Testing is always an important ingredient in my research and courses. I am especially interested in finding suitable ways of recording user behaviors for the purpose of optimizing instruction. Techniques that I frequently employ are think-aloud protocols coupled to observations and the use of logging techniques. Especially the recent logging programs afford wonderful insights into user actions by their inobtrusive nature and capacity to playback a video of all the user's key presses as shown on the user's computer screen. Information seeking behavior.
Question asking is probably the most important intellectual ability man has yet developed.
Nevertheless, the topic is not studied widely or intensively. I have been intrigued by this phenomenon for a very long time and have had many discussions on the topic with Jim Dillon from the University of California, Riverside. I am particularly interested in finding new ways to unravel the thought processes of question asking as it evolves from a vague feeling of uneasiness through an expressed question into a resolution. Ten misconceptions about minimalism. A componential analysis.