Inquiring Minds Want to Know: The Question Formulation Technique

Jim Clark

And

Samantha Johnson

San Lorenzo Unified School District

@Sci_innovations

8 Science and Engineering Practices

Three Dimensions

44 Disciplinary Core Ideas

• Physical Sciences

• Life Sciences

• Earth and Space Sciences

• Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science

7 Crosscutting Concepts

Next Generation

Science Standards

Implementing the Next Generation Science Standards

Three facets of implementing NGSS:

1. Develop Curriculum

2. Provide Quality Instruction

3. Create Effective Assessments

Grounding Activity!

•What is a question your students asked this week in class?

• Turn and tell someone near you the story behind that question.

Agenda

1. How do we get our students to ask good questions?

2. Once they ask the question what should

happen next?

3. How can students make their thinking

public

Outcomes for the Day

• Investigate the Science and Engineering Practice of asking questions (SEP 1).

•How does SEP 1 link to the Science and Engineering Practice of planning and carrying out investigations (SEP 3).

Who’s Asking the Questions?

• One of the shifts in the NGSS will be from teachers asking all the questions, to students asking the questions. • “Some teachers…corner the market on

talking without looking for input. Teachers ask around 250 questions per day, per week. On the other hand, students ask questions at a rate of 2 per class, per week,” (Hattie, 2015).

“Students are only going to school to watch a teacher work.”

Number of questions asked. . .

• Studies show that the average pre-school aged student asks about 300 questions per day.

•By the end of elementary school, that number is cut in half, and by the end of middle school it is almost 0.

Discussion

What are some challenges you’ve had eliciting relevant or rigorous student questions?

Turn and talk to your elbow partner.

Practice 1: Asking Questions

•Right Question Institute (Harvard)

•Protocol to structure question-asking by students

• “Question Formulation Technique” (QFT)

“The students were totally engaged and they all asked very focused questions. They were successful to the point that the adults in the room who were watching were shocked.” - Julie 2nd grade teacher Santa Cruz area

Discrepant Event

Video

•As you watch this video, please write down any observations on your data collection sheet

• The goal here is to elicit any prior knowledge you (or your students) have about balloons popping.

Video

QFT Step 1: QFocus

•Our Q Focus is the demo.

•Watch and wonder. . .

•Record observations in the Question Focus Box on the Question Formulation Technique worksheet.

Question Focus: A picture…

School: Frederick County Public Schools, Walkersville, MD Teacher: Jennifer Shaffer

Question Focus: A word…

Jay Corrigan.

The Q Focus: Trapezium » Trapezoid » Parallelogram

5th Grade Common Core Geometry Standards related to classifying two-dimensional figures in a hierarchy based on properties (5.G.B.4) and understanding that attributes belonging to a category of figures also belongs to all subcategories of that category (5.G.B.3).

Question Focus: A quote or statement… • “It is not the strongest of the species that

survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change,”

Charles Darwin

• Matter is everywhere and can change over time.

QFT Step 2: Produce Questions

•On your Question Formulation Technique worksheet.

•Produce as many questions as you can until I say stop.

• Follow the Rules for Producing Questions (yellow half sheet)

•NUMBER YOUR QUESTIONS!

QFT Step 3: Improve Questions

• Mark Investigable Questions INV

• Have answers not known (to me)

• Lead to a plan

• Can be answered with available materials

• Can be answered in a reasonable amount of time

• Not Investigable: Cross it out! or rewrite

Improve Questions: Modifications

•Rather than investigable vs. non-investigable, use testable vs. not testable.

QFT Step 3: Improve Questions

Closed – ended Open – ended

• Yes/No or 1 word answers

• Require an explanation

• Mark with a “C” • Mark with an “O”

QFT Step 4: Prioritize Questions • Teacher chooses focus.

• Research project, lab, community action project etc.

• Choose three questions that:

• Most interest you

• Refer back to your focus

• Ex. Will help you design your experiment

• Please note the priority number of your question (Ex. Question 5 of 17)

Share Questions

• Each group chooses one question (of their top 3) to share with the group.

•When you share out, say:

• Your question number (ex. 7 out of 15)

• Your question

• Try to choose a question no other group has mentioned

Reflect on QFT

• How did this process differ from a typical classroom where the teacher provides the question?

• What advantages does the QFT have?

• What disadvantages does the QFT have?

• Your students should also reflect on this question.

Progression of Practices

• What are your students expected to know and do when planning and carrying out investigations?

Choose Your Question

• Of all the questions shared, which would your group like to answer with this experiment?

• You may choose:

• The question you shared

• A question shared by another group

• The more questions we address as a group, the more information we will gain.

Plan Your Investigation • Look at the “Experimental Design Organizer”

• This organizer has a place for each item in the grade 6 - 12 grade band for the progression of SEP 3: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations.

• Write the question you will investigate with your group.

Design Your Experiment

• Complete the Experimental Design Organizer with your team up through the procedure.

• On your Experiment Presentation Poster, use a marker to write your group’s:

• Question

• Independent Variable

• Prediction

Conduct Experiment

• Each group sets up the materials needed for their investigation.

• Each group will take turns performing their experiment in the front of the room.

•Use your Experiment Presentation Poster when you perform your experiment.

Experiment Review

• DO NOT skip this step with your kids.

•What were the key step in experimental design?

•What will we do differently next time we are scientists and do an experiment?

Prediction Supported? • Emphasize importance of evidence here.

•Ask them to summarize the evidence they have in two columns:

•Data that supports the prediction

•Data that doesn’t support the prediction. You may think of of it as the rebuttal.

Did the Experiment Answer the Question?

• If they think it did, they can write the answer to the question.

• If not, have them propose other things that can be done to try to answer the question (more experiments, altering the current experiment etc.)

Activity for Activity’s Sake

• The NGSS are not a pendulum swing to the “other extreme.”

•Do not mistake activity for achievement! – Extend the activity to the SEP’s.

• The goal of the NGSS is to marry content (the DCI’s) with the process of students figuring it out (the SEP’s).

Interested in learning more about NGSS practices and ways to assess differently?

Sunday from 11:40 – 12:40: What did they say? A session on discourse.

@Sci_innovations

Thank you for participating!

NGSI

www.nextgenscienceinnovations.wordpress.com

Jim Clark: jclark@slzusd.org

Samantha Johnson: smjohnson@slzusd.org