The Questioning Practice Explored

In our quest to engage students in inquiry and model-based reasoning, immersing students in actually doing the Practices is the best way to get them to do real science. The Practices don’t exist without each other; sometimes it’s helpful to think about one Practice and how it can be used in the context of the other Practices. The following resources will provide an introduction to the Questioning Practice (SEP1). Since ALL science begins with investigating a question, this Practice is sometimes called an ‘Anchoring Practice,’ as it is present in everything a scientist or science student does.

Attached Resources Explained

1. Asking Questions (pts 1 and 2): PRISM Teachers Explain Practice Interplay in Classrooms (embedded video below) A narrated slideshow that takes you through some steps of getting students to ask questions

2. Teaching Students To Ask Their Own Questions.docx Strategies for getting students to ask their own questions and what to do with them

3. Question Formulation Technique.docx Information about the question formulation technique

4. Resources and Research on Asking Questions.docx A list of published resources about questioning

Watch Questioning in The Video Cases

1. A physics teacher’s use of questioning to help students deepen their understanding of the behaviors of light

2. An elementary school teacher using questioning to help students develop an understanding of the relationship between speed and energy

As you begin working with this Practice in your classroom, we encourage you to find ways to integrate questioning into everything you do, even in informal ways. Becoming comfortable with asking questions, even when answers are not readily available, and becoming skilled at honing questions to be specific and precise lays the groundwork for deeper levels of student thinking.

External Links

http://rightquestion.org/education/

http://www.ibmidatlantic.org/Experiencing-the-QFT.pdf