PROMOTING KNOWLEDGE-GENERATION IN HISTORY - A CONTRIBUTION TO LEARNING BY DISCOVERY THROUGH EPISTEMIC QUESTIONING

Learning by discovery is based on the assumption chat knowledge is con structed by the learners. A training in epistemic questioning about th e topics of five lessons in history was conducted in order to promote the knowledge generation processes of seventh graders. A training in q uestions for historical facts was compared to a training in questions for conditions and functions as ''object''-characteristics of those fa cts. The promotion of ''object''-questions which serve to elaborate fa cts resulted in higher knowledge levels in training and transfer, and raised students' interests in history more than the training in questi ons for facts.