An exploratory study of student question-asking in science classroom

Abstract

Despite the significance of students' questions for both teaching and learning, much of this potential remains untapped due to the fact that students do not often ask questions in the classroom. Several attempts were made to shed light on this dearth of classroom questioning, there is, however, a lack of contemporary research, especially with a particular focus on secondary school students. To investigate students' perceptions of question asking and to understand barriers to the expression of questions, the current study employed a mixed-method research design. The first phase involved a qualitative survey to elicit deeper insights into students' perspectives and experiences. The insights obtained from this phase were then used to validate the content of the questionnaire in the subsequent quantitative phase. Results showed that most students were aware of how asking questions is of great importance in different facets of their own learning and could be helpful to their classmates and teachers to some degree. However, they may refrain from asking due to the language difficulty and a fear of asking. In particular, students are often afraid of receiving negative responses and bothering others. Significant differences between boys and girls were found. The study also highlighted the role of perceived importance and fear of asking in predicting the frequency of student questions and suggested a new direction for research on student questioning. In addition, relevant implications for teaching practices were discussed.