AUTONOMY AND QUESTION ASKING - THE ROLE OF PERSONAL CONTROL IN GUIDEDSTUDENT-GENERATED QUESTIONING

University students in small groups used a question-asking strategy to guide their discussion of material presented in class lectures. Stude nts in a learner-controlled condition used thought-provoking generic q uestion stems to guide them in generating their own discussion questio ns specific to the lecture, whereas those in an experimenter-controlle d condition were provided with similar lecture-specific questions gene rated by students in the same course during the previous semester usin g identical question stems. Students in both conditions posed their qu estions to their small-group peers and answered each other's questions . On tests of lecture comprehension students who generated their own q uestions outperformed students provided with others' questions. Locus of control was also a predictor of performance. Internals allowed to g enerate their own questions performed better on comprehension tests th an internals provided with others' questions. Because of its small n, this study must be considered a pilot; however, results of this study do suggest that learner control in guided questioning may be a benefic ial feature of that strategy, at least for individuals with internal l ocus of control.