Perceptions of Undergraduate Agricultural Education Students on the Effects of Question Difficulty and Postquestion Wait-time on Cognitive and Emotional Processes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of undergraduate agricultural students on the cognitive and emotional processes produced after exposure to low- and high-level questions, as well as the effects of post-question wait-time to determine the benefits of differing lengths of post-question wait-time based on the level of question. Forty students were shown four different treatment videos in this with-in subjects design, with each video being followed by either a low- or high-level question. Following each question, a wait-time period of either five seconds or ten seconds was employed before the subjects were instructed to answer the question. The student perceptions resulted in a difference between low- and high-level questions on question difficulty, variability in cognitive engagement, and positive and negative emotions, as well as a difference on their perceptions of what constituted an adequate amount of post- question wait-time for low- and high-level questions.