1. A Deep Dive with the Question Formulation Technique (QFT)
Sarah Westbrook
Director of Professional Learning
Katy Connolly
Education Program Associate
The Right Question Institute, Cambridge, MA

2. To Access Today’s Materials:
Join our Educator Network for:
Templates you can use tomorrow in class
Classroom Examples
Instructional Videos
Forums and Discussions with other Educators

3. We’re Tweeting…
@RightQuestion
@SarahRQI
#QFT

4. Since August 28th… What went well:
What people still want to know:
4 people want to know how to pick a quality QFocus
4 people want to know what to do when student questions go off topic
3 people want to know how to follow up with students’ questions
3 want to know how to best conclude the QFT lesson
2 people want to know how to encourage less vocal students to participate more
What went well:
3 people said their students were more engaged than usual
2 people said students were pleasantly surprised they could answer their own questions
2 people said it led to a great discussion
2 people said students collaborated well and listened to each other
People said the questions helped students “set the stage for learning”, “formulate a solving strategy”, and one person said, “it allowed them to experience a similar process that led astronomers to making these discoveries as well.”
13 responses, 11 yes, 2 no

5. Building a Shared Online Resource
And much more! Which you can find on this shared doc

6. Today’s Agenda Welcome Debrief Classroom Experiences
The “Art & Science of the QFT”: Tailoring, Tweaking, and Troubleshooting the QFT
Reflection & Planning your Next Steps
#2 involves both collaboratively addressing the questions and concerns people had and workshoping lesson plans or qfoci that went awry
Be sure to note that #3 involves seeing a couple new classroom examples, and discussing a couple qfoci for those who wanted, facilitation troubleshooting for everyone who wanted that

7. Tuning Protocol Presentation (4 minutes)
Presenter describes the context and shares materials related to the lesson, participants remain quiet and take notes
Presenter poses 1-2 key questions about what they’ve presented
Clarifying Questions (2 minutes)
Participants ask any nonevaluative clarifying questions they have, presenter responds
Discussion (6 minutes)
Participants discuss issues raised during the presentation, what they see in student work among themselves, other questions they have, etc. striving to deepen their understanding of the situation
Presenter is silent, taking notes
Reflection & Debrief (3 minutes)
Presenter reflects aloud about the discussion and any future plans or actions they might take
4 groups
Me, sarah, sue, and alyssa will be facilitating

8. Share out from the Tuning Protocol

9. The Art & Science of the QFT: Design, Facilitation, and Troubleshooting

10. QFT: An Art and a Science
The Science:
The QFT is a rigorous protocol, with specific steps and sequence, that produces consistent results
The QFT
Present a Question Focus
Produce questions following the 4 rules
Improve questions
Prioritize questions
Discuss next steps
Reflect

11. QFT: An Art and a Science
Tailor the QFT through:
Planning how to use student questions
Question Focus design
Prioritization instructions
Reflection questions
Facilitation
The Art:
You should tailor the QFT process to the specific content and people you are working with.

12. Five Areas Related to the Art of the QFT
Facilitation
Starting at the End
QFocus Design
Prioritization Instructions
Reflection Questions
Put a space after each bullet.

13. Four Principles of Facilitation
Monitor student adherence to the process
Do not give examples
Do not get pulled into group discussion
Acknowledge all contributions equally
Discuss: What could be challenging about each principle? What might be important about each?

14. Timing

15. The QFT, on one slide… Question Focus Produce Your Questions
Ask as many questions as you can
Do not stop to discuss, judge or answer
Record exactly as stated
Change statements into questions
Question Focus
Produce Your Questions
Follow the rules
Number your questions
Improve Your Questions
Categorize questions as Closed or Open-ended
Change questions from one type to another
Prioritize Your Questions
Share & Discuss Next Steps
Reflect
Where could you save time, once students know the full process?
What steps could you cut or condense either to save time or keep it fresh for students?
Closed-Ended:
Answered with “yes,” “no” or one word
Open-Ended: Require longer explanation

16. Five Areas Related to the Art of the QFT
Facilitation
Starting at the End
QFocus Design
Prioritization Instructions
Reflection Questions
Put a space after each bullet.

17. The QFT, Not a Detour but a Shortcut
For example…Deirdre didn’t have to do a couple of the lessons she was planning, bc kids were further along than she thought and had figured out a couple things already! A formative assessment that quickly, effectively actually shows what kids are thinking? The QFT

18. Various Teaching Purposes
Engagement
Knowledge acquisition
Formative assessment
Summative assessment
Peer review
Skill development
Put a space after each bullet.

19. Next Steps? And sometimes… Nothing! Pop Quiz or Reading Check
Debate Prep
Lab work & Experiments
Exit ticket or ”Do Now”
Paper topic
Hang on walls,
Check Off as Answered
Research
Projects
Test Prep
And sometimes…
Nothing!
Homework
Class discussion prompts
Presentations
Student Choice Projects
Socratic Seminar Prompts
Interview an Expert
Ok to change your mind once you see what you get; but try to be transparent with students, show them how/why their questions matter (rather than one off activity)
Make Your Own Final Test
Journal Prompt
Guest speakers
Blogging or Tweeting
Close Reading Protocol
Year-long or Unit-long Essential Questions
Tailoring Instruction
Service Action Projects

20. Using the QFT for Skill Development
(Students were assigned a complex molecular biology article)
QFocus: Ask as many questions as you can about the reading

21. Next Steps with Student Questions:
Students lead themselves through the QFT as homework and bring in their questions
In class, students discuss key attributes of a good biological research question and compare to other types of questions
Students improve their questions
Lists of questions are discarded or kept in notebooks (up to the student)
Students apply this skill to designing their own research project later in the semester
Put a space after each bullet.

22. Classroom Example: 7th Grade Science
Teacher: Nicole Bolduc, Ellington, CT Topic: “The Universe and Its Stars” Unit Purpose: To engage students in setting the learning agenda for the unit
Students’ questions guide all investigations and unit

23. Question Focus
Students watched videos of dramatic tide change in Cape Cod, Alaska, and Canada

24. Next Steps with Student Questions
The Driving Questions Board and the “Parking Lot”
Students draw initial models, give feedback, and make predictions.
Students experience a series of scientific investigations.
At the end of the unit, the Driving Question board is “published” in poster format.
Nicole starts every QFT with having students set goals and closes every lesson by having students self reflect on how they did on the goals. They also do a peer evaluation

25. Two new classroom examples…

26. Classroom Example: High School Physics
Teacher: Rachel Riemer, Cambridge, MA Topic: Relationship between angle of incline and acceleration Purpose: For students to develop their own question to investigate in a lab
Lab: determining acceleration of a cart down an incline

27. Question Focus Motion on an incline
Mention that students had previewed the lab station prior to this. Not intentional; she originally tried the whole station as the QFocus, but didn’t get the questions she’d hoped for (mostly asked about parts and pieces, etc.)
It might have changed how she did it choosing to give them the words
Motion on an incline

28. Next Steps with Student Questions
Students categorized their questions into topics using color-coding
Within those categories, students’ identified a “lead question” and the questions they’d have to answer first to get at the lead question
Students then prioritized with the instructions, “If you were to design a lab, which question would you design a lab around, and why?”
Students wrote a “purpose statement” based on the lead question they chose. This became their hypothesis to test in the lab.
Picture- not from this QFT, but this is from another QFT Rachel did, and it shows how students color-coded examples. Here, the prompt was “Bias in Science”, and they created the categories- a) examples, b) impact, c) help/reduce, d) patterns/trends
Students designed slightly different labs, but “there really weren’t that many variables. They hone in very close to the same ideas.”

29. Teacher Reflections For quiet groups:
“At first, they weren’t buying in. They would say, ‘Just tell us what you want us to do.’ It took them awhile to trust each other too. Now, most of the students will say they really like the flexibility in the labs, that because not everyone is doing the same thing they learn more, and being in the lab is their favorite part.”
For quiet groups:
“Give them time to sit quietly, come up with their own questions individually, then go around in a group and record, and give some time to keep adding questions as a group after their initial questions.”
“One group sat there with 5 questions, other groups went a lot further, so we did a quick gallery walk so they could look at the other groups, and then gave them another 2-3 min to add a few more questions.”
Can refer back to the fact that students had already seen the materials for the lab set up, and had to use those.

30. Classroom Example: High School Algebra I
Teacher: Claire Yablong, Phoenix, AZ
Topic: Methods for solving quadratic functions
Purpose:
To reveal what students did not know or understand about the topic after students overall performed poorly on a quiz, and to prepare them for the upcoming test
For students to think critically about the best approach to solving different quadratic functions
As an ‘intervention’ after assessing students

31. Before the Question Focus
Part 1:
Students tried solving an equation, individually:
3x2-5x=12
Part 2:
Students solved the same equation with a partner, using a method not used by them or their partner on part 1.

32. Question Focus:
(Now in groups of 4)
Solving 3x2-5x=12

33. Through Asking Questions, Students…
Identified gaps in their prior knowledge
How do you factor with two X’s?
What is completing the square?
Made connections to prior knowledge
What does rate of change have to do with this lesson?
Which way has the smallest margin of error?
Used mathematical reasoning
Would it change the answer if you converted to a decimal in the middle of solving?
Thought metacognitively about approach and tools for solving
How would one know what is the best method to use on a question by question basis?
How do you know if the equations is solvable?
Do certain formulas work better for certain problems?
Is it safe to use mental math?
Is using the calculator smart for this problem?
Sought a conceptual understanding
Why do we set the equation to zero?
Why are there two answers?
Why don’t you have to find the square root for factoring?
Sought to extend their knowledge
What if there is no y intercept? What if it’s just 3x^2 for example?
What are the types of equations in which it will cross the y axis?
Had a place to begin
What step do you start with?
what are you seeing in their questions, what do you see as valuable
How would you assess these students’ understanding

34. Next Steps with Student Questions
Students copied their 3 priority questions into Padlet, and made a comment to questions they could answer as a team
Before the test, they reviewed as a class the answers to the questions no one could answer
Students made a noticeable improvement in their scores from when they took the quiz
The teacher noted: “I think our QFT day forced some of them to stop saying ‘I don't get this’ and instead get specific about what they didn't understand.”

35. Five Areas Related to the Art of the QFT
Facilitation
Starting at the End
QFocus Design
Prioritization Instructions
Reflection Questions
Put a space after each bullet.

36. Designing a Question Focus
An effective QFocus is:
Directly tied to lesson’s main idea
Simple…but not too simple
Interesting or provocative to students…but not biased or leading

37. Initial Question Focus: High School Spanish
Objective: To assess students’ vocabulary for food and party words

38. Initial Question Focus: Middle School ELA

39. Student Questions 9. What is the big tower at the top?
10. Why are we being fit into one
building?
11. When was the school made?
12. How much money did it cost to build it?
13. Why does it look like so many parts put together?
14. What is that white thing on top?
15. Why does it have 2 chimneys?
16. What is the point of lockers?
17. Who was the first principal?
18. Who is the boss of the superintendents?
1. Why does it look so old?
2. Why does the school have a Fallout Zone?
3. Why is there a flag hanging upside
down?
4. How old is the building?
5. Why are the classrooms numbered?
6. How many acres does it take up?
7. Why are there so many windows?
8. Why is there 4 big pillars at the front?

40. Five Areas Related to the Art of the QFT
Facilitation
Starting at the End
QFocus Design
Prioritization Instructions
Reflection Questions

41. Tailoring the Prioritization Instructions
Choose three questions…
General Instructions:
that you consider most important
that require analyzing data
that you are most curious about
that are not “Googleable” and may be difficult to answer
Specific Purposes:
that you think will best open up dialogue
that you need to research further
to help you solve the problem
that you consider “outside the box”
that you need to answer first
that would best help us learn about (topic or QFocus)
that a scientist studying the earth might ask
that best align with today’s objective
that will help you understand the text

42. QFocus: High School
“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”
– Maya Angelou
This is an example from a history classroom in Rhode Island. The teacher gave students this full quotation with the attribution to Maya Angelou. During the first step of producing questions, she noticed that most students were focusing their questions on Maya Angelou, rather than the content of the quotation—”who was Maya Angelou? Why would she say this? What in her history needed to be faced?” which are all great questions, but they didn’t suit the teacher’s purpose; she needed them to ask some overarching questions about history to guide their work all year.
Now, of course, the teacher could make a change to the Qfocus next year and just take out the words “Maya Angelou,” but what does she do now, in the middle of the lesson?
There are two easy fixes. First, as you facilitate the first step, producing questions, you could give students additional directions: READ slide.
Second, you could change the prioritization instructions on the fly: READ Slide
So, prioritization instructions are crucial for helping students narrow down, especially if there is a specific direction you have in mind.
Troubleshooting Tips:
“Spend the next 2 minutes asking about just this word/phrase”
Change the prioritization instructions on the fly

43. Five Areas Related to the Art of the QFT
Facilitation
Starting at the End
QFocus Design
Prioritization Instructions
Reflection Questions

44. Tailoring Reflection Questions
QFT Process
Content Specific
What did you learn about asking questions?
How did you learn it?
What did you notice about the order/sequence of questions?
How can you use what you learned about asking questions?
How do you feel about asking questions?
How has your thinking changed since last time we did the QFT?
What did you learn about the (content)?
How did your questions help you think about…
key concept
specific assignment
overarching topic
theme in the unit
your teaching practice
a challenge in our school

45. One Last Thought about Reflection
“Reflection is the piece that keeps me coming back the next day…
The most profound reflections are almost always from the students who perhaps seemed disengaged in class. Quiet students often do a great deal of their thinking in the written reflection.”
-Ling-Se Chesnakas, Boston Public Schools

46. The Science of the QFT: a protocol
The Art of the QFT: You
The key role of the teacher and YOU ARE sTILL In CONTROL:
Behind the scenes as lesson planner
Facilitate process according to the steps of the QFT and the five facilitation principles
Use student questions as part of next steps

47. The one quality all excellent QFT designers share?
Thick Skin.
Practice makes…more comfortable anyway.

48. Today’s Agenda Welcome Debrief Classroom Experiences
The “Art & Science of the QFT”: Tailoring, Tweaking, and Troubleshooting the QFT
Reflection & Planning your Next Steps
#2 involves both collaboratively addressing the questions and concerns people had and workshoping lesson plans or qfoci that went awry
Be sure to note that #3 involves seeing a couple new classroom examples, and discussing a couple qfoci for those who wanted, facilitation troubleshooting for everyone who wanted that

49. Pair and Share One new takeaway you have after today’s session
A question that you have
Plans or ideas for your next steps with the QFT in math and science
Put a space after each bullet.

50. Building a Shared Online Resource
And much more! Which you can find on this shared doc

51. To Access Today’s Materials:
Join our Educator Network for:
Templates you can use tomorrow in class
Classroom Examples
Instructional Videos
Forums and Discussions with other Educators

52. Additional Resources for your Questions
What if students ask irrelevant questions?
“What if My Students’ Questions Go Off the Rails?” by Connie Williams
How do I incorporate questions into assessment?
Video: The QFT and Summative Assessment
How do I use student questions as warm up/exit ticket? (And, what do I DO with students’ questions?!)
“Circles + Squares” by Rick Barlow
…And a whole lot more at:
Can find these on the front table

53. Additional Math Resources
Look through more math classroom examples: (available to download at and select “Math Classroom Examples PPT”) project-launch.html A fantastic blog written by a high school math teacher in Freemont, CA. If you search the blog, you’ll find several of Rick Barlow’s QFT lessons with all levels of students—from ELL immersion classes to AP classes. This particular link takes you to an incredible project Rick did with ELL students, using statistics to challenge immigration claims. Question > Answer Math Educator blog, available to download at question-the-answer-a-discussion-of-the-qft-in-math- from-the-right-question-institute-archives/Two math educators debate back and forth about whether, and how, the QFT can be used to actually learn math.

54. Additional Science Resources
Look through more science classroom examples: (available to download at and select “Science Classroom Examples PowerPoint”) question-formulation-technique A short article that details several different science applications, pre-k through higher education and builds a larger argument about why curiosity is so critical to science and innovation. Fabulous curated resources from former Science Department Chair, now assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, Alison Gest from Maine Township, IL. She lists 8 of her own QFT lessons (linking out to worksheets, student work, examples of final projects, etc.) and then offers many additional QFocus ideas.

55. To Learn Even More
Check out our 3-week online course hosted by the Harvard Graduate School of Education

56. Classroom Example: High School Statistics
Teacher: Rick Barlow, San Jose, CA Topic: Immigration Statistics PBL Purpose: To produce questions for statistical research
PBL/Research

57. Question Focus
3 claims about immigration pulled from a campaign speech video

58. Next Steps with Student Questions
Students categorized questions as groups shared: DACA, the wall, security, drugs/crime
Students’ preferences of the 4 big topics were used to create groups
Groups crafted a “claim” about the topic counter to the president’s claim
Students supported their claim using statistical research

59. For more information on Rick Barlow’s lesson
ELL Students Use Statistics to Challenge Immigration Claims
If you search the blog, you’ll find several of Rick’s QFT lessons with all levels of students—from ELL immersion classes to AP classes.