1. What is the question?
Using the Question Formulation Technique to Promote
Student Questioning
Lisa Rubenstein
Ball State University
Indiana Association for the Gifted
December 16, 2014
2. Richard Wiseman
Experiment
How many pictures are in the newspaper?
“Stop counting.
There are 43 pictures.”
Extremely Lucky
v.
Terribly Unlucky
“Stop counting.
Tell the experimenter you
have seen this and win
$250.”
4. “Two young fish swim past an older fish. As
they pass the older fish, he says, “Morning,
boys. How’s the water?” The two young fish
continue on for awhile until one eventually
asks the other, ‘What the heck is water?’”
---David Foster Wallace recorded in inGenius
5. What do the unlucky,
the Italians, and the
fish have in common?
10. Stephen Hawking and Questions
“...questions I would like to talk about
are: One, where did we come from? How
did the universe come into being? Are we
alone in the universe? Is there alien life
out there? What is the future of the
human race?”
“All of my life I have sought to
understand the universe and find
answers to these questions. I have been
very lucky that my disability has not
been a serious handicap; indeed, it has
probably given me more time than most
people to pursue the quest for
knowledge.”
17. Question Formulation
Technique
Developing the question focus.
Rules for producing questions.
Categorize open and closed ended questions.
Improve questions.
Prioritize questions.
Plan next steps.
Reflect.
18. Rules for Producing
Questions
Ask as many questions as you can.
Do not stop to discuss, judge, or answer
any of the questions.
Write down every question as stated.
Change any statements into questions.
23. Which was the best
prompt for you?
What makes a good
prompt?
24. Question focus
guidelines
It has a clear focus.
It is not a question.
It provokes and stimulates new lines of
thinking.
It does not reveal teacher preference or
bias.
25.
26. Other Prompt Examples
Brief and simple: evolution of the eye, the
structure of fractions, your protected rights
Sharp focus: the inside of a cell, defeating math
anxiety, the choices we make
Debatable: the scientific method must be
followed, Miranda Rights always protects the
accused
Not Biased: the importance of
transcendentalism in American History,
assessment of philosophers
27. Steps of Designing a
QFocus
Define the purpose.
Generate possible ideas.
Identify pros and cons for each idea.
Choose one idea and assess using 4 criteria
(clear focus, not a question, provokes and
stimulates, free from bias)
Imagine questions students might come up with.
29. Question focus
guidelines
It has a clear focus.
It is not a question.
It provokes and stimulates new lines of
thinking.
It does not reveal teacher preference or
bias.
30. Question Formulation
Technique
Developing the question focus.
Rules for producing questions.
Categorize open and closed ended questions.
Improve questions.
Prioritize questions.
Plan next steps.
Reflect.
32. Generating: Word Dance
Circle verb. List other verbs: attract,
locate, find, entice, ensure...
Then circle objective or noun. List other
possibilities.
Mix and match.
33. Developing Habits of Mind
✤ Evidence: How do we know?
✤ Viewpoint: How might this look if we examined this from a different
perspective?
✤ Connection: Is there a pattern? Have we seen something like this
before?
✤ Conjecture: What if it were different?
✤ Relevance: Why does this matter?
35. Question Formulation
Technique
Developing the question focus.
Rules for producing questions.
Categorize open and closed ended questions.
Improve questions.
Prioritize questions.
Plan next steps.
Reflect.
36. Prioritize your
questions.
3 most important, most interesting,
most helpful
Evaluation matrix?
Hits and hot spots?
Paired comparisons?
38. Prioritize your
questions.
3 most important, most interesting,
most helpful
Evaluation matrix?
Hits and hot spots?
Paired comparisons?
39. Question Formulation
Technique
Developing the question focus.
Rules for producing questions.
Categorize open and closed ended questions.
Improve questions.
Prioritize questions.
Plan next steps.
Reflect.
41. Conclusions
Questioning is important. It is an essential
skill students should develop.
Picking the right question focus takes
planning.
Explicitly teaching students about questions
will help them develop their skills.
We can’t allow our students to get so used to
things that they stop questioning.