An Examination of Second Graders' Construction and Interpretation of Questions Used during Social Studies Interviews

Abstract

An investigation was conducted to determine whether the level of social studies interview questions second graders formulate and use can be increased with questioning instruction in terms of quality, which is defined as depth of response, and in terms of quantity. This was a quantitative study using both qualitative and quantitative data in which the students in both an experimental and a control class were divided into five groups of four students and engaged in a study of Abraham Lincoln. As an intervention, the students in Class A were exposed to various types of questions, each of which required a different level of response, and instructed on how to ask a higher order question that requests an open-ended answer. This study took place at a K-3 primary school of approximately 748 students in its sixth year of operation in a large school system surrounding a small city in the southeastern United States. This school prides itself on being able to concentrate on developmentally appropriate practices for young children while they are still in the formative stages of their educational growth. The participants in this research study were second grade students in two classes taught by the researcher/educator. The research study was conducted in the social studies/science discovery laboratory class these students attended for social studies and science instruction. The students attended this class for a period of 40 minutes a day every other week. All of the students were able to ask questions and give reasonable responses to questions. Quantitatively, the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test was used to evaluate the interview questions of both groups. Given useful and relevant information in class, students were able to create questions and responses related to the topic. When given imbedded instruction in questioning, the experimental groups' ability to ask higher order questions increased notably while the control groups' ability to ask higher order questions remained unchanged. Similar themes in questions emerged in both groups. The level of the response seemed to be directly related to the level of the questions asked. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone [phone]. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]