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Brian Reiser from Northwestern University led a web seminar on the practice of asking questions and defining problems. Here are some follow up questions to the web seminar. 1. How proficient are your students at asking questions and defining problems? 2. What is the greatest challenge in getting your students to be proficient in asking questions and defining problems? Do they struggle with certain aspects? Please explain. 3. What kinds of classroom activities lend themselves to helping students ask questions and define problems? 4. What are some good do’s and don’t’s for teachers to consider when creating a classroom environment that encourages students to ask questions and define problems? 5. The webinar included some examples of students asking questions and defining problems during instruction. What methods could be used to formally assess students’ ability to engage in this practice?

All too often my students in grades 4-8 come up with great questions that could lead to meaningful investigations but I neither record their questions for further analysis nor adapt my lesson plans accordingly to implement true student initiated inquiry. Of course, there are many constraints keeping us from flowing with the students' own questions. However, since we know that questions drive the entire scientific enterprise, shouldn't we pay more attention to our students' questions. Many years ago, I conducted a mini research study on the types of questions middle school children ask about 'bacteria'. Some 350 8th graders were asked to write down what they wanted to know about bacteria. They could write as many questions as they wanted to. The results were interesting: Most of the questions were informational in nature (example: What is the most dangerous bacteria?), a small percent of the questions were causal (example: What makes bacteria multiply faster?), while questions that were correlational made only a fraction of a percent (example: When people are sick, they run fever. Does fever have something to do with bacteria?). We all want our students to question the natural phenomena in more connected and deeper ways. Is there a way to develop our students' skills in asking questions? There are many instructional strategies for doing that in place already. Nevertheless,I think it is important that we listen to and analyze our students' questions more systematically. They can help us write the new curriculum:) The NGSS draft and the Framework are timely guides to help us move to the next place in our cognitive evolution. I have difficulty envisioning how the performance expectations will look in my classroom but the conceptual framework behind them truly reflects the educational needs of this time. Thank you for this Webinar series. There could not have been a better starting point to our dialogue than the discussion on the centerpiece of all scientific enterprise - the question.

Sinikka- Thank you for your interesting comment. I agree that asking questions is an essential element in doing science. In what ways have you made use of the questions your students asked in your instruction. -Ted

Ted I attempt to gauge my instruction to fit my students' interests and lines of thinking. The questions they ask reveal what is important in their world. It is worth our while to listen carefully. If we combine students' interests with the standards (what we believe they should know), we can create winning projects. To make science relevant and meaningful to our students - that's the goal! Sinikka

I agree with Sinikka regarding the contextualizing our science curriculum to our students lives, especially since that is really where they are going to be apply they're skills and knowledge - The Real World. I've taught Grades 4 and 5, I always struggle with how to deal with the great questions they came up with because either it didn't fit the direction of our curriculum or time it would have required was just not there. I would definitely be interested in developing curriculum that demonstrates the real context of the skills, concepts and understandings that students need at the elementary. PBL is what comes to my mind when I think this way. When I think back to my own learning; Context always drove my passion to think about and problem solve the situation, which lends itself to questioning, discourse and investigation and research. Unfortunately as our elementary day is currently structured this kind of learning environment many times isn't possible. Are their going to be more elementary oriented webinars developed around these framework practices? I really enjoyed last nights webinar and believe this is the direction we need to go in for improved student interest and understanding in Science. Thank you, NSTA!

Couldn't agree more with the need to attend to relevance. Yes, PBL is an improvement over text-based instruction, but again, in terms of reality, if the problem isn't well defined to begin with, the unit will be less than effective. Using the example problem yesterday, I can envision a fair number of my students who would say they couldn't care less about businesses or what government leaders might be worried about. Realistic problem? Certainly! Relevant to secondary students? Certainly not all of them. There's got to be a balance between traditional canned (i.e., teacher-centered) curriculum and free, independent investigation based on individual student interests. I think that's what we're seeking with the NGSS.

I think teachers can begin to build questioning into their current curriculum by recording student questions and acknowledging them as you go through the daily lessons. As the teachers and students go through the year, it becomes a matter of practice. Tuning lessons can be added that address some of the questions, factual questions can be given for extra credit. Teachers will become more comfortable with this practice, and can then develop more student-driven curricula in the future. It is difficult to change all at one time.

I think the trickiest aspect of working with students' questions (or connecting the concepts being taught to their world) is to find ways to avoid phenomena that are so complicated, that it is difficult for students to make sense of them. A teacher or scientist frequently knows what aspects we have to pay attention to and what ones we do not. For example, we know that what color an object isn't significant in investigating the speed at which the object falls. The shape of the object may or may not be significant depending on what specific situation. What techniques do you use to "simplify" the situation so that students can explore it in a comprehending way?

Ted, I use an interactive science notebook in teaching. My students are required to record notes and content on the right side and reflect on the left. Students reflect on what they are learning by addressing questions (more guided in the beginning) that require them to related the content to their lives. One of my favorite prompts is to ask them to "tell me how you would teach this (the content) to your younger brother/sister" or "...to you Mom/Dad". As students advance in their reflective practices, I begin to include questions such as "tell me how this relates to something you have done" or "tell me about an example of this from you very real world". Each student's experiences are so unique, this technique allows each student to relate the content to their personal experiences. It is difficult at first to "teach," since I am really teaching them to think, and most just want to find the answers to be done, but it is worth the time and effort! :-)

From Barbara Searcy. I watched the powerpoint presentation and the archive on Sept 11, 2012 Asking questions and defining problems webinar. I would use hands on activities and scenarios for problem thinking to encourage the students to ask questions. , relating to weather, ecology, etc. this way the student does the work, even though some students really dont want to think. i would incorporate more technology to view that would challenge their prior knowledge and stimulate3 their thinking to a higher level of questioning. I want them to get their arguements from the evidence given and propose solutions to their questions. Some good do's are let them investigate and find their own explanations. Some don'ts include giving the student the questions in simple form for yes or no answers. Instead let the students formulate the questions and ask why they ask that questions and give a possible solution to their question.

I LOVE the idea of incorporating more technology into teaching/learning! At a recent field trip experience at the Museum of Science and Industry, my students encountered a "problem." They were unable to hear the students they were communicating with over iPads using FaceTime due to the nature of the room, number of participants and other logistical issues. However, not one of them got discouraged! Instead they began to look for ways to "talk" to their partner school group. Some began with hand-signs and others with using their whiteboards up to the iPad to be viewed over FaceTime. While I have nothing to compare this experience to quantitatively, it was obvious to me and others that when technology was involved the students appeared more willing to find a resolution and/or problem solve. If this would have been a pen and paper activity, I am not sure we would have had such a great response from the students. We really do need to begin to teach our students as they live - within a technology rich environment that challenges them to think!

I have found that by slowing down the curriculum to soak into the topics rather than catching as much as possible is helping the students truly understand so much more. I loved the idea of the question board. This would do away with the need to record them. Teaching 5 classes of science, having a board for each class would make finding important questions so much simpler.

Jordan said "I have found that by slowing down the curriculum to soak into the topics rather than catching as much as possible is helping the students truly understand so much more. " I do agree with you Jordan. I believe that is the intent of the Next Generation Science Standards, to allow for depth instead of breadth. Taking this time does make more time for having students ask questions and or define problems that need to be solved. Why is this asking questions so important that we need to use precious instructional time in elementary grades? What will we do with the questions after we post them on the wall or record them? Kathy