1. THE QUESTION FORMULATION TECHNIQUE™ (QFT™)
FACILITATING
THE QUESTION FORMULATION TECHNIQUE™ (QFT™) ©

2. ABOUT THIS TEMPLATE
Just add a Question Focus to this template to facilitate the Question Formulation Technique™ in your classroom or to introduce the process to colleagues.
The Right Question Institute offers many of our materials through a Creative Commons License and we encourage you to make use of and/or share this resource. Please reference the Right Question Institute as the source on any materials you use.
Source:

3. RULES FOR PRODUCING QUESTIONS
Ask as many questions as you can
Do not stop to discuss, judge or answer the questions
Write down every question exactly as it is stated
Change any statement into a question
What might be difficult about following these rules?

4. PRODUCING THE QUESTIONS
QFocus: On each table you have a small group worksheet with a question focus listed there – please use these with your table group to produce questions.
Follow the Rules for Producing Questions.
Number your questions.

5. IMPROVING THE QUESTIONS
You might have these two kinds of questions in your list:
Closed-ended questions – they can be answered with “yes” or “no” or with one word.
Open-ended questions – they require an explanation and cannot be answered with yes” or “no” or with one word.

6. IMPROVE YOUR QUESTIONS
Identify closed- and open-ended questions.
Mark the closed-ended questions with a C and the open-ended questions with an O.
2. Name advantages of asking closed-ended questions.
3. Name disadvantages of asking closed-ended questions.
4. Name advantages of asking open-ended questions.
5. Name disadvantages of asking open-ended questions.

7. IMPROVE YOUR QUESTIONS
6. Review your list of questions and change one closed-ended question into an open-ended.
Then, change one open-ended question into a closed-ended one.

8. PRIORITIZE YOUR QUESTIONS
Choose the three most important questions from your list.
Keep in mind the QFocus, written on your small group worksheet.
Mark each priority question with an “X”

9. SHARE YOUR QUESTIONS Please share:
The questions you changed from closed to open-ended and from open-ended to closed. Read each question as originally written and how it was changed
your three priority questions
your rationale for selecting those three
the numbers of your priority questions

10. Question Sorts Routine
Each table group should write their top three selected questions on a post it note. Together we are going to sort these questions, considering the questions “Generivity” (ability to generate engagement, insight, creative action, deeper understanding and new possibilities) and “Genuine” (how much we care about investigating the question) the question is.
Project Zero, Harvard Visual Thinking

11. NEXT STEPS How are you going to use your three priority questions?

12. Engaging Students for “direct” teaching
Kelly McManus, Groton Dunstable Regional High School librarian, introducing and teaching the differences and similarities in different citation styles.
Question Focus:
While citation styles vary, the information required is essentially the same. ss

13. Examples of Student Questions
Why is there not a standard format?
What format is better?
Why does MLA capitalize title and APA doesn’t?
Why does APA include a DOI?
Can you search DOI# on url?
How do I know the citation is credible?
Why specify print?
Why does APA format only list first initial?
Why is the year of publication written differently on each format?
Why or how did Freud publish in 2005? Wasn’t Freud long dead?
What does MLA mean?
Why does MLA require a specific format?
Who made MLA?
Why do journal citations require more information?
Why page numbers in journal citation?
Why is the capitalization in the title different?
What is digital object identifier?
Why in journal citation do you need the date?
Why are volumes separated from the page numbers in APA

14. Direct teaching with some choices
Heather Salemme, Biology teacher, Groton Dunstable Regional High School
Qfocus
Genes are recipes for proteins written in DNA, a nucleic acid. Proteins are made of long chains of amino acids. Explore ideas and develop questions about how this process might work.

15. Task Board Choices

16. Genius Hour – questions leading to self directed projects Tami Allen, Chemistry Teacher, GDRHS
WHAT IS IT?
Genius Hour (a.k.a. Passion Project) is a chance for you to learn what you want to learn. This is your opportunity to investigate something you love!
THE REQUIREMENTS
-  Your project must be built around a guiding question, which you will set out to answer.
-  Your project can be about anything, with only one restriction: It must relate to science somehow.
-  Your project must involve some amount of research.
-  You must demonstrate and share what you've learned
through a poster session presentation.
-  You may want to design and perform an experiment to
investigate a concept.
-  Failure IS allowed,by the way,and will not be penalized... You may end up sharing why you weren't able to answer your question. And that's okay! You still learned something in the process that you can share.

17. Tying it back to the subject area
HOW DOES MY PASSION RELATE TO CHEMISTRY?
A few examples...
-  Like to paint? You could learn about the pigments in the paints you use.
-  Photographer? Learn how the chemicals used to develop film actually work.
-  Athlete? Try learning about performance-enhancing drugs. Or the effects of using different materials in athletic equipment.
-  Like to cook? Cooking is nothing but chemistry you can eat!
-  Into computers? Investigate how semiconductors work. Or how microchips might be improved.
-  Historybuff? Investigate the impact of a major scientific discovery on society.
 Actually enjoy chemistry?! Learn a new experimental skill. Or delve deeper into any unit you've enjoyed.
Tami Allen, Chemistry Teacher, Groton Dunstable Regional High School

18. REFLECTION 1. What did you learn? What value does it have?
What value does it have?
So, now let’s put this into use – please break up into elementary, middle/subject, high shcool,/subject areas and develop some exemplars of possible Question Focus Topics that you can use in your classrooms.

20. Bibliography
website of Warren Berger, author of the book with the same name
this journal is chock full of question and creativity articles!