For Educators of Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties.
  • Innovative Teaching
  • About
  • Contact
  • CABOCES.ORG/iss
  • Calendar of Events
  • AdvancingSTEM

Innovative Teaching

For Educators of Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties
Subscribe to our Monthly Brief

Educating STEM:  Building a Culture of Inquiry

3/20/2015

 
MARK YOUR CALENDARS - Final Session - May 15, 2015



“What is causing the lack of clean water?”

“Do other scarce resources cause war, beside the lack of clean water?”
“Can a lack of clean water cause war and/or war cause a lack of clean water?”
“How are developing countries penalized for their industrial development?”

Picture
Picture
The Question Formulation Technique (QFT) was used to generate these, and about a hundred more, provocative inquiry questions at the most recent Educating STEM session.  The professional development series was designed to explore the pedagogical core of STEM education.  Participants explored the role of inquiry in STEM using the QFT as one approach for building a classroom appreciation of asking questions. 

The fast paced QFT strategy, developed by Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana, codirectors of the Right Question Institute, was designed for use in any classroom and to promote and build a culture of learning that is centered in inquiry, where students and teachers are always asking questions, really good questions, that might spark interest, attachment, and devotion to the answer.  Hundreds of questions are brainstormed in a single application of the QFT with an understanding that not all questions will be answered or explored, rather it is implemented to teach students to ask provocative questions that could be used in inquiries while learning.

The QFT, developed by the Right Question Institute and central to the book, Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions, is a teacher led technique that requires all students to respond to a provocative statement, or question focus, by stating questions that come to mind as the question focus is presented.  Participants at the Educating STEM series learned the technique and developed the questions above by responding to this question focus, 
“Lack of clean water is responsible for more deaths in the world than war.”
Participants worked in groups to generate as many questions related to this question focus as possible.  They depended mostly on their own curiosity as they created questions on large chart paper, holding off on answering and judging any question that was written.  Next, in order to generate even more questions, participants worked to rewrite existing questions.  They did this by rewriting closed questions as open questions and vice versa.  For example, using the question focus above, the following closed question was generated, “Where in the world is water scarce enough to cause a war?”  Answers to this closed question might include an identifiable list of places in the world where water is very scarce.  Participants then worked together to convert their closed questions into open questions.  For example, the closed question above was rewritten to ask, “Could water ever become so scarce in the U.S. that it could cause Civil War?”    

The QFT is used to generate as many questions as possible, and to promote a classroom culture shift around questioning and inquiry.  After asking so many questions, the students and teachers then work together to prioritize their questions and select a few to answer during an upcoming unit of study, or to preface a research project, or just practice asking really intriguing, provocative questions.
Question Focus: “The (Question Focus) technique helps students learn how to produce their own questions, improve them, and strategize on how to use them.” 

With enough practice, how could the QFT help me build a culture of inquiry in my classroom?
Is the QFT simple to implement?
Does the QFT take the pressure off me, as the teacher, to come up with provocative questions that my students will actually care about?
Is building a culture of inquiry important to me?
By: Tim Cox, CA BOCES


  • Rothstein, D., Santana, L.  (2011, September/October).  Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions: One small change can yield big results.  Retrieved from http://hepg.org/hel-home/issues/27_5/helarticle/teaching-students-to-ask-their-own-questions_507

Comments are closed.

    Follow us on
    ​social media

    Want to attend a professional development session offered by Instructional Support Services?  Click here to review our catalog of professional development offerings.  
    Need 24/7 access to digital classroom resources?
    Click here to access "no charge" digital resources for you and your students.

    Categories

    All
    1:1
    AdvancingSTEM
    Akom
    Allegany County
    Allegany Limestone
    Alternate Assessment
    Andover
    Angela Stockman
    Anti Bullying
    Anti-bullying
    Anxiety
    APPR
    Art
    Arts
    Arts In Education
    Artspower
    Arts Power
    Assessments
    Audiobooks
    Belfast
    Benchmarks
    Blended Learning
    Bolivar Richburg
    Book Study
    BPO
    Brain Based
    Breakout EDU
    Ca Boces
    Canva
    Career Day
    Career Resources
    Castle Learning
    CA Today
    Cattaraugus Little Valley
    CLC (collaborative Learning Community)
    Coding
    Collaborative Project
    Common Core
    Community And Schools Together
    Community Schools
    Community Schools Service Showcase
    Community & Schools Together Conference
    Cooperative Learning
    Co-teaching
    Credit Recovery
    Cte
    Cuba Rushford
    Cuba-Rushford
    Curriculum Modules
    Dasa
    Data
    Dave Ruch
    Distance
    Distance Learning
    Diversity
    Drone
    Drones
    Dyslexia
    Early Childhood
    Ebooks
    Ela
    ELA CLC
    ELA Learning Standards
    Ellicottville
    Environmental Education
    Eresources
    Esl
    Esports
    Family Engagement
    Field Trips
    Field Trip Zoom
    Fillmore
    Film Festival
    Flipgrid
    Fossils
    Franklinville
    French
    Friendship
    Game Based Learning
    Game-based Learning
    Genesee Valley
    Global History
    Global Studies
    Grit
    Growth Mindset
    Health
    Hinsdale
    Houghton College
    Innovation
    Instruction
    Ipad
    Khan Academy
    Kimberly Morrow
    Kits
    Language Line
    Leadership
    Learning Resources
    Lego League
    Library
    Literacy
    Maker
    Math
    Math Modules
    Matt Miller
    Media
    Mental Health
    Microsoft
    Microsoft 365
    Microsoft Teams
    Minecraft Education
    Model Schools
    Moodle
    Moodle/Mahara
    Music
    Nerdle
    Newsbank
    New Teacher Academy
    Next Generation Science
    Odyssey Of The Mind
    Olean
    Online Class
    Overdrive
    Padlet
    Parents
    Parent University
    PBL
    PE
    Physical Education
    Pioneer
    Pioneer Central School
    Pixar In A Box
    Play
    Portville
    Poverty Simulation
    Power Apps
    Power Automate
    Power Teaching
    Pre K
    Pre-K
    Professional Development
    Randolph
    Randolph Academy
    Reading
    Regents Exam
    Remote Learning
    Resilience
    Restorative Circles
    Restorative Practice
    Rocket League
    Salamanca
    Scholastic Challenge
    School Library
    Schoology
    Scio
    Seesaw
    Self Care
    Sharepoint
    SLO's
    SNAP
    Social Emotional
    Social Emotional Learning
    Social-emotional Learning
    Sora
    Spanish
    Special Education
    Standards
    Star Lab
    Stem
    STEM Challenge
    Student
    Student Programming
    Student Programs
    Summer School
    Summer Tech Camp
    Tcif
    Teacher Academy
    TeachingBooks
    Teach Like A Champion
    Technology
    TheaterWorks USA
    Theatre
    The Mailbox
    TITC
    Trauma
    TRLE
    Vex
    Virtual Field Trip
    Virtual Scholastic Challenge
    Wellsville
    West Valley
    Whitesville
    Why Try
    Writing
    Zoom
    Zulama

    Archives

    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Innovative Teaching
  • About
  • Contact
  • CABOCES.ORG/iss
  • Calendar of Events
  • AdvancingSTEM