How you start a lesson can shape what students pay attention to and how they engage with what follows. Traditionally, many teachers have used learning objectives to highlight what students are expected to learn. But what if, instead of telling students what they are going to learn, we asked them questions about it first? Research suggests that these ‘pre-questions’ can prime students for learning and may offer some advantages over traditional learning objectives.
Let’s find out more, including:
What is the difference between pre-questions and learning objectives?
Many if not most teachers traditionally use learning objectives to outline the content of their lessons, to draw students’ attention to the key themes or goals of the session. They can also act as a benchmark for your students to independently evaluate their understanding of a given topic.
Pre-questions are an alternative way to prime your students before revealing the content. They are also given at the beginning of a lesson, but they are also revisited at the end and mixed with new questions. This can allow teachers to assess understanding of main concepts, alongside the content as a whole. The main difference is that they are posed as a question, as opposed to a statement.
While learning objectives are traditionally available for students to refer to as they study, pre-questions are not. Research indicates that pre-questions are more reliant on memory, as studies have found the questions to only be beneficial when actively remembered as the students learnt. This makes use of Retrieval Practice, helping students to reinforce their understanding of the material.
Understanding how these pre-questions and learning objects overlap and differ can be useful when deciding whether to stick to the traditional learning objectives, or to trial pre-questions in your classes. To help you decide, we have compiled some findings from recent studies into which is more effective at helping students learn below.
The research into pre-questions and learning objectives
Studies have previously found learning objectives to be more effective than learning without them. However, the negative impact they have on the information they don’t cover is still a cause for concern. Not all exam questions will be on the exact, typically broad sub-topic a Learning Objective may describe.
On the other hand, studies have frequently produced findings in support of a Pre-question Effect, suggesting the questions do more than just indicate upcoming material. Unlike learning objectives, a recent study highlights how pre-questions have no negative impact on the learning of information not mentioned in them. Researchers also investigated learning from spoken content when primed with pre-questions and found the effect is still present.
Research has also linked pre-questions to Metacognition. As the questions are designed for students to struggle with, they heighten your students’ awareness of their own knowledge gaps. This can help them maintain focus as they actively learn, as they become more attentive to filling these gaps.
Finally, recent research has provided interesting results demonstrating pre-questions to be more effective at increasing test scores than the learning objective and reading only (control) conditions. Plus, the study also found no advantage of learning objectives over reading without any form of prompt.
These findings do strongly present pre-questions as the more effective form of signposting during learning. So, if you have decided it may be beneficial to switch out learning objectives, we have some tips below to support a smooth transition.
How and when to use pre-questions
1. Don’t make the questions too difficult
In one study, the questions the researchers used were too difficult. They were too long, wordy, and some required more complex responses (i.e. ‘explain’ questions as opposed to ‘name’ or ‘describe’). Research demonstrates how the format of the pre-questions and the final test can differ and still produce the Pre-question Effect.
So, we suggest focusing on the information you believe is most important for your students to learn and presenting them in short-answer questions to avoid overwhelming your students. Plus, the questions you form can be used to support your students’ Retrieval Practice, as the questions can become ‘prompts’ for your students’ revision later down the line.
2. Pick the questions from later parts of the study material
According to researchers, pre-questions open an ‘attentional window’ where learners are more engaged with content as they actively search for the answers. This is described as the Attentional Window Hypothesis, which suggests picking the content for the questions from later in the content can help create a general Pre-question Effect. The further in the material the answer is, the longer the window is open, allowing for more active engagement with content not mentioned within the pre-questions.
3. Manage student frustration
Giving your students questions that they are unlikely to excel at can sometimes be discouraging or frustrating. We suggest when giving them the questions, be explicit about the questions being low stakes. Emphasis on the questions as a priming activity, rather than a graded test or knowledge check can help minimise the chance of students seeing a poor result as reflective of their ability.
Final thoughts on pre-questions
Whilst traditional learning objectives are a comfortable standard for engaging your students with the lesson materials, they may be considered passive in comparison to pre-questions. By triggering metacognitive thinking and minimising the risk of selective attention negatively impacting the learning process, pre-questions can be the dynamic primer your students need to kick-start the learning process.
