31.01.2025
Qualification Scholars
Timon Demburg
Student Questions in Classroom Interaction: A Comparative Analysis Considering Question Quality in Elementary German and Mathematics Lessons
In academic discourse, the significance of student-generated questions for initiating learning and educational processes is undisputed. Although student questions occur far less frequently in classroom interactions than teacher questions, they are considered to have high didactic potential, especially when they are content-focused and formulated at a higher qualitative level concerning the subject matter. Such questions can activate learners’ prior knowledge, motivate them to engage in transfer tasks, and present new challenges by requiring the retrieval and contextualization of existing knowledge. However, in current elementary education research, few studies explicitly address the qualitative level of student questions in the classroom. Both internationally and nationally, studies on the importance and structure of teacher questions dominate the discourse on teaching and instructional quality.
To address this research gap, the present doctoral project focuses on investigating student-generated questions, particularly their quality, in whole-class discussions in elementary German and mathematics lessons. The study aims to examine and compare the practice of student questioning in these subjects using ethnomethodological conversation analysis. Furthermore, it seeks to empirically explore the learning processes initiated by student questions and leverage the resulting insights for practical didactic applications.
Studium und Abschluss:
2018 – 2023: Studium „Lehramt an Grundschulen“ mit den Fächern Mathematik, Germanistik und Sport an der Universität Kassel
Examensarbeit: „Demokratie entdeckend lernen – Explorative Überlegungen zur Entwicklung sozialer Experimente in der Grundschule“
Berufsbezogene Tätigkeiten:
Seit 01/2024: Stipendiat an der Universität Kassel im DFG-Graduiertenkolleg „Fachlichkeit und Interaktionspraxis in der Grundschule“ (INTERFACH)
2023 – 2024: Studentische Hilfskraft in der Grundschulwerkstatt der Universität Kassel
2022 – 2023: Studentische Hilfskraft in der Mathematikwerkstatt der Universität Kassel
2022: Tutor am Institut für Mathematik bei der Veranstaltung „Diagnostik & Fördern I“
2021 – 2022: Lehrauftrag an der Grundschule am Lindenplatz in Bergshausen (Fuldabrück)