The method Rothstein explains is straightforward and strikes me as very valuable - a process to teach students to develop better questions, reflect on them and thus lead to more connection with the material, higher level of engagement, and deeper learning.
While all of the examples come out of the K-12 environment, especially High and Junior High, I think that the process can also be helpful in college level classes as it goes beyond the concept of brainstorm to moments of reflection not only about the content of the questions but also about the type and nature of the questions. The process is called Question Formulation Technique, or QFT, and is trademarked. For online resources, please check out the Right Question Institute.
You may ask why it is important for students to be able to ask not only questions but good questions - it empowers, it educates through curiosity, and gives you a pathway to expertise. Think of your own empowerment (or lack thereof) when you are in a space where you are not the expert. This may be a medical office, a legal office, working with an electrician or car mechanic. If you have not learned to ask questions, you will not ask any and thus have to rely on these experts to do their jobs. When you are able to ask questions, you still rely on them to do their job, but through your questions you may give them insight and information that will allow them to do an even better job. The authors call this "microdemocracy."
In the classroom, we know that right now it is the instructor who is asking all the questions. Students are often not encouraged to ask questions. When students ask questions about a subject, they become emotionally connected to the subject and will learn it better. They will also practice their curiosity.
We practice through this three fundamentally important thinking abilities: divergent thinking, convergent thinking, and metacognition. Think of these as 1. divergent thinking: The ability to generate a wide range of ideas and think broadly and creatively; 2. convergent thinking: The ability to analyze and synthesize information and ideas while moving toward an answer or conclusion; and 3. Metacognition: The ability to think about one’s own thinking and learning
So, how does QFT work?
In a nutshell, here is what this process looks like:
The instructor provides a Question Focus - this is a statement that is short, often challenging
For a set amount of time, in small groups, with one person as the scribe, students come up with their questions, following these rules:
- Ask as many questions as you can.
- Do not stop to discuss, judge, or answer any of the questions.
- Write down every question exactly as it was stated.
- Change any statements into questions.
This allows for the following - students practice asking questions, all questions are accepted, so marginalized voices are accepted at the same level as dominant voices (because questions are not edited or judged).
Once the time is up, students work through the process of categorizing their questions in to open-ended and closed-ended questions and potentially change some of their questions into a different category.
Finally, students prioritize their questions based on what the focus of their project is - what are the most important questions for my project, most interesting for my paper, most difficult, easiest, etc.
What happens here is the necessary reflection to let students think about the kinds of questions they have gathered, and while they do this they are also reflecting on their own thinking and learning.
The book outlines techniques on how to guide students the first few times through this process of learning how to follow the rules, how to categorize and manipulate questions, and how to prioritize - but I am not going to go into these details as you then no longer need to read the book.
I urge you to think about how you can use this process in your own teaching and am looking forward to more discussions.
