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 improve learning and, importantly, make students’ misconceptions visible.

The activity also required students to work actively with the content rather than simply review it. The researchers found that students who generated questions improved their learning in the evaluated cases, while students reported generally positive attitudes toward the method.

The researchers stress that reviewing and correcting student-generated questions is important. The questions themselves can reveal prior knowledge, misconceptions and developing understanding.

This creates an interesting reversal in classroom practice:

Instead of asking students only to answer the teacher’s questions, ask students what questions should be asked.

✔ Try Tomorrow

At the end of a lesson:

• Ask each student to write three questions about the topic.
• Ask them to identify the most difficult question.
• Exchange questions between students.
• Discuss which questions reveal the deepest understanding.

★ One Key Takeaway

When students create the questions, teachers gain another window into how students are thinking.

Keywords

Student-generated questions, active learning, misconceptions, formative assessment, conceptual understanding, student questioning

📖 Original Research

Gil Llinás, J., & Tobaja Márquez, L. M. (2023). An educational method based on student-generated questions. International Journal of Educational Methodology, 9(2), 333–343.