Abstract
This study investigated problem-setting processes in knowledge-building activities considered important in graduate school education. Six graduate school students and a teacher assistant participated in group discussions (GD) in which no theme or problem was set. Questions that participants posed in the GDs were categorized into four functions and were analyzed on the basis of the relation between the quality of questions and problem setting in GDs. The results showed that higher-order questions involving analyzing, comparing, integrating, etc. of other’s opinions were related to problem setting for discussion. At first, the teacher assistant, who took the role of facilitator, generated more questions than other members. Because of the GDs, participants could subsequently generate more questions, some of even higher order than the teacher assistant’s, and adopted a more positive stance in the discussions.
