The Question Formulation Theory of Learning: An Old/New Cornerstone for a Healthy Democracy

1. The Question Formulation Theory of Learning: An Old/New Cornerstone for a Healthy Democracy Dan Rothstein Co- Director, The Right Question Institute, Cambridge, MA New Hampshire Learning Initiative 2019 Powerful Learning Conference Bow High School, Bow, NH, July 11, 2019

2. Acknowledgments We are deeply grateful to The National Science Foundation, The Hummingbird Fund and to the Board of Directors for their strong support of our work. Special thanks to Irv Richardson, Ally Snyder and NH-NEA for being such great partners. We are also in awe of the ingenuity and creativity of hundreds of thousands of educators who continue to teach us so much about how our Question Formulation Technique can be adapted for effective use in classrooms around the world from kindergarten through doctoral education.

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

4. Definition of Theory "A theory simply explains what a phenomenon is and how it works. " Torraco, Richard  J., 1997, "Theory-Building Research Method" P115, inSwanson, R. A.& Holton, E. F.(Eds.), Human Resource Development Research Handbook: Linking Research and Practice, San Francisco, Berrett-Koehler.

5. Question Formulation Theory of Learning Your questions shape how you learn and what you learn. • Questions change the information you seek • Questions change the information you get • Questions can deepen your understanding of what you currently know and what you don’t know • Questions can lead to predictions • Questions can challenge predictions and assumptions • Questions can shape your learning agenda • Questions not asked…affect what you do and don’t learn

6. Hmm A Scientific Name for the Question Formulation Theory of Learning , Oomph and Ah Ha! Theory of Learning

7. Collaborative LearningExperience

8. Rules for Producing Questions 1. Ask as many questions as you can 2. Do not stop to answer, judge, or discuss 3. Write down every question exactly as stated 4. Change any statements into questions

9. Produce Questions • Ask Questions • Follow the Rules • Ask as many questions as you can. • Do not stop to answer, judge, or discuss. • Write down every question exactly as it was stated. • Change any statements into questions. • Number the Questions

10. Question Focus Learning to ask questions in a democracy in an authoritarian society

11. Change Questions • Take one closed-ended questionand change itinto an open-ended question. • Take one open-ended question and change itinto a closed-ended question. Open Closed Open Closed

12. Prioritize Questions Review your list of questions • Choose the three questions you consider most important. After prioritizing consider… • Why did you choose those three questions? • Where are your priority questions in the sequence of your entire list of questions?

13. Reflect • What do you understand differently now about learning to ask questions in a democracy?

14. The Importance of the Skill of Question Formulation

15. - Richard Feynman Nobel Laureate, Physics, 1965 "There is no learning without having to pose a question."

16. – Stuart Firestein Professor, Department of Biology, Columbia University “We must teach students how to think in questions, how to manage ignorance.”

17. College Presidents onWhat College Students Should Learn “The primary skills should be analytical skills of interpretation and inquiry. In other words, know how to frame a question.” - Leon Botstein, President of Bard College “…the best we can do for students is have them ask the right questions.” - Nancy Cantor, Former Chancellor of University of Illinois The New York Times, August 4, 2002

18. Yet, only 27% of graduates believe college taught them how to ask their own questions Alison Head, Project Information Literacy at University of Washington, 2016

19. How Common is the Teaching of the Skill?

20. A 1912 Study Romiett Stevens, 1912 The Question as a Measure of Efficiency in Instruction: A critical study of classroom practice. Columbia University Contributions to Education, No. 48 “An unusual lesson because twenty-five of the thirty-four questions were asked by the pupils.…The result was that the lesson developed an impetus born of real interest. I mention it because this lesson was unique in the series of one hundred.”

21. Percentage of Basic Skill Attainment Sources: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/main2009/2011455.pdf http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/main2007/2008468.asp#section1 Data on question-asking based on parent and teacher feedback

22. Percentage of Basic Skill Attainment Sources: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/main2009/2011455.pdf http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/main2007/2008468.asp#section1 Data on question-asking based on parent and teacher feedback

23. Educators Recognize the Problem • Teachers report that getting students to ask questions feels like, “pulling teeth.” • Students ask less than 1/5th the questions educators estimated would be elicited and deemed desirable.* * Susskind, E. (1979), Encouraging teachers to encourage children's curiosity: A pivotal competence. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 8 (2), pp.101-106.

24. Evidence of Value When it is Taught

25. Research on the Importance of Student Questioning Self-questioning (metacognitive strategy): • Student formulation of their own questions is one of the most effective metacognitive strategies • Engaging in pre-lesson self-questioning improved students rate of learning by nearly 50% (Hattie, p.193) John Hattie Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement, 2008

26. Questions are the engines of intellect, the cerebral machines which convert energy to motion, and curiosity to controlled inquiry.” * David Hackett Fischer Professor of History, Brandeis University “It helps me by getting me to think about questions on my own. Also, it gets my mind in motion to think about the questions other people make.” 8th Grader, Austin, TX *Historians' fallacies: Toward a logic of historical thought. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1971.

27. Classroom Examples

28. Classroom Example:4th Grade Teacher: Deirdre Brotherson, Hooksett, NH Topic: Math unit on variables Purpose: To engage students at the start of a unit on variables and assess their current skill level

29. Question Focus 24 =  +  + 

30. Student Questions 24 =  +  +  • Does it mean 24 is a really happy number? • Can we replace each smiley face with an 8? • Do any other numbers work? • Can we do this for any number? • Does it always have to be smiley faces? • Do we always have to use three things? • Why is the 24 first? • What do the smiley faces mean? • Why are there 3 smiley faces? • How am I suppose to figure this out? • Is the answer 12? • Can I put any number for a smiley face? • Do three faces mean something? • Do the numbers have to be the same because the smiley faces are the same? • What numbers will work here?

31. Next Steps with Student Questions • Questions were hung around the room. • Students checked off questions as they were answered during the rest of the unit. • At the end of the unit, students analyzed their original list of questions and discussed what they learned and what they still wanted to know.

32. Classroom Example:High School Teacher: Daniel Fouts, Des Plaines, IL Topic: 12th Grade Government unit on the American presidency at moments of crisis Purpose: To engage students at the start of the unit and to help students select a topic for an independent project

33. Question Focus “Nearly all men can handle adversity; but if you really want to test a man’s character, give him power.” https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/96522529/

34. Student Questions • How does power challenge one’s morality? • Does power make people corrupt? • What if the person who is qualified for power doesn’t attain it? • What is considered power? • What defines good character? tell by adversity? • How can power be obtained by adversity? • If adversity supposedly makes you stronger, does that mean that power makes you weaker?

35. Changes When Students Work with Their Own Questions

36. When students work with their own questions, there are • Cognitive Changes • Social and Emotional Changes • Behavioral Changes

37. Cognitive Changes • Know the rules for producing questions • Know the difference between open-ended questions and closed-ended questions • Know that how you ask the question affects the information you get • Learn about prioritizing questions • Learn to think metacognitively

38. Social and Emotional Changes • More comfortable with “not knowing” (ignorance) • Greater curiosity • More intrinsically motivated • New or greater confidence • Sense of autonomy and ownership • Find their voice

39. “The way it made me feel was smart because I was asking good questions and giving good answers.” -Boston 9th grade remedial summer school student

40. Behavioral Changes • Ask a lot of questions • Listen to peers’ questions • Collaborate • Work rigorously with their own questions • Become less dependent on instructors • More engagement and participation

41. “Asking questions may not always lead to answers, but it leads to curiosity… Question asking helps us guide our own adventure and helps us find new interests. Everything starts with a question, even if you don't realize it.” - 9th Grader, Fitchburg, MA "There is no learning without having to pose a question." - Richard Feynman Nobel Laureate, Physics, 1965

42. Emerging Theory of Learning

43. Definition of Theory "A theory simply explains what a phenomenon is and how it works. " Torraco, Richard  J., 1997, "Theory-Building Research Method" P115, inSwanson, R. A.& Holton, E. F.(Eds.), Human Resource Development Research Handbook: Linking Research and Practice, San Francisco, Berrett-Koehler.

44. Question Formulation Theory of Learning Your questions shape how you learn and what you learn. • Questions change the information you seek • Questions change the information you get • Questions can deepen your understanding of what you currently know and what you don’t know • Questions can lead to predictions • Questions can challenge predictions and assumptions • Questions can shape your learning agenda • Questions not asked…affect what you do and don’t learn

45. Hmm A Scientific Name for the Question Formulation Theory of Learning , Oomph and Ah Ha! Theory of Learning

46. Working in groups with your own questions • Think for yourself and listen to others • Present your perspective and collaborate • Prioritize and reach agreement or consensus • Name what you learned and reflect on its meaning allows you to: • Practice a democratic habit of mind

47. Asking Questions and Democracy Image Courtesy of Highlander Research and Education Center

48. Asking Questions and Democracy “We need to be taught to study rather than to believe, to inquire rather than to affirm.” SeptimaClark • Chapter 6 on Septima Clark in Peterson, Elizabeth A., 1996, Freedom Road: Adult Education of African Americans,Krieger Publishing Co..

49. Questions and Discussion

50. Thank you very much!