Question Formulation Technique

Bufford, J. H. & Homer, W. (1856) Argument of the Chivalry. , 1856. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

The artist recreates the May 22 attack and severe beating of Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner by Representative Preston S. Brooks of South Carolina.

Overview

The Right Question Institute has developed the QFT or Question Formulation Technique to help all people ask better questions and participate more effectively in key decisions. When applied to the classroom, students become question-askers, sophisticated thinkers, and self-directed learners. When teachers use primary sources as the Question Focus their students become actively engaged in determining their own path of inquiry.

Examples

The QFT may be used at the beginning of a lesson as a way to introduce a concept or bridge the gap between history and the present. It may also be used at the end of a lesson as a summative assessment. The QF, or Question Focus, may be a primary source such as the image above that depicts the Caning of Senator Sumner or a statement such as Questions about racism during the Civil Rights Era and now.

In 2015, Greg Giardina, an 8th grade social studies teacher in Pittsburgh and a TPS Eastern Region facilitator, taught a C3 Inquiry, Have We Overcome Racism Yet? This inquiry used oral history videos from the Library of Congress Civil Rights History Project as the featured primary sources. The C3 Inquiry cycle ends with a Taking Informed Action task as a way to prepare students for civic action.

In preparation for the Taking Informed Action task, Greg asked his students to use the QFT to brainstorm questions about racism to use in a live interview with a local Civil Rights activist. The students worked in small groups of three and came up with the most amazing informed questions using the QFT small group worksheet. The interview with Dr. Nelson Harrison was recorded and uploaded to the StoryCorps website and has been archived at the Library of Congress for preservation.

Watch It

Watch a section of the video, Teaching students to ask their own questions starting at marker 6:30 and ending at 24:10 in which Dan Rothstein of the Right Question Institute introduces the QFT and shares classroom examples. Transcript

Read About It

Questions, Frameworks, and Classrooms by John Lee, Kathy Swan, SG Grant, Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana

Write About It

Record your responses on this document.

What do you understand differently now about students learning to ask their own questions?
Find a primary source from the Library of Congress that would work as a QF (Question Focus) either at the beginning of a lesson or at the end. List the title of the primary source and the URL.
Explain why you think the selected primary source would work as a QF.

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