Intervention during preparation for learning: Focusing on how to generate questions and on answering the questions generated

Abstract

The present study examined effects of an intervention on how to generate questions during preparation for learning, in which participants were encouraged to answer the questions that they had generated, in the context of the learners' beliefs about learning. Junior high school students (N = 87) participated in the study, which was conducted for 5 days in experimental history classes. The students were assigned to 1 of the following groups: (a) generating questions freely during preparation for learning, (b) receiving an intervention on how to generate questions during preparation for learning, and (c) receiving an intervention on how to generate questions, in which they were encouraged to answer those questions. The results showed that the intervention on how to generate questions directed learners who thought that rote memorization was more important than understanding to generate more questions about the relations between facts. That intervention also directed these learners' attention during the lectures to information relating to the questions. In addition, answering the questions that they had generated during preparation increased learners' integration of information during the lectures, and therefore enhanced their understanding of the contents of the lectures.