Defines debriefing as a process of guiding reflection on experience in order to learn from the experience. Examines why debriefing is necessary; who runs it; and when, where, and how it is conducted. Guides facilitators through five categories of questions: review, recall, and remember; affect/effect; summation; application; and commitment. (TD)

Investigates preservice elementary teachers' science process skills and the questioning strategies used during a discovery science lesson. Results indicate that subjects with a high level of competency in the science process skills asked significantly more questions and demonstrated an increased use of divergent, high-level, and…

Explores the relation between interrogative, a category of grammatical form, and question, a category of meaning. Mismatches between interrogative phrases and questioned elements are also investigated. Two kinds of interrogative and three kinds of question are distinguished. (47 references) (Author/CK)

Preschool children experienced two special events and were asked a set of questions about one of the events on four different occasions over a seven-week period. Findings suggest that adult questioning enhances memory for specific recall, but does not enhance general memory performance. Results raise issues regarding how much children tailor their…

Discusses the advantages of using multiple choice questions, highlighting the flexibility of using different variations of questions. Item writing guidelines include information on content, sensitivity, difficulty, irrelevant sources of difficulty, order, misleads, avoidance of clues, and exercises in the application of guidelines. (JKP)

Explored preschoolers' eyewitness testimony under conditions designed to maximize or degrade the quality of their event reports. Found that 3- to 4-year olds were highly accurate when questioned nonsuggestively about an engaging experience after a short delay, and could provide substantial information when prompted. However, they made many…

This study, with 39 4-year-olds, found that children had better free recall accuracy and lowered suggestibility when they participated with a "babysitter" rather than observed a babysitter and child. Addition of forensic context (by a policeman prior to questioning) increased error in free recall but did not affect children's accuracy in…

Finds that under certain conditions topic interest and prior knowledge can influence developmental-college-student-generated questions and that differential patterns of question construction emerge in multiple-choice and essay conditions. (SR)

Presents a review of the research on questioning skills. Discusses possible reasons why these skills are not being used in the classroom as often as they could or should be used. Explores various questioning strategies and how they can be used in the classroom to develop higher quality student thinking. (SR)

Incarcerated Connecticut youth (n=66) were interviewed using a protocol that elicited more self-reports of abusive experiences than did earlier direct questions about maltreatment. Conflicts underlying denial or minimization of abuse are discussed, along with interview strategies for overcoming them. (Author/DB)

Discusses critical thinking: what it is, analyzing what kinds are used, deciding what critical thinking skills to develop in courses, what specific teaching practices or assignments can incorporate these skills, and the implications of teaching critical thinking. (SR)

The article offers suggestions to teachers on improving their questioning skills. "Do's" include accepting all answers, offering verbal and nonverbal reinforcement, and allowing sufficient wait time after asking questions. "Don'ts" include asking only short-answer questions, asking questions that embarrass a student, and saying "wrong." (DB)

The article describes "boundary breakers," a communication activity in which a leader asks an open-ended question and all answers are acceptable. The article outlines suggestions for preparing for the activity, the rules of the activity, examples of successful adaptations, and classroom summaries and closures. Sample topic questions are offered.…

Describes a family and community oral history project suitable for use in adult basic education classes. Discusses developing interview questions, gathering family history, writing and editing the text, and illustrating the final product with photographs. (RS)

Twenty fourth grade students wrote brief answers to teacher questions on laminated response cards. Compared to hand raising, 6 target students exhibited more active student response during instruction, most of the 20 students scored higher on daily quizzes, and most preferred response cards over hand raising. (JDD)