From Questions to Curiosity: Cultivating Critical Thinking in the Classroom with the Question Formulation Technique

This article examines the use of the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) in an undergraduate Invertebrate Zoology course. The QFT is a five-stage method that guides students through collaboratively generating and prioritizing questions. The stages—introducing the question focus, generating questions, improving questions, prioritizing top questions, and reflecting on the activity—help students engage in scientific inquiry and become active participants in their learning. In this study, the researchers examined how students developed questions using the QFT and collected their reflections on the experience.

The researchers split 120 students enrolled in the course into groups of five to six students to make 20 teams. The teams used the QFT twice during the course; once during the first week, and again during the final week. Thirty minutes of lecture time was dedicated to performing the QFT. The students transcribed their QFT activities on worksheets that were collected by the researchers in order to assess both questions and reflections. They also collected data on the quantity, quality, and themes in both questions and reflections.

By the end of the semester, students generated 36% more questions than at the start, with a greater focus on real-world applications. Word cloud analysis revealed that end-of-term questions often included words related to an organism’s role in a system (e.g., environment, phyla). Meanwhile, start-of-term questions had more words on basic concepts (e.g., eat, size). Students cited that the generation of questions was easy. However, they felt rushed when prioritizing questions, and some groups experienced uneven participation. Overall, most students reported the QFT to be accessible and exciting to use.