When Students Start Asking the Questions The deepest shift may be from answering questions to creating them. Excellent Educator, 3(16), 9-10, 2026 🧠 Research in Brief Student-generated questions can turn questioning into an active learning activity. In the study, students generated multiple-choice questions while preparing for examinations. The researchers found evidence that the method could […]
From “What?” to “Why?” The quality of a question can change the quality of thinking. Excellent Educator, 3(16), 5-6, 2026 🧠 Research in Brief Research on question-and-answer teaching highlights the potential of questions to move students beyond simple recall toward critical, analytical and higher-order thinking. Argumentative questioning, in particular, requires students to explain and support
The Power of a Silent Pause in Questioning Sometimes the best response to a question is to wait. Excellent Educator, 3(16), 3-4, 2026 🧠 Research in Brief Research on questioning shows that students often need more time than teachers naturally give them. Yet extending the pause has been associated with longer student responses, increased student
The Question That Keeps Students Thinking Questions can do more than check an answer. Excellent Educator, 3(16), 1-2, 2026 🧠 Research in Brief Classroom questions are not all used in the same way. Research examining 755 tag questions in classroom and workshop teaching found that their function changed according to the teaching context. In whole-class
When Questions Become a Thinking Method The deepest shift may be from answering questions to creating them. Excellent Educator, 3(16), 7-8, 2026 🧠 Research in Brief The Socratic method is based on teaching through questions and discussion rather than simply telling students what to know. The paper describes it as teaching by asking instead of
Different Students Remember Differently One lesson does not create one memory. Excellent Educator, 3(15), 1-2, 2026 🧠 Research in Brief Students do not forget at the same rate. This study developed a knowledge-tracing model showing that each learner follows a different pattern of forgetting rather than one common memory curve. By recognising these individual differences,
Memory Grows Stronger After Retrieval Some forgetting creates an opportunity for stronger remembering. Excellent Educator, 3(15), 3-4, 2026 🧠 Research in Brief This review challenges the belief that forgetting is always harmful. The authors explain that certain learning conditions that produce some forgetting—such as spacing study sessions, changing learning contexts, and interleaving different topics—can strengthen
Strong Foundations for Stronger Memories Deep understanding builds stronger memories. Excellent Educator, 3(15), 5-6, 2026 🧠 Research in Brief This study investigated whether deeper processing slows the rate of forgetting. Participants learned information using either deep semantic processing (thinking about meaning) or shallow processing (focusing on surface features such as sounds or letters). Deep processing
