The Inquiry Design Model Series I:

Questions

Why questions…• By doubting we are led a question, by questioning we arrive at the truth.

Peter Abelard• It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question

without debating it. Joseph Joubert• We get wise by asking questions, and even it there are not answered, we

get wise, for a well-packed question carries its answer on its back as a snail carries its shell. James Stephens

• It is not the answer that enlightens but the question. Eugene Ionesco• If you do not know how to ask the right question, you discover nothing. W.

Edwards Deming• One of the very important characteristics of a student is to question. Let

the students ask questions. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam• The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.

Thomas Berger

IDM follows C3 Inquiry Arc

If students are asked a COMPELLING question……

Students answer in the form of a SUMMATIVEARGUMENT

In the middle are the SUPPORTINGQUESTIONS, FORMATIVE TASKS,

AND SOURCES

Compelling questions

Characteristics of compelling questions:• Set the opening frame for an inquiry• Express the intellectual rigor and student

relevance of an inquiry• Set up the summative performance task

Crafting compelling questions

• Intellectually rigorous• Relevant to students

Intellectually rigorous

A compelling question:• Reflects an enduring issue, concern, or debate

in the field• Demands the use of multiple disciplinary

lenses and perspectives

Relevant to students

A compelling question: • Reflects one or more qualities or conditions

that we know children care about• Honors and respects children’s intellectual

efforts

What do kids care about?

From the NYS Social Studies Framework Conceptual Understanding and Content Specifications:

7.7b Enslaved African Americans resisted slavery in various ways in the 19th century. The abolitionist movement also worked to raise awareness and generate resistance to the institution of slavery.• Students will examine ways in which enslaved Africans

organized and resisted their conditions.• Students will explore efforts of William Lloyd Garrison,

Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman to abolish slavery.• Students will examine the impact of Uncle Tom’s Cabin on

the public perception of slavery.• Students will investigate New York State and its role in the

abolition movement, including the locations of Underground Railroad stations.

Compelling…or not so compelling?

• Did slavery make economic sense?• How could slave owners justify their actions?• Who were three abolitionists?• Was everyone in the South a racist?• Should former slaves have received

reparations?• What were the causes of the Civil War? • Can words lead to war?

Your turn…

Draft a compelling question or two for seventh-grade students around the issue of slavery in the United States

The Compelling Question and Summative Assessment Task

bookend the inquiry…

The Supporting Questions, the Formative Performance Tasks,

and the Sources form the middle.

Supporting questions

• Support and extend the Compelling Question• Represent the disciplinary knowledge desired• Reflect the sources selected• Inspire formative performance tasks

Can words lead to war?

• SQ1: How did Harriet Beecher Stowe describe slavery in Uncle Tom’s Cabin?

• SQ2: What led Harriet Beecher Stowe to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin?

• SQ3: How did Northerners and Southerners react to Uncle Tom’s Cabin?

• SQ4: What was the impact of Uncle Tom’s Cabin on abolitionism?

Students and questions

Constructing questions is intellectually challenging, but students’ questions could be the basis for:• Developing questions within inquiries using strategies

such as the Question Formulation Technique• Tweaking the construction of a teacher’s compelling

question• Creating additional and/or alternative supporting

questions• New compelling questions for inquiries used in

subsequent years.

Summary

• Compelling questions frame inquiries• Compelling questions need to be intellectually

rigorous and relevant to students’ lives• Supporting questions extend and support

compelling questions, represent the content, reflect the sources, and inspire tasks

• Students’ questions have a role in inquiries

IDM Conceptual Framework: Questions

•Inquiry begins with a question. •Inquiry topics and outcomes should be grounded in standards. •Inquiries are not all inclusive. •Inquiries are best mediated by skilled teachers.

Looking ahead: Tasks