Benefits of questioning in university education: Cases of 2020 and 2021 online Cognitive Science of Theatre courses

Abstract

We conducted an undergraduate course that incorporates “transaction between questioning by students and answering by teachers (TQA).” The question levels were scored by evaluating whether they were based on the course content and whether the students added their own hypotheses or predictions. Final papers were also scored by considering how the students could formulate a logical, consistent research plan based on the course content. Latent curve analyses revealed that the slope of the cumulative question scores predicted the report scores (B = 1:38 and 1.78, non-standardized solution) in both 2020 (178 students) and 2021 (160 students). By contrast, the ability to think and express high-level questions at the beginning of the course (i.e., intercept) had no predictive power. The results suggest that repeated high-level questioning during class can predict critical thinking at the end of class. Qualitative analyses of students' reflections on the impact of class participation showed that they found questioning effective in that they experienced a more in-depth understanding of the course content. At the same time, asking questions was not always easy for them. Students also recognized that TQA provided exciting opportunities, opening up new ways of thinking about the same content, even when studying independently. The findings of this study are discussed in terms of factors that inhibit questioning during class. Introducing video-streaming lectures would relax time constraints and the psychological burden.