Asking why builds learning

By Shaun Allison2019-05-29T08:45:00

An image showing a teacher holding a string; a student is placing beads on the string, which read Exothermic, Combustion, and Heat + Energy

Source: © Claudia Flandoli

Questioning helps organise new information

Elaborative interrogation is the process of prompting students to generate an explanation for an explicitly stated fact. This usually involves an explanatory prompt in the form of a question eg ‘Why does it make sense that …?’. The research evidence suggests elaborative interrogation works because it enhances learning by supporting the integration of new information with existing prior knowledge. This article explains how to do it in the classroom.

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