Teaching questioning fosters adolescent curiosity: Analyzing impact through multiple-group structural equation modeling

Abstract

Research has found that directly teaching students to question positively affects academic outcomes. Although theoretically questioning is believed to foster numerous “noncognitive” outcomes, relatively few studies have considered the impact of direct instruction in questioning on students’ curiosity and related motivational constructs. The present quasi-experimental study investigated the impact of a student question-brainstorming intervention (the Question Formulation Technique; QFT) on adolescents’ curiosity, cognitive school engagement, and self-efficacy (achievement efficacy and self-regulatory school efficacy) over one school year. Multiple-group structural equation path modeling was utilized to consider the impact of the intervention on these constructs, while accounting for the interrelationships among the variables. Results indicated a positive impact of the QFT on students’ curiosity, but a negative impact on students’ self-regulatory for self-efficacy learning and cognitive engagement. Limitations and implications for educators are discussed.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the John Templeton Foundation under Grant #58319.