الملخص الإنجليزي
The present study aimed at identifying the cognitive level of questions commonly asked by teachers of Islamic Education in the Prep Stage classrooms in Muscat. The effects of the variables of sex, experience, subject branches, and grade on the cognitive level of these questions are investigated. The study sought answers to the following questions: 1. What are the cognitive levels of questions commonly used by teachers of Islamic Education in Prep Stage classrooms in Muscat? 2. How do some variables affect the cognitive level of these questions? The sample of the study consisted of 60 male and female teachers. This was a stratified sample in which six, welayah, subject branches and grade were all taken into consideration. The study used the analytic descriptive method of research. The researcher designed two instruments for the purpose of this study. One was a list of the cognitive levels of questions. This also included the behavioral verbs belonging to each level of Bloom's taxonomy. The other was a scheme for the analysis of the content of classroom questions posed by the teacher. The following are the major findings of this study: Most teachers' questions were confined to the lowest level of Bloom's taxonomy, i.e. recall questions. These amounted to 1786 questions. Comprehension questions amounted to 766. Application questions amounted to 81, therefore, constituting the third rank in terms of frequency. The next category was evaluated which amounted to 19 questions. Analysis and synthesis questions were very few in number amounting to 12 and 4 questions respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between the means of teachers questions that are attributable to the following variables: sex of teachers except for recall, branches of the subject except for recall and application, and grade except for recall. A number of recommendations were made in the light of these findings. Newly appointed teachers should be required to attend training courses focusing on how to formulate varied questions. Recommendations for further research were also made.
