Formulating Questions

The purpose of this step is to teach students how to formulate thoughtful, purposeful questions and to work on exploring possible answers to those questions through a variety of teacher and student led activities.

Teacher Resources

• Inquiry-Based Learning Activity Outline
• The Hacking Learning Project
• Week of Wonder Inquiry Based Learning Activity Outline - Only have a week? This pdf outlines the steps and includes a descriptions of the learning expectations.
• Engaging Videos
• Guest Speakers - This page offers some insight into inviting guests into the classroom.
• Thrively - This website helps to outline areas students might find of interest for free inquiry learning.
• Question Formulation Technique (QFT) - This slideshow outlines for teachers the steps in the Question Formulation Technique which will lead students through a process to formulate and prioritize their own questions.
• Questions Formulation Technique for Student Instruction - Use this slideshow to guide your students through the Question Formulation Technique.

Student Resources

• Fostering Purpose Template - This chart helps students to make connections between themselves, their interests and the world around them in order to help find an IBL focus.
• Project Proposal Template or Free Inquiry Learning Proposal - Students can use the questions in this document to plan their proposal before pitching it.
• SMART Goals - This chart allows students to plan aspects of their IBL project using SMART Goals. It also includes an exemplar.

Conferencing Suggestions

After you’ve introduced inquiry-based learning and given students general ideas (using videos, examples), you will want to conference individually with students. While some students will be able to quickly identify a topic and driving question, others will need more time and either peer or teacher conferencing.

IBL Conferencing #1