Computers stimulate the generation of questions among students

The need to develop a learning model for processing information in a computer-based learning environment led the researcher to undertake this study. The purpose was to develop a taxonomy of student questions for determining the role of student questions in a computer-based learning environment. The goal was to use the taxonomy in two algebra 1 classroom environments one featuring a textbook (TXT-Algebra Environment) and the other computers (CAI-Algebra Environment) with the objective of comparing the number and types of student questions. Twenty students from University High School were randomly assigned to each of the two classroom environments, and after four weeks of teaching the number of student questions and achievement test scores were collected as data which were analyzed using inferential, and descriptive statistics to test the formulated hypotheses. It was hypothesized that students in the TXT-Algebra Environment would ask the same number of questions in each category as students in the CAI-Algebra Environment, and that students in the CAI-Algebra Environment would score the same on the achievement tests as students in the TXT-Algebra Environment. Results indicated that students in the CAI-Algebra Environment asked more questions than students in the TXT-Algebra Environment on the single category of high level and low level subject matter questions, on the two combined categories of high level and low level subject matter questions, on the three combined categories of subject matter, general and classroom management questions, and on the four combined categories of high level and low level subject matter questions to teacher and to student. Descriptive statistics further support the observation that students in the CAI-Algebra Environment generated more questions than students in the TXT-Algebra Environment since there was a difference in quantities of means between the two environments. Students performed differently on achievement tests and the teaching methods did influence students' performance on these tests. These findings led to the conclusion that computers stimulate the generation of questions among students in conceptually demanding material.