Action research – questioning techniques in the FE sector: a qualitative study

This action research intervention examined the use of questioning strategies in the classroom, introducing a rich ‘question-diet’ to promote increased learning, engagement and independent thinking. A qualitative approach was taken, using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore the meaning-making and personal experiences of the students' experience of the intervention. The study was conducted with an upper sixth-form psychology class at a west London further education college. The results showed that students reported experiencing increased learning due to underlying factors such as increased independent thinking, effective sharing of knowledge, and increased engagement, all resulting wholly or partly from the questioning strategy adopted. This outcome points to the essential value of using a rich variety of questions, and the benefits of planning when and with which learner to use different question strategies. However, as the intervention was conducted on a relatively small class, there may have been issues with participant reactivity and demand characteristics. Effective methods to reduce bias in classroom action research interventions are outlined and discussed.