What is Simple and Not So Simple about Teaching Students to Ask Better Questions?

Discussion Leaders:
Dan Rothstein, EdD, Co-Director Right Question Institute and Lecturer on Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education 

Tomoko Ouchi leads RQI’s Question Formulation Theory Program. She has led sessions on the use of the Question Formulation Technique for a wide range of higher education audiences in both the United States and Japan.

They are currently co-PIs for the NSF-funded project “GERMINATION EXPANSION: Building Question Formulation Capacity through the Research Question Network.”

Overview

What happens when students learn to formulate their own questions?

How important are questions in a mathematics classroom? A skilled educator uses them well not only to check for understanding, but also to help students get “unstuck,” stimulate new lines of thinking,and facilitate discovery. What if students developed that power themselves? What if they could learn to use questions to create their own learning agenda? How might that lead to genuine engagement, greater curiosity, deeper comprehension and even new discoveries? In this session, we’ll look at how that becomes possible through an active learning experience with the Question Formulation Technique (QFT), a simple but rigorous, structured method for generating and improving one’s own questions. Participants will also explore a recently developed Theory of Question Formulation that explains how the ability to formulate one’s own questions fundamentally changes and enhances people’s ability to learn to think for themselves.
This session includes a presentation and an active learning experience.


 

Learning Goals: 

1. Understanding How Questioning Shapes Knowledge and Learning

• Critically examine the role of questioning in how students develop and refine their understanding within their respective disciplines.
• Analyze the cognitive mechanisms by which question formulation influences learning, conceptual change, and problem-solving in STEM and applied sciences.
• Explore how student-generated questions help learners take greater ownership of their thinking and learning process.

2. Experiencing and Evaluating the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) as a Pedagogical Tool

• Participate in an active learning experience with the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) and assess its effectiveness for structuring inquiry.
• Compare QFT to other models of student-led inquiry and reflective learning (e.g., Socratic questioning, problem-based learning, design thinking).
• Debate the benefits and limitations of structured question formulation in different disciplines, including its relevance to computational, experimental, and theoretical fields.

3. Question Formulation as a Tool for Engagement and Discovery

• Evaluate how question formulation can shift students from passive receivers of information to active investigators of disciplinary content.
• Investigate how structured questioning can deepen problem-solving, research design, and interdisciplinary thinking.
• Discuss how faculty might assess the quality of student-generated questions as indicators of learning depth, intellectual curiosity, and creative problem-framing.

4. Examining the Theory of Question Formulation in Higher Education and Research

• Critically engage with the emerging Theory of Question Formulation, considering its implications for how students develop expertise and problem-solving abilities in STEM and applied sciences.
• Discuss the role of questioning in bridging the gap between novice and expert thinking, particularly in how researchers refine and expand their own inquiry.
• Consider how different academic disciplines (e.g., mathematical reasoning, empirical sciences, engineering design) influence the types of questions that drive discovery.

5. Applying Structured Questioning Strategies in Course and Research Design

• Develop an actionable plan for embedding structured question formulation into their own course designs, research seminars, or lab settings.
• Explore how structured questioning can enhance the design of assessments, project-based learning experiences, and research mentoring in graduate and undergraduate education.
• Reflect on potential institutional challenges and opportunities in fostering a culture of inquiry-driven teaching and research at SEAS.