What’s in a question? A Comparison of Student Questions in Two Learning Spaces

Active learning pedagogy is thought to allow more opportunities for student interaction. Given that students are more interactive, student questions may reveal how active learning pedagogy may enhance student learning outcomes. The purpose of this research was to investigate the frequency, distribution, and type of questions asked by students during class meetings in two instructional contexts: a traditional lecture classroom and an interactive learning space classroom. A neuroanatomy and neurophysiology for speech, language and hearing course was taught in the two spaces in subsequent semesters. A total of 99 enrolled students gave consent. Six 75-minute class meetings from each classroom were recorded; questions were transcribed, labeled for location and coded for depth: non-content, foundational knowledge, and application of knowledge questions. The results revealed that the frequency of student questions was similar in both spaces. However, the questions were more distributed in the interactive space. The highest proportion of questions posed were application questions in both spaces with more application questions in the traditional space but more non-content questions in the interactive space. Course design, immediacy, and student maturity may have influenced the types of questions observed. Instructors who implement active learning pedagogy may see more student engagement through questions