Presented at LILAC 2022

1. Kevin Augustine
Research & Instruction Librarian,
Jacqueline Hollcraft
English Department Lecturer,
California State University, Stanislaus

2.  Question Formulation
 ACRL & Question Formulation
 WPA & Question Formulation
 Question Formulation Challenges
 Stanislaus State
 Campus Background
 First-Year Student Population & Support
 Project Purpose & Goals
 Question Formulation Unit
 Overview
 Goals & Outcomes
 Lesson Plan
 Question Formulation Technique Overview
 Sample Instruments
 Timelines: In-person, Online, Hybrid (ENGL 1001), In-person
 Assessment
 Observations

3. • Question formulation is a knowledge practice identified in the
frame, Research as Inquiry, by the Association of College and Research
Libraries to assist learners who are developing their information
literate abilities to:
• “deal with complex research by breaking complex questions into
simple ones, limiting the scope of investigations;”
• “formulate questions for research based on information gaps or on
reexamination of existing, possibly conflicting, information”
(Association of College and Research Libraries, 2016).

4. • Question formulation is identified in the habit of mind, Curiosity,
by the Council of Writing Program Administers, National Council of
Teachers of English and National Writing Project to:
• “use inquiry as a process to develop questions relevant for authentic
audiences within a variety of disciplines;”
• “conduct research using methods for investigating questions
appropriate to the discipline” (Council of Writing Program
Administrators et al., 2011).

5. • According to Scharf & Dera (2021), question formulation
issues for college students involve:
• a weak connection between having a question and doing research to
only gather information to summarize;
• trouble isolating the main research question in studies and
formulating their own research questions;
• inability to develop a researchable question given their constraints;
• and faculty assuming students are knowledgeable about their field
of study and able to find evidence in their discipline.

6. • As Hofer et al. (2019) state,
“...asking good questions is a skill that can be taught and
improved in order to overcome typical feelings of dread,
anxiety, and fear and tap the potential for exploration, wonder,
and productivity.”

7. • CSU, Stanislaus, located in California's Central Valley, is one of
twenty-three public universities in the California State University
system.
• Just over 1,000 full-time and part-time faculty and staff serve a
diverse student body of nearly 10,000 students.
• Designated Hispanic-serving Institution by the U.S. Department of
Education.
• One of twelve public universities nationwide that demonstrates
exceptional performance in improving retention and graduation rates
(California State University, Stanislaus, 2021).

8. ● 951 first-year students enrolled in Fall
2021 (Office of Institutional
Effectiveness and Analytics, n.d.).
● Students in sections of ENGL 1006 /
1007 are also in the Freshman Success
Program at Stan State.
● Similar to the First Generation
Scholarship Programme here at
Manchester Metropolitan University.

9. ● Implement information literacy instruction in first-year composition courses through co-
curricular embedded librarianship with Jacqueline Hollcraft, English Department Lecturer.
● Engage first-year students in metacognition of their information-seeking and retrieval processes
through multiple instruction sessions over an academic year.
● Increase in first-year students a sense of belonging, agency, and empowerment in Stan State’s
academic culture, which includes confidence in their research process (goal of ENGL 1006/7).
● Scaffold, record, and qualitatively assess research skills development through student-writing.
● Engage in faculty/librarian co-curricular development and collaboration throughout an
academic year.

10. • We were inspired by Hofer, Hanick, & Townsend’s (2019) book, Transforming Information
Literacy Instruction: Threshold Concepts in Theory and Practice, and in particular, “I Am an
Expert - Ask Me Anything” activity, which formed the framework for the library instruction
session.
• Pick an artifact that represents an area we possess unexpected and varied expertise yet is
unfamiliar to students.
• Share it with the class and have students conduct the Question Formulation Technique on the
artifact.
• Facilitate a discussion where students shared their questions, and we attempted to answer
them.
• By sharing their questions and demonstrating a limited range in answering on our behalf, we
discuss how unanswerable questions lead to new avenues of inquiry.

11. • Engage students in “Research as Inquiry” rather than seeking
sources to match a premature thesis statement.
• Provide a method to approach unfamiliar topics.
• Establish relevant questions to narrow scope of research.
• Develop confidence in an iterative method that carries over
into their everyday and academic research processes.
• Explore a method that might provide an intervention to
address college students’ question formulation issues.

12. • Front-load the QFT with an in-class lecture and practice in groups on
everyday life topics.
• Conduct “I Am an Expert - Ask Me Anything” activity during a library
instruction session with an artifact.
• The artifact is a short video on the wool weaving process from the
Isle of Skye.
• Provide either a post-session activity where they conduct the QFT on
topics related to ENGL 1007 larger assignments or discussion on the
QFT in Canvas.

13. • The Question Formulation Technique (QFT) is an
evidence-based strategy to produce, improve, and strategize
formulating questions that help stimulate forms of thinking:
• Divergent - explore multiple solutions
• Convergent - deduce to a single solution
• Metacognitive - develop self-awareness (Rothstein &
Santana, 2014).

14. Question Formulation Technique:
Overview
1. Question Focus (QFocus)
2. Produce Your Questions
✓ Follow the rules
✓ Number your questions
3. Improve Your Questions
✓ Categorize questions as Closed or Open-ended
✓ Change questions from one type to another
4. Strategize
✓ Prioritize your questions
✓ Action plan or discuss next steps
✓ Share
5. Reflect
Rules
1. Ask as many questions as
you can
2. Do not stop to discuss,
judge or answer
3. Record exactly as stated
4. Change statements into
questions
Closed-ended:
Answered with “yes,” “no,” or one word.
Open-ended:
Require longer explanation
Note. Retrieved from "The Right Questions" by D. Rothstein
and L. Santana, 2014, Instruction That Sticks, 72(2).
Copyright 2014 by the Right Question Institute.

15. QFT Instrument in Google Slides
QFT Instrument in Qualtrics

16. 03/03
Library Session:
QFT
02/27
In-class lecture
and group activity
Discussion
Post: QFT
Library Session:
QFT
In-class lecture
and group activity
03/03 03/08 03/12
Instruments:
Group activity:
Paper handout
Library
Session activity:
Qualtrics
Instruments:
Group activity:
Google Slides
Library
Session activity:
Google Slides
Discussion Post:
Canvas

17. 10/25
Post-session
activity: QFT
10/22
Library Session:
QFT
10/20
In-class lecture
and group activity
Discussion
Post: QFT
Library Session:
QFT
02/25 03/02
In-class lecture
and group activity
Instruments:
Group activity:
Google Slides
Library
Session activity:
Google Slides
Post-session
Activity:
Qualtrics
Instruments:
Group
activity:
Google Slides
Library
Session activity:
Google Slides
Post-
Session
Activity:
Qualtrics
Discuss
ion
Post:
Canvas
02/23 02/25
Post-session
activity: QFT

18. Student Feedback: Feedback Location:
“QFT activity was helpful because it helped me focus my topic
down so I wont cover too much in little time.”
Sp2021 Course Evaluation, Q6: “Which assignments or
activities were most useful for you in your development
of your writing process?”
“I enjoyed the QFT I think it’s a great technique to outline an
assignment and get your thoughts running.”
Online Discussion #5, Sec. 15, 03/12/21: “What do you
think of the QFT?”
“Using QFT has been super helpful. I usually get super critical with
the questions I ask, even just to myself, so with QFT, writing
down every question has been a breath of fresh air . . . QFT
with group members is even more helpful because seeing their
questions make me think even harder and brings up
things I hadn't thought of. Group working with QFT has
impacted it in a positive way. I can get their knowledge along
with mine.”
Online Discussion #5, Sec. 15, 03/12/21: “What do you
think of the QFT?”

19. Student Feedback: Feedback Location:
“I really enjoy the QFT technique in groups because I get to see my peers
perspectives on the topic.”
Online Discussion #5, Sec. 15, 03/12/21:
“What do you think of the QFT?”
“My experiences now that I implement the question formulation technique,
make me want to research everything more in-depth and jot down
questions before doing research on the topic. In the beginning, I had
zero clues on what it meant and what was to expect. I honestly thought I was
going to have a hard time understanding this method. . . . This technique
will be such great usage when I have major research projects,
assignments for school, or even in my everyday use. When working
in a group, implementing QFT becomes very helpful because everyone has
their own sets of questions that become very helpful to look into the topic.”
Online Discussion #5, Sec. 12, 03/12/21:
“What do you think of the QFT?”

20. Overall:
Format Lesson Plan Student Engagement
We really liked having an artifact that
is completely foreign. Hopefully the artifact
mimics the same feelings that new assignment
prompts create and how the QFT can help
overcome those feelings.
We had enough time to conduct the lesson
plan regardless of whether the class sessions
were 50-minutes or one hour and fifteen
minutes long.
Students demonstrated high levels of
engagement with the content of the artifact.
Who knew first-year students from the
Central Valley would be interested in textile
manufacturing in the U.K.?
It sometimes can be uncomfortable to
admit you do not have the answers to
their questions.
It has been difficult to establish a
consistent structure given the modality
changes.
Their questions offer insights into their
ability to derive meaning, motivations,
and interests.
Group work remains paramount with
introducing the QFT.
From the time of the unit's inception,
we have added a discussion post and
adapted a post-session activity to
reinforce the unit's purpose in the
curriculum.
We wonder whether students will
practice this method beyond the unit.
Everyday life topics to academic life
topics anchor meaning as first-year
students adjust to academia.

21. Modality:
Online Hybrid In-person
We saw no negative feedback nor any confusion over
the session when conducted over Zoom and through
Google Slides.
Technological breakdowns can easily disrupt the
lesson plan; the time it takes to bring the Zoom room
up takes away from the total classroom time.
We can monitor groups effortlessly in-person.
Important!
Breakout rooms were difficult to monitor when
students were introduced to the QFT.
It was difficult pivoting attention between students in
the classroom and students in the Zoom room.
While we began with physical handouts during the
introduction, post-pandemic students have devices
and the need for physical handouts is diminishing.
Students struggled to identify open- and closed-ended
questions on the paper handouts.
Technological inequities surfaced the most during this
modality, as students were on a wide range of devices
with various internet connection speeds, requiring
more time to assist students individually.
The need for a collaborative work space is significant
when students are attending a session either remotely
or in-person but need to join together and conduct
the QFT in groups.
Students seemed most engaged with the unit during
this modality. The ability to brainstorm together, in-
person, and explore the commonalities between their
questions garnered levels of engagement not seen
online or hybrid.

22. Instruments:
Qualtrics Google Slides
The ability to embed Qualtrics in LibGuides rose views for the
class guide and reinforced the purpose of the library class
guide.
Google Slides provided a collaborative work space for
students to conduct the QFT together across modalities.
Qualtrics is not an active learning tool, so there are some equity
issues such as the inability to re-engage with the instrument
from various devices or browser issues with embedded
instruments and generating PDFs.
Students seem to navigate Google Slides with ease – one of
the possible effects of the Google ecosystem integrated in the
K-12 education system in the United States.
Qualtrics or other survey platforms seem more conducive to a
singular learning experience. Early attempts to utilize Qualtrics
with group work was clunky and took more time.
Data collection for qualitative analysis is time consuming
when gathering student input from slides.
Data collection for qualitative analysis is easier with Qualtrics
given the platform's ability to export data into multiple
formats.
Google Slides were not embedded in the library class guide,
lessoning the impact the guide has in the classroom.

23. Association of College and Research Libraries. (2016). Framework for information literacy for higher education.
http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/issues/infolit/Framework_ILHE.pdf
California State University, Stanislaus. (2021). Accreditation & achievements. https://www.csustan.edu/about-stan-state/accreditation-achievements
Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council of Teachers of English, and National Writing Project. (2011). Framework for success in postsecondary writing.
https://wpacouncil.org/aws/CWPA/asset_manager/get_file/350201?ver=7548
Hofer, A., Lin Hanick, S., & Townsend, L. (2019). Transforming information literacy instruction: Threshold concepts in theory and practice. Libraries Unlimited.
Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Analytics. (n.d.). Admissions. California State University, Stanislaus. https://www.csustan.edu/iea/institutional-data/admissions
Rothstein, D., & Santana, L. (2014). The right questions. Instruction That Sticks,
72(2). http://http://www.lansingschools.org/tfiles/folder1342/Question%20Formulation%20Technique%20Rothstein%20%26%20Santana%2C%202014.pdf
Scharf, D., & Dera, J. (2021). Question formulation for information literacy: Theory and practice. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 47(4).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2021.102365

24. Kevin Augustine
Research & Instruction
Librarian
California State
University, Stanislaus
Email: kaugustine@csustan.edu
Telephone: 1209 664 6557
Twitter: @kraugs