By the time they get to high school, many students have forgotten how to ask the deeper questions that lead to real learning.  The Right Question Institute wants to help fix this problem.

I heard about The Question Formulation Technique last year when one of my best friends asked if I was going to attend the conference at my school over the summer. My friend is a 3rd grade teacher who always seems to be on the cutting edge of education so I checked into it and signed up. After I glanced through the book, I was not terribly excited about the conference because the idea seemed pretty simple to me. However, after I experienced the Questioning process from the experts, I was sold!   

According to the Right Question Institute,

“The origins of the QFT can be traced back 20 years to a dropout prevention program for the city of Lawrence, Mass., that was funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. As we worked together to increase parent involvement in education, we heard parents state the same problem over and over again: “We’re not going to the schools because we don’t even know what to ask.” Eventually, this problem led us to create a simple but powerful process that has been used effectively in a wide range of fields across the country and beyond. In health care, for example, research funded by the National Institutes of Health has shown that the QFT produces dramatic increases in levels of patient activation and improved patient-provider communication. In the classroom, teachers have seen how the same process manages to develop students’ divergent (brainstorming), convergent (categorizing and prioritizing), and metacognitive (reflective) thinking abilities in a very short period of time.”

I’ve only used the QFT process a couple of times in my classroom but I can see the power of it. My students engaged in the lesson, enthusiastically participated during the process and started the year off right. I plan on using it again to refocus them for the second half of the quarter.

 According to Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana (founders of RQI)

“Teachers can use the QFT at different points: to introduce students to a new unit, to assess students’ knowledge to see what they need to understand better, and even to conclude a unit to see how students can, with new knowledge, set a fresh learning agenda for themselves. The technique can be used for all ages.”

This is a fairly long Prezi demonstration that explain the QFT process really well:

https://prezi.com/5vqwas_17wbm/question-formulation-technique-module/

Here are the basic steps but the process is more engaging than these simple steps:

Step 1. The teacher designs a question focus - This is something that starts the questioning process.  It can be a picture, a quote, a statement or anything that prompts the questions. See below for examples of Qfocus.

Step 2. Students produce questions - There are specific rules for this step:  

Step 3. Students work with partners to formulate questions

Step 4. Students work with open-ended and closed-ended questions - Students decide if the questions are open or closed.

Step 5: Students prioritize questions - they decide what is most important to learn about and rank them in order 1 to 3. Then, as a class we decide the most important questions to drive our learning. 

Step 6. Teacher and students discuss next steps for using the questions - Students discuss the project, assignment or task that will happen next (usually PBL)

Step 7. Students reflect - Students think about the process

After watching this video, you will have a better idea of how the QFT works in the classroom:

In terms of Reflexive Learning, the QFT process covers most of the seven affordances:

Constructivism plays a large role in the QFT process.   Students must have a basic understanding of the world to ask questions.  Once the QFocus is given, students tap into their background knowledge and create questions from there.  These questions guide their learning for the rest of the project/unit. Elizabeth Buelman succinctly explains constructivism,

 

“Jean Piaget was a 20th century leading figure in the fields of cognitive theory and developmental psychology.  He believed child brain development followed a sequential pattern and that meaning is constructed based on where the child is developmentally at that point, using life experience as well as imagination to fill in any understanding gaps.  Piaget emphasized the importance of the teacher as facilitator to help students find their own meaning by asking questions instead of answering them."

Inquiry Based Learning is another underlying learning theory that best fits this educational technique. Elizabeth Buelman writes,

“Inquiry-Based learning is based on the work of John Dewey who emphasized meaningful activities in the classroom with democracy at the center.  He focused on preparing students to be citizens of society and the world.  In this approach, the root of the curriculum comes from student questions.  The teacher finds out what the students want to know and then applies core curriculum as the students pursue the answers to specific questions.  Inquiry-Based Learning is a methodology of its own, but it also encompasses countless other approaches including, but not limited to, Project-Based Learning, Problem-Based Learning, and Design Thinking.” 

The founders of RQI (Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana) share this vision with their members:

Our Vision: A vibrant democracy in which all citizens – even those farthest from power – can think for themselves and can effectively advocate for themselves, their families and their communities.  Individual citizens confidently participating in their common and ordinary encounters with public agencies and services will produce examples of what we call  “Microdemocracy,” a new starting point for democratic action.  Microdemocracy is a cornerstone of a strong foundation for a more just society.

Microdemocracy:  A new idea that ordinary encounters with public agencies are opportunities for individual citizens to  “act democratically” and participate effectively in decisions that affect them.

Some teachers complain that the students do not produce questions of high-quality. The other day, I was speaking to a science teacher who used it a few years ago but became frustrated because the students were not creating “good” questions. However, if the students do not come up with the “right” questions for the particular standards taught in the class, they need to have time to explore these inquiries.  Perhaps, the teacher can fit in some time for Genius hour or a Passion Project so students can further explore their true interests.  Just because the government has set up certain standards does not mean we can not let our students explore what makes them curious.

In addition, some teachers might feel that they do not have the time to fit in the question formulation. However, if we are trying to encourage true learning and curiosity, we must work in time to create questions.  We want our students to leave school with the skill-set of asking questions so they can continue to question anything with which they are faced. For example, when students go to college, they must learn to ask questions so they can engage with the content. Also, when our student enter the “real world”, they need to know how to ask questions at important times in their life. For example, if he/she is faced with a medical decision, a student needs to know how to ask the right questions to get the best medical care.  

 

While not much critical analysis of the QFT exists, some teachers might not want to use it during their school year because of the time factor.  However, it only take a few extra days once the students learn the process and it can lead to deeper learning overall.

Carley Tarantino cites Deanna Kuhn and explains, "The process of completing a problem-based learning assignment can be overwhelming for students that have not been exposed to this type of instruction in the past. The minimal guidance of this method is difficult for those students, as they may lack the schemas needed to effectively 'incorporate new knowledge into existing knowledge structures'". QFT usually leads to Problem Based Learning projects. If the questions are not substantial, students might not be able to complete a solid project for class. 

Having students ask questions is not a new idea. In fact, the fathers of education encouraged their students to ask questions.  However, the skill of questioning has diminished over the years as schools changed and stopped encouraging questions.  Almost any class can use the QFT and teachers can incorporate it at any point of the school year.

Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana write:  

“Students have used the QFT to develop science experiments, create their own research projects, begin research on a teacher-assigned topic, prepare to write an essay, analyze a word problem, think more deeply about a challenging reading assignment, prepare an interview, or simply get themselves “unstuck.””

Also, from Rothstein and Santana,

“The QFT provides a deliberate way to help students cultivate a skill that is fundamentally important for all learning. Teaching this skill in every classroom can help successful students to go deeper in their thinking and encourage struggling students to develop a new thirst for learning. Their questions will have much to teach us.”

“When students first go through the Question Formulation Technique, some take to it more quickly than others. But teachers consistently report that they are struck by how students who traditionally have not participated at all seem to be most readily activated by this invitation.”

So many of my students only come to school for the grade or because they are forced to attend. When I ask them why they are sitting in my class, they usually shout out "To get a good grade" or "Because I have to". This makes me sad because I love learning. I want them to come to my class ready to learn and curious about reading and writing. Since I started using the QFT and more PBL in my classroom, my students know why they come to school. Now, when I ask, "Why are you here?" many of them shout out "To learn!" This makes me smile. 

Buelman, Elizabeth. "Learning for Life Inquiry and Project-Based Learning." Scholar. EPSY 408 SU16, 20 Sept. 2016. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.

Corrigan, Jay. "Question Formulation Technique Module." Prezi.com. Prezi, 11 Nov. 2012. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.

RightQInstitute. "The Question Formulation Technique (QFT) for Summative Assessment." YouTube. YouTube, 28 Aug. 2015. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.

RightQInstitute. "The Question Formulation Technique in Action." YouTube. YouTube, 23 Jan. 2015. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.

Rothstein, Dan, and Luz Santana. "The Right Questions." Educational Leadership:Instruction That Sticks:. ASCD, Oct. 2014. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.

Rothstein, Dan, and Luz Santana. "Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions." Harvard Education Letter. Harvard, Sept.-Oct. 2011. Web. 15 Sept. 2016.

Tarantino, Carley. "Problem Based Learning." Scholar. CI 484/HRD 472 FA16, 21 Sept. 2016. Web. 3 Oct. 2016.