{"id":1483,"date":"2023-12-13T19:30:16","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T19:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/?page_id=1483"},"modified":"2024-02-08T19:32:41","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T19:32:41","slug":"the-driving-question-methodology","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/the-driving-question-methodology\/","title":{"rendered":"The Driving Question Methodology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Understanding Driving Questions<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Driving questions are an essential part of classroom projects. A driving question is a well-designed, open-ended question that is worth exploring and can sustain student interest for a long period of time<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without a question that is open-ended enough, students may end up planning a project around a binary question that can be answered too easily with a simple Google search or with AI. Coming up with \u201cwell-designed\u201d driving questions can become second nature with a little guidance and practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Key Features of a Driving Question<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are few key features across any well-designed driving question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feasibility<\/strong>: students should be able to design and perform investigations to answer it<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worth<\/strong>: it should deal with rich content and process that match district curriculum standards<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contextualization<\/strong>: it should be anchored in the lives of learners and address important, real world issues<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meaning<\/strong>: it should be interesting and exciting to learners<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ethical<\/strong>: it should not harm living organisms or the environment<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sustainability<\/strong>: it should sustain student interest for weeks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Krajcik, Czerniak, Berger, 2003).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their pursuit to find answers to the driving question, students develop understanding of the key concepts associated with the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good driving question will also allow students to ask and answer their own sub-questions. For example, in a project with the driving question: \u201cHow can I care for the plants in our classroom?\u201d students might ask: \u201cWhat contributes to the plant\u2019s health,\u201d \u201cwhat are the indicators of a plant\u2019s health?,\u201d etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is a driving question developed (teacher generated questions):<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are many ways that a teacher can develop a good driving question, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • From ideas that teachers come across in their reading<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • From the school curriculum<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • From personal experience<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • By reviewing the curriculum standards that the project will meet<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • By listening to questions that students have <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • From hobbies and personal interests<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • From the media<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • By listening to other teachers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How to come up with a driving question (for teachers):<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Teachers should consider answering the following questions when trying to create their own driving questions: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • What content will the student learn? <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • What content standards will be met?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Can students generate their own questions?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • What investigations can students do?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • How is the question anchored in the real world?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • How is the question meaningful for students?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Can the question sustain student engagement?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      (Krajcik, Czerniak, Berger, 2003).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      How to help students generate their own driving questions:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Teachers can guide students to generate their own driving questions by <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • helping them understand the characteristics of a driving question <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • providing them with time to develop questions <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • establishing a setting in which questions can emerge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        How can teachers help students come up with a driving question:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        • Create an environment in which students can make observations<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Expose students to exploring their environment<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Help students generate sub-questions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Encourage students to brainstorm about what they already know<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Focus on students\u2019 hobbies and personal interests<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Help students share, evaluate, and refine questions with their group and then with the entire class<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Introduce students to the characteristics of a driving question<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          How to come up with a driving question (for students):<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          • What subject would I like to know about?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • What do I need to know to answer the question?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Can I break the driving question up into smaller questions?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • What investigations can I do?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • How is the question related to the real world?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Is the question interesting and exciting to me?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Can I investigate this question for a long time?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

            (Krajcik, Czerniak, Berger, 2003).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Students are encouraged to ask lots of questions following some general research that they conduct about the topic. Questions serve two purposes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              \n
            • As a foundation for deciding on a driving question for the project<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • To help students drill down into the topic they are investigating <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

              Here is an example of questions\u2019 map that students can build:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              \"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

              Types of questions:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

              There are five types of questions that students might ask as part of an investigation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Descriptive Questions<\/strong> – questions about observable characteristics of phenomena<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Example: \u201cWhat materials dissolve in water?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Relational Questions<\/strong> – questions about associations among the characteristics of different phenomena<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Example: \u201cDoes salt dissolve faster than sugar?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Cause and Effect Questions<\/strong> – questions about how one variable affects another variable<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Example: \u201cDoes the temperature of water affect the rate at which salt and water dissolve?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Hypothesis<\/strong> – is a question stated in testable form that relates how the independent variable affects the dependent variable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Example: \u201cHow does fertilizer affect plant growth?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Driving question<\/strong> – is a well designed question used in project-based learning that is elaborated, explored, and answered by students and the teacher<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Requirements for a driving question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                \n
              • It should be open-ended and drive the entire investigation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • It should be meaningful, interesting and exciting to learners<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Students should be able to design and perform investigations to answer it<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • It should sustain student interest for weeks<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                Example: \u201cWhy are the leaves on my plant turning brown?\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                Understanding Driving Questions Driving questions are an essential part of classroom projects. A driving question is a well-designed, open-ended question that is worth exploring and can sustain student interest for a long period of time. Without a question that is open-ended enough, students may end up planning a project around a binary question that can […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1483","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1483"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1483"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3448,"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1483\/revisions\/3448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}