Question Formulation Technique (QFT)
| Type | Team Size | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me, Myself and I | Group Collaboration | The Academic System | Software | 1 | 2-10 | 11-30 | 30+ |
In short: The Question Formulation Technique (QFT) is a structured, step-by-step process that enables learners to generate, refine, and prioritize their own questions when approaching a new topic or method. This process is most commonly used in a classroom setting. Introduced by Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana, founders of the Right Question Institute, the QFT shifts the traditional classroom dynamic by placing the responsibility for asking questions on students rather than teachers. The didactic tool combines the art of teaching as responsive facilitation with the science of teaching in a tested, replicable protocol (Rothstein & Santana, 2017).
Contents
What, Why, and When[edit]
The QFT fosters inquiry, critical thinking, and learner ownership through question formulation exercises. By teaching students to formulate and improve their questions, the QFT promotes a flexible, deep approach to new topics and supports the development of transferable skills, such as recognising the function of open and closed questions, knowing when to use each type, and prioritising questions in the search for answers and, ultimately, knowledge. Improving students' ability to ask better questions enhances their reading, writing, thinking, and learning skills. The approach strengthens independent thinking, deep learning, self-directed inquiry, and collaborative teamwork — all of which are vital for innovative problem-solving (Summers et al., 2024).
Who Can Use the QFT[edit]
The ability to formulate meaningful questions is a higher-order thinking skill relevant not only to those in formal education but also to people working in diverse fields beyond education, such as research, professional development, and civic engagement. Therefore, the QFT is suitable for learners of all ages, educational levels and backgrounds. It can be applied across subjects, grade levels and institutional contexts (Cummings, 2020), for example when writing essays, analyzing complex texts, developing research questions, designing experiments, unpacking mathematical concepts and planning projects (Rothstein & Santana, 2017).
Goals and Learning Outcomes[edit]
The QFT, as a didactic tool for educators, aims to foster higher student engagement and motivation by increasing students' ownership of their learning process and confidence in their problem-solving capacities (Cummings, 2020). It helps educators achieve their teaching goals more efficiently while improving students' academic performance.
For students, the technique supports deeper inquiry, stronger research and writing skills, and reduced dependence on instructors (Muhamad Dah et al., 2021). Over time, learners develop multiple thinking abilities simultaneously that are valuable in both professional and everyday contexts (see Rothstein & Santana, 2017, Summers et al., 2024):
Divergent Thinking
Divergent thinking involves generating a variety of ideas, possibilities, and hypotheses. By asking questions, students learn to think more creatively, flexibly, and openly. This form of thinking helps learners build confidence and cope with challenges as they acquire new knowledge.
Convergent Thinking
Convergent thinking focuses on analysing, synthesising, and understanding information. Through the QFT, students refine and categorise questions, compare alternatives, and work towards clarity and purpose. Genuine creativity requires both divergent and convergent thinking.
Metacognition
Metacognition, or thinking about one’s own thinking, enables learners to understand what they have learned, how they have learned it, and how they can apply it elsewhere. The QFT deliberately cultivates metacognition to support knowledge transfer and lifelong learning. Without metacognition, students may struggle with a shallow understanding of subjects, inefficient learning strategies, or overconfidence (Keestra, 2017).
Getting Started[edit]
Introducing the QFT can be demanding at first, as it requires students to take a different responsibility for their own learning. When used for the first time, the full process typically takes 45 minutes; with experience, it can be completed in 10–15 minutes, even in group settings.
The QFT consists of six core components. While Rothstein and Santana (2017) describe them in a slightly different sequence, we want to highlight the importance of discussing the rules for producing questions before the focus topic is introduced. Therefore, we switched the numbering of steps 1 and 2.
1. Rules for producing questions
Before introducing the focus topic, the teacher facilitates a discussion on the value of rules for question production and associated challenges. Rothstein and Santana present four basic rules:
1. Ask as many questions as possible.
2. Do not judge, discuss, or answer the questions yet.
3. Record questions exactly as they were first stated.
4. Turn all statements into questions.
There can be different opinions about how difficult it is to follow the rules, and consensus among students is not necessary. The rules are meant to create a safe space for inquiry, encouraging students to shift from answering questions to generating them (Rothstein & Santana, 2017).
2. Question Focus (QFocus)
A QFocus is a stimulus that encourages students to ask questions. It can take the form of a short statement, an image, or audio input, and the only restriction is that it is not a question. An effective QFocus is neither overly narrow nor vague, but clear and fact-based. Its purpose is to stimulate thought without revealing the teacher's preferences.
Examples include short phrases such as “Reflecting on ethical values” or “The structure of a research design”.
Students then generate questions individually or in small groups for a set time period (at least 5 minutes when first using the technique), following the rules of step 1. The teacher may not answer any questions about the QFocus; instead, they may gently remind students not to start discussing, judging, or answering any questions and that all questions they have at this point are valid to ask.
3. Improving and Categorizing Questions
In the next step, students classify their questions to distinguish between closed-ended and open-ended questions. Closed-ended questions can be answered with yes/no or one word, e.g., Is this going to be on the test? Question starters for closed-ended questions are: when, where, who, is, can, do…? Open-ended questions require an explanation within the answer, e.g., What will be on the test? Question starters for open-ended questions are: why, what, how…? (Gideon, 2012)
Both types of questions are valuable. Practicing converting questions from one type to another strengthens convergent thinking skills and deepens understanding of how questions shape the inquiry (Rothstein & Santana, 2017).
4. Prioritizing Questions
Next, students select and discuss a set of priority questions aligned with the learning goals. These could include selecting the most important questions, or the ones students are most interested in, or the most testable (Rothstein & Santana, 2017). Students find arguments for their choices and consider the order in which to address the questions. This step helps students to learn to prioritize, focus their inquiry, and prepare for the process of finding answers.
5. Planning Next Steps
Teachers and students jointly decide and plan how to use the priority questions. This can include defining tasks and milestones for a research project, developing the structure for an essay or report, outlining a presentation, setting up an experiment, deciding where to search for literature, or how students use the questions for further independent studies.
6. Reflection
In the final step, students reflect on both content and process. The debriefing can be carried out on an individual basis, in small groups, or as a whole class. It should focus on what the students have leared, what interested them and why, how they felt about asking questions, and how they can use their new skills in the future.
This last step deepens metacognition, reinforces confidence in the formulated questions and the learning process, and supports the transfer of learned skills to new contexts.
Strengths and Challenges[edit]
The main strength of the technique is its clear structure, which can be easily refined with experience and adapted to different contexts. Asking the right question for the right purpose also applies to the use of the QFT.
However, getting used to the technique requires time and practice for both teachers and students. The shift in classroom dynamics from teacher-led to student-led questioning can also be challenging and initially uncomfortable. Students may perceive their questions as “dumb”, and teachers are required to relearn a topic from different perspectives. The effectiveness of the QFT as a didactic tool depends on thoughtful facilitation and reflection. Like all tools, the QFT may not be suitable for all purposes.
Normativity[edit]
The QFT aims at fostering learner autonomy. However, the choice of QFocus and learning goals is inevitably influenced by contextual and educational priorities. This should be made transparent and can also be part of the reflection process.
Literature[edit]
Cummings, Kristen (2020): A Mixed-Method Case Study of the Effects of Question Formulation Technique on Classroom Engagement In a Secondary Earth Science Classroom and Teachers’ Perceptions of this Shift. In: Theses and Dissertations. Online available at: https://scholar.stjohns.edu/theses_dissertations/112.
Gideon, Lior (2012). The art of question phrasing. In: Handbook of survey methodology for the social sciences (pp. 91-107). Springer, New York, NY.
Keestra, Machiel (2017). Metacognition and reflection by interdisciplinary experts: Insights from cognitive science and philosophy. In: Issues in Interdisciplinary Studies 35, 121-169.
Muhamad Dah, Norsyazwani; Mat Noor, Mohd Syafiq Aiman (2021): Facilitating Pupils’ Questioning Skills in Open Inquiry Learning Through an Investigable Question Formulation Technique (IQFT). In: Journal of Mathematics and Science Teacher 1 (2), em005. DOI: 10.29333/MATHSCITEACHER/11283.
Rothstein, Dan; Santana, Luz (2017): Make Just One Change. Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions. 7th Printing.
Summers, Mindi; Fernandez, Jordann; Handy-Hart, Cody-Jordan; Kulle, Sarah; Flanagan, Kyla (2024): Undergraduate Students Develop Questioning, Creativity, and Collaboration Skills by Using the Question Formulation Technique. In: cjsotl-rcacea 15 (2). DOI: 10.5206/cjsotlrcacea.2024.2.15519.
Links & Further Information[edit]
Science Direct: Higher Order Cognition https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/higher-order-cognition
TEDx Talks (2012): TEDxSomerville - Dan Rothstein: Did Socrates Get it Wrong? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JdczdsYBNA
Professional Education HGSE (2022): Question Formulation Technique (QFT) in Action | RQI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_4J3lnYDRQ
Right Question Institute: Introduction to QFT with great videos https://rightquestion.org/what-is-the-qft/
The Question Formulation Technique was created by Dan
Rothstein and Luz Santana, co-founders of the Right Question Institute (https://rightquestion.org/)
The author of this entry is Joanna Knecht, editing by Dagmar Berg-Mölleken.