The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a question-exploration routine and an associated graphic organizer on students' ability to think about and answer complex questions. Participants were 116 students of diverse abilities in seven 7th grade classes. The effects of the routine were compared with the effects of a traditional lecture-discussion format using a counterbalanced design. The measure, composed of matching, multiple-choice, and short-answer questions, assessed students' knowledge and comprehension of facts, main ideas, and relationships that require higher order thinking. Overall, significant differences representing large to very large effect sizes were found between the total test scores of students in the 2 groups. Specifically, students taught using the question-exploration routine earned higher total test scores than did students taught using the lecture-discussion method. Similar differences were found for matching, multiple-choice, and short-answer items. The scores earned by subgroups of students (high achievers, average achievers, low achievers, and students with disabilities) followed the same general pattern. Students in all subgroups had more difficulty conveying main ideas in writing than in multiple-choice formats. (Contains 1 table and 6 figures.)