A Meta-Analysis of Experimental Research on Teacher Questioning Behavior

The meta-analytic technique was used to synthesize experimental research findings on the relationship between level of teacher questioning and student achievement. Twenty studies on teachers’ use of “higher” and “lower” cognitive questions were reviewed. Higher cognitive questions require pupils to manipulate information to create and support a response; lower cognitive questions call for verbatim recall or recognition of factual information. Effect sizes were computed to investigate the impact of program monitoring, experimental validity, and level of teacher questioning. Results show that gains in achievement can be expected when higher cognitive questions assume a predominant role during classroom instruction.