Relationship Between a Teacher Educator’s Questions and the Development of Prospective Teachers’ Critical Thinking - Article

Oct 15, 2026

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This study examines how the cognitive demands embedded in a teacher educator’s questions relate to prospective teachers’ critical thinking capacity. A teacher educator and 32 prospective teachers participated, and question demands alongside critical-thinking performance were analyzed using systematic observation. Findings show higher mental demand questions align with higher-order cognitive processing, producing longer responses that reflect deeper critical thinking. Implications emphasize intentionally sustaining higher cognitive demand to support optimal critical-thinking development.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages36

Reading Time1 h 31 min

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Abstract

Purpose

Design/Approach/Methods

Findings

Originality/Value

Introduction

Critical thinking in postsecondary education

Questioning as a pathway to critical thinking

Theoretical framework

Relationship Between a Teacher Educator’s Questions and the Development of Prospective Teachers’ Critical Thinking Yilmaz Soysal and Somayyeh Soysal Istanbul Aydin University ECNU Review of Education 2023, Vol. 6(1) 105–140 © The Author(s) 2022 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/20965311221107028](DOI: 10.1177/20965311221107028)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/20965311221107028)[journals.sagepub.com/home/roe](journals.sagepub.com/home/roe) Abstract Purpose: This study explores the relationships between the cognitive demands of the questions asked by a teacher educator (TE) and prospective teachers’ (PT) capacity for critical thinking (CT). Design/Approach/Methods: Participants comprised a TE and 32 PTs. The cognitive demands of the TE’s questions and PTs’ CT were analyzed using a systematic observation approach. Findings: Results indicate that there are tangible connections between the increasing mental demand of TE questions and PTs’ higher-order cognitive processing. The PTs achieved higherorder CT when the TE asked more cognitively demanding questions. For instance, when the TE’s questions were pitched at the cognitive demand levels—namely, the analyze, evaluate, and/ or create levels—the PT answers were longer and reﬂected higher CT, such as inductive reasoning, suggesting new ways of thinking, or legitimating the arguments of others. Accordingly, results suggest that intentionally subjecting PTs to sustained higher cognitive demands via questions may help them reach their optimal CT capacity. Originality/Value: Although proposed teaching strategies have been invaluable in proposing content-speciﬁc interventions for fostering the CT of university students, how lecturers should use their questions to conduct such interventions has been overlooked. This study addresses this gap. Corresponding author: Yilmaz Soysal, Istanbul Aydin University, Beşyol Mah. İnönü Cad. No. 38 Sefaköy-Küçükçekmece, Istanbul 34290, Turkey. Email: yi[lmazsoysal@aydin.edu.tr](lmazsoysal@aydin.edu.tr) Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as speciﬁed on the SAGE and Open Access page ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)). Keywords Cognitive demand, critical thinking, prospective teachers, question, teacher educator Date received: 4 December 2021; revised: 22 February 2022, 11 March 2022; accepted: 18 April 2022 Introduction Critical thinking (CT) involves the “active, persistent and careful consideration of a belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it”(Dewey, 1910, p. 6) . A critical thinker utilizes cognitive and dispositional strategies—such as analyzing, understanding, inferencing, inductive and deductive reasoning, and legitimating the validity and reliability of data source—to enhance the probability of a desirable outcome (Halpern, 1999) . According to Ennis (1993), CT is a “reasonable reﬂective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do”(p. 180) . Numerous researchers, policymakers, and educators have recognized the key role of CT in the context of postsecondary education (e.g., Arum & Roksa, 2011; Hammer & Green, 2011; Moore, 2011, 2013). Indeed, CT has been described as an essential component of high-quality postsecondary education. According to Chan (2016), teaching CT in the context of higher education is fundamental to students becoming self-sufﬁcient, independent, and well-rounded thinkers. However, developing critical thinkers within mass higher educa

FAQs

What relationship does the study investigate?

The study investigates how the cognitive demands of a teacher educator’s questions relate to prospective teachers’ capacity for critical thinking.

How were participants and data analyzed?

A teacher educator and 32 prospective teachers participated, and systematic observation was used to analyze the cognitive demands of the questions and the critical thinking outcomes.

What happens when teacher educator questions are more cognitively demanding?

Prospective teachers produce higher-order critical thinking, including longer answers that reflect analyze, evaluate, and/or create-level thinking such as inductive reasoning and legitimating arguments.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by hdkawk