by Jennifer Brickey As a teacher-librarian, part of my responsibility is to support classroom instruction and pedagogy. In my initial musings of how to apply the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) in a library setting, I saw it as a means to involve myself in the question development portion of the research process. After taking RQI’s […]
Educator Reflections
Educators share their insight and use of the Question Formulation Technique.
May 30, 2018
Coaching Through Questions: An Instructional Coach’s Experience with the QFT
A Shift That Just Makes Sense When students ask their own questions, it sparks curiosity, independence, and self-confidence, cultivating students’ ownership over their own learning. This is a shift that just makes sense. So how does an instructional coach, like myself, create this shift and promote curious conversations in the classroom? At our school, asking […]
February 8, 2018
Branching Questions: Using the Question Formulation Technique in a Youth Tree Stewardship Program
by David Meshoulam, Ph.D. Editor’s Note: Check out this step-by-step video of David facilitating the Question Formulation Technique in a high school science class. This past summer I led a group of teenagers in Watertown, MA, in what will hopefully become an annual Trees for Watertown’s Teen Tree Stewardship Program. During the program teens learned about about […]
February 2, 2018
Integrating the Question Formulation Technique in PBL through the Launch
by Jennifer Pieratt, Ph.D. Leading organizations in the field of Project Based Learning (PBL) have identified inquiry as a characteristic of high quality PBL, and PBL facilitators are often interested in ways to sustain student inquiry; however after reflecting on my work in the field as an educator supporting teachers I have come to feel […]
December 22, 2017
What If My Students’ Questions Go Off the Rails?
by Connie Williams Like any lesson ever, the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) doesn’t always go as perfectly as planned, but there’s always something you can learn from your facilitation of the QFT and students always benefit from having space and time to ask questions. I’ve certainly had those experiences where the Question Focus (QFocus) and […]
December 5, 2017
It’s All About the Question
By Ellen Gammel The Fitchburg High School state report came back… Level 3… again. For schools in Massachusetts, this Department of Education label informs us we are in the bottom 20% of schools – definitely a label no school wants. The discouragement and frustration came to the forefront, and then the big question: Why? Why […]
November 14, 2017
“How does the sun’s power get into you?” Using the QFT to Explore Energy with First Graders
By Jodie Botzang, First Grade Teacher, Summers’ Corners Public School, Aylmer, Ontario, Canada What I like about the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) process is that it provides an opportunity for my first graders to ask their questions without feeling insecure or judged on their prior knowledge. The idea that you ask every question that comes […]
November 6, 2017
My Ah-Ha Moments with the Question Formulation Technique
by Connie Williams When first starting to use the Question Formulation Technique (QFT), I thought I needed to run through the process as described each and every time. It made sense, after all, to complete it with fidelity so that I would know that I was doing it “right.” As I became more competent – […]
September 13, 2017
To Adapt, or Not to Adapt?: How Fidelity-Of-Implementation of the QFT Can Impact Student Outcomes
by Shelby Clark In the fall of 2015, my colleagues at Boston University and I set out to find out how the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) impacts high school student outcomes, in particular curiosity, divergent thinking (creativity), school engagement, and self-efficacy. On the one hand, we were particularly interested in knowing whether teaching students to […]
June 12, 2017
The Question Formulation Technique for Deepening Thought
by Melanie Meehan Throughout the year, our district provides ongoing professional development from the Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College of Columbia University (TCRWP). Staff developers visit our district and do demonstration lessons, provide coaching, and lead study groups around reading and writing workshops and content area literacy instruction. They always share innovative tools […]
