| The nature of textbook questions has received frequent attention. Research on this area has shown that there is a preponderance of lower-level questions in textbooks in general and social studies textbooks in particular. These questions tend to measure students' ability to memorize facts, but not to think critically.;The major purpose of this study was to analyze, according to Bloom's Taxonomy, the cognitive levels of questions in Jordanian secondary social studies textbooks. This was done to determine whether significant differences existed among these texts in the distribution of lower- and higher-level questions.;The review of the literature addressed two major themes: critical thinking and questioning. In the first theme emphasis was placed on topics such as: nature of the critical thinking, critical thinking and social studies, and developing critical thinking through questioning. In the second theme, the following issues were addressed: the importance of questions, effects of higher- and lower-level questions on student achievement, and teacher and textbook questions, and research on social studies textbook questions analyzed via Bloom's Taxonomy.;A total of 822 questions in the eleventh and twelfth grades history and geography social studies textbooks were analyzed. Three raters analyzed the questions according to the subcategories of Bloom's Cognitive Domain (1956). Both frequency/percentage of incidence tables and chi-square cross-tabulation procedure were employed to analyze the data. Hypotheses were tested at the.05 level of significance.;Analysis of the data indicated that 83% of questions were at the lower cognitive levels (i.e. knowledge 35%, and comprehension 48%), and 17% at the higher cognitive levels (i.e. application 1%, analysis 9%, synthesis 4%, and evaluation 3%). A comparison of the levels questions in terms of subject areas revealed the following results: First, the comparison between the 11th and 12th grade history textbooks yielded a chi-square value of 11.628. This value was statistically significant at the.05 level. Second, the comparison between the 11th and 12th grade geography textbooks yielded a small chi-square value of.249 which was statistically insignificant at the.05 level.;The major conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that there is a preponderance of lower level questions in Jordanian secondary history and geography textbooks. Higher level questions that help to develop student thinking skills were not well-represented in these textbooks.;In view of the findings of this study several recommendations were made. On the whole, it was recommended that teachers, textbook authors, and administrators should become familiar with various levels of questions and the usefulness of employing each level. |
