1:1:4 Formulating key questions

Activity duration: 10-30 minutes

Formulating key questions provides the foundations and scaffolding for successful online investigation. It is important to formulate key questions in order to focus the research and establish what pupils want to find out.

The following standard questions are a good basis from which pupils can start to develop their research.

1. Explain to pupils that each key question must include one keyword from the previous activity.
2. Challenge pupils to write 2 of each of the following question types relating to their topic, giving them a restricted time frame.
   
   Note: These questions do not all necessarily have to make sense.
   
   Who?
   What?
   When?
   Where?
   How?
   Why?
3. Outline to pupils that they must choose questions that ensure they investigate topics by which they will obtain NEW knowledge (pupils should be discouraged from choosing questions they can already answer).
4. Your pupils choose 2-3 of their generated questions to further develop/investigate.
5. Set your pupils the challenge of modifying these initial questions. They need to think about the way to word them as it will ultimately shape their research and the content for the possible development of their online resource (website). Click here to view a possible template for reframing their original questions.

For further questioning techniques check out the de Bono thinking hats theory that identifies six different focuses for thinking.

For more information on formulating key questions visit:

• Mind Tools: www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_07.htm
• Advanced Practical Thinking Training Inc.: www.aptt.com/6hats.htm