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According to researchers asking questions is a crucial component in learning. And students who ask the right kinds of questions (deep-level reasoning) comprehend new subjects quicker, improve their reasoning skills and are more creative than other students. A deep-level reasoning question is one which asks how or why. The average student only asks one question for every six hours they are in class and typically, those questions are not deep-level reasoning questions.

Researchers at the University of Memphis Institute for Intelligent Systems (IIS) have shown that presenting course content through deep-level reasoning questions promotes learning. They are planning to take the research one step further thanks to a grant from the Department of Education’s Institute of Educational Sciences. The $1,050,000 grant will fund a three-year study that could improve the way science is taught to students.

During the first year of the study, researchers will work with one middle and one high school class in Memphis to teach students how to ask deep-level reasoning questions with the help of AutoTutor (a computer tutor developed by the U of M’s Institute for Intelligent Systems.) The researchers will also work with science teachers to develop course content to be presented through deep-level reasoning questions. A specialist in science education and in training teachers in science education will also train the teachers in how to use small in-class discussion groups to improve science education. Each year the study will be expanded to include more middle and high school science classes.

The IIS, a research center affiliated with the University’s FedEx Institute of Technology, is an interdisciplinary enterprise comprised of researchers and students from the fields of computer science, mathematics, cognitive psychology, physics, neuroscience, education, linguistics, philosophy, anthropology, engineering and business. Intelligent systems differ from conventional technologies in that they are fast, dynamic, flexible and adaptive. Researchers in the IIS have developed technologies in the cutting-edge areas of cognitive science, artificial intelligence, complex dynamic systems, neural networks, evolutionary modeling, massively parallel systems and biological systems.

The University of Memphis FedEx Institute of Technology is a state-of-the-art research facility. Resident researchers and students are studying artificial intelligence, robotics, multimedia communications, business networks and supply chains and work space planning. With support from its Partner Network of business, research and government organizations, the Institute identifies and invests in the development of new ideas, approaches and technologies in three priority areas: learning technologies, business network and supply chain tools and biomedical/biosensor technologies.

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