Teach students how to ask their own questions
A deep dive into the Right Question Institute
Question Formulation Technique
Overview: Getting to know RQI & QFT:
Acknowledgements:
A special thank you goes out to Sarah Westbrook, The Right Question Institute, and Nicole Bolduc, Ellington Middle School for giving permission for the use of some of the slides from a pair of March 2020 webinars they presented for the NGSS-ESS Implementation Working Group community.
You’ll find archived versions of the webinars here:
Teach Students How to Ask Their Own Questions To Explore Phenomena in an NGSS Classroom
and
How to "NGSS-ify" the Question Formulation Technique: A Deep Dive
Why all the fuss about asking questions:
Where did RQI & QFT originate?
Notable quotes:
"There is no learning without having to pose a question."
Richard Feynman, Nobel Laureate, Physics, 1965
“The primary skills should be analytical skills of interpretation and inquiry. In other words, know how to frame a question.”
Leon Botstein, President of Bard College
“…There is no greater gift to bestow on students than the gift of curiosity.”
James Ryan, President of the Univ of VA
Question asking declines with age:
Who asks the questions in classrooms?
Research confirms the importance of questioning:
Self-questioning (metacognitive strategy):
John Hattie
Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800
meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement, 2008
What do students say?
Boston 9th grade summer school student
The QFT: Collaborative learning & questioning
With QFT students learn to:
Image credit: https://c0.wallpaperflare.com/preview/528/352/882/teacher-teaching-children-raising-hands-in-classroom.jpg
The QFT, on one slide…
Question Formulation Technique rules:
1. Ask as many questions as you can
2. Do not stop to answer, judge, or discuss
3. Write down every question exactly as stated
4. Change any statements into questions
Jamboard basics:
Jamboard Basics visuals courtesy of Tara Schneider
Jam Tools
15
Let’s try a QFT!
The RQI / QFT Process:
The RQI / QFT Process: focus statements & images
Post-QFT: Assessing questioning skills:
Honoring student ?’s - What can students do with the questions after the QFT?:
Honoring student ?’s - What can students do with the questions after the QFT?:
QFT variations: not only for the classroom
Resources:
101questions: library of searchable images for QFTs
Right Question Institute: Question Formulation Technique
Resources:
Dan Meyer’s Three Act Math Tasks: videos, questions, lesson ideas
NGSS Science & Engineering Practices: Questioning Learning Progressions
Earth View from Google Maps: new location each time you open a new tab
Question Focus Collaborative Bank:
Organized by grade level & subject
How will you use questioning differently in your classroom?
Access to RQI Free Resources:
https://rightquestion.org/events/
Classroom Examples
Instructional Videos
Planning Tools & Templates