledge construction in term of the breadth, depth, interconnectivity and elaboration of knowledge were examined via a quasi-experimental research design. Two classes of undergraduates (N = 65) participated and were randomly assigned to two different treatment groups. An online system supporting the associated learning activities for the respective groups was developed. The results from the ANCOVA showed that students who engaged in SCT activities generated questions that covered significantly more concepts, involved significantly more levels of subordinate concepts, and built significantly more links between clusters of study topics, as compared to those in the SGQ group. Moreover, significantly more students in the SCT group engaged in item revision behavior than those in the SGQ group, and a majority of students in the SCT group exhibited item sequencing behavior, both of which are deemed indicative of knowledge elaboration. Suggestions and implications for instructional implementation, online system development and future studies are offered.
Discourse and argumentation are effective techniques for education not only in social domains but also in science domains. However, it is difficult for some teachers to stimulate an active discussion between students because several students might not be able to develop their arguments. This paper proposes to use WordNet as a semantic source in order to generate questions that are intended to stimulate student’s brainstorming and to help them develop arguments in a discussion session. In a study including 141 questions generated by human experts and 44 questions generated by a computer system, the following research questions have been investigated: Are system-generated questions understandable? Are they relevant to given discussion topics? Would they be useful for supporting students in developing new arguments? Are understandable and relevant system-generated questions predicted to be useful for students in order to develop new arguments? The evaluation showed that system-generated questions could not be distinguished from human-generated questions in the context of two discussion topics while the difference between system-generated questions and human-generated was noticed in the context of one discussion topic. In addition, the evaluation study showed that system-generated questions that are relevant to a discussion topic correlate moderately with questions that are predicted as useful for students in developing new arguments in the context of two discussion topics and understandable system-generated questions are rated as useful in the context of one specific discussion topic.
This study investigated the joint effects of online student question-generation and cooperative learning strategies with regard to learning anxiety and student perceptions of the value of the related activity for enhancing self-perceived competence. A 2 (question generation vs non-question generation) x 2 (cooperative learning vs individual learning) quasi-experimental research design was adopted. A total of 132 sixth graders from four classes participated in an intervention that lasted for four consecutive weeks. An online learning system that enabled students to construct, assess, and answer questions was used. An analysis of the data thus obtained revealed that the joint use of the cooperative learning and question-generation strategies did neither lead to less learning anxiety being associated with the activity, nor did it promote student perceptions of the value of the activity for enhancing self-competence with regard to either the learning content or strategies used, as compared to the approach using only one strategy. These unexpected results are explained with reference to cognitive load theory. The limitations and significance of this study are provided, along with suggestions for practitioners and researchers.
This study investigated the effects of online drill‐and‐practice activities using student‐generated questions on academic performance and motivation as compared with online drill‐and‐practice using teacher‐generated questions and no drill‐and‐practice in a student question‐generation (SQG) learning context. A quasi‐experimental research method was adopted for the purposes of this study. Six fifth‐grade classes (n = 145) participated in a weekly online activity for 5 weeks. Analysis of covariance results showed significant differences among the different treatment groups with regard to both academic performance and motivation. Post hoc comparisons using simultaneous confidence intervals, however, did not demonstrate the use of online SQG combined with answering peer‐generated questions to be more conducive to learning with regard to any of the observed variables as compared with the use of online SQG combined with answering teacher‐generated questions. Furthermore, answering student‐generated questions in addition to online SQG did not lead to added gains in learning as compared with the online SQG‐alone group. Some reasons for the unexpected findings are proposed, and the significance of this study, as well as suggestions for instructional implementations and future research, are provided.
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