• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.221-244
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• 2021

To examine the limitations of the the Blosser's (1973) 'Question Category System for Science', which is mainly applied to research in science education in Korea, we analyzed 30 hours of class conversation in a small group program (for first-year middle school students) with a researcher participating as a teacher. When classified according to Blosser's (1973) classification system, distinguishing between 'open and closed questions' was difficult. Questions with the same content were classified into different types depending on their context, whereas some questions could not be classified appropriately. Additionally, higher-level questions (open questions) were not more effective than lower-level questions (closed questions) in improving students' thinking ability or participation in class. The questionnaire's effect differed depending on the information provided by the teacher before questioning, and in many cases, previous question influenced the next questions. However, in the science education questionnaire research based on Blosser's (1973) classification, which is mainly conducted in Korea, each individual question is classified according to the cognitive level, disregarding the influence of context and prior and subsequent questions and the quality of instructions is evaluated by the frequency of higher level questioning. The results of this study indicate that the method of evaluating instruction quality based on the frequency of high-level questioning, which is currently conducted in domestic science education inquiry research, should be avoided.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.439-460
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• 2019

In this study, we examined classroom interaction to explore the relationships among teacher questions, turn-taking patterns, and student talks in mathematics classrooms. We analyzed lessons given by three elementary teachers (two first-grade teachers and one second-grade teacher) who worked in the same school using a conversation-analytic approach. We observed individual classrooms three times in a year. The results revealed that when teachers provided open-ended questions, such as "why and how" questions and "agree and disagree" questions, and used a non-IRE pattern (teacher initiation-student response-teacher feedback; Mehan, 1979), students more actively engaged in classroom discourse by justifying their ideas and refuting others' thinking. Conversely, when teachers provided closed-ended questions, such as "what" questions, and used an IRE pattern, students tended to give short answers focusing on only one point. The findings suggested teachers should use open-ended questions and non-IRE turn-taking patterns to create an effective math-talk learning community. In addition, school administrators and mathematics educators should support teachers to acquire practical knowledge regarding this approach.