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Minds on

MINDS ON

Asking Good Questions

In this activity, you will work on developing your inquiry skills.

In order to do this, you will practice asking lots of questions and then sort and prioritize those questions using a strategy called "Question Formulation Technique" (or QFT for short). 

Step 1: Take a look at this picture:

This is a screen shot from the video game, Warframe.
The above image is from the video game Warframe.

Step 2: Make a list of as many questions as you can about this picture. Do not stop to discuss, judge or answer the questions. Write down every question exactly as it is stated. Change any statement into a question (e.g. "the character is dressed in red" becomes "why is the character dressed in red?").

Step 3: Organize your questions into two groups: Open-ended and close-ended questions. Closed-ended questions can be answered with “yes” or “no” or with one word. Open-ended questions require an explanation and cannot be answered with “yes” or “no” or with one word. For example, the question, "What video game is this from?" is a closed-ended question because it can be answered with one word. If we changed the question to " How does this screenshot help us understand what the game is about?" we'd have a question that requires a lot more explanation. Both types of questions can be useful. Write a "C" next to any closed-ended questions. Write an "O" next to any open-ended questions.

Step 4: Change questions from one type to another. Go back to your list of questions and change one closed-ended question into an open-ended, and change one open-ended question into a closed-ended one. Add the changes to the list.

Step 5: Take your three most interesting questions and identify them with highlights.

Adapted from the Right Question Institute.

This is the discussion icon. Question Formulation Technique

Make sure you've:

  Checklist Items
written as many questions as you think of without judging or answering them;
sorted your closed-ended and open-ended questions;
indicated where you changed one closed-ended question to an open-ended question;
indicated where you changed one open-ended question to a closed-ended question;
indicated your three most interesting questions. 

Along with your list, include an explanation about what you think you could do with these questions. 

Action.

ACTION

Harmful or Helpful?

Many people have opinions about whether video games are harmful or helpful, but are these informed opinions?

An informed opinion is a judgment people form after investigating both sides of an issue. One of the first steps in developing an informed opinion is asking the right questions, which you have already practiced doing.

You will continue practicing asking questions and using these questions to develop a research plan.

An image of a man holding up a magnifying glass.

First, let's consider the following statement: "Video games are harmful influences in young people's lives." 

You may already have a "gut feeling" about this statement, but try to suspend judgment right now.

Your next step is to brainstorm all the different questions you could ask to begin to answer this question.

Recall the steps you went through asking questions about the image in the Minds On part of this activity.

You're going to complete the same steps now, but you will use the following graphic organizer to help prompt you: QFT.

This is the dropbox icon. Question Formulation Technique

Complete your organizer, then make sure you have done the following:

  Checklist Items
I have written down as many questions as I could (at least 6) based on the question focus;
I copied my closed and open-ended questions and pasted them into the correct boxes;
I highlighted a closed-ended and an open-ended question;
I changed a closed-ended question to an open-ended question and an open-ended question to a closed-ended question;
I ranked my three most interesting/important questions and put them in the correct boxes.

Submit Your Work

Searching for Answers 

There's a lot of information available online, but not all of that information is reliable.

How can you indentify whether or not a source is reliable? Apply the C.R.A.P. Test!

The following video explains what the C.R.A.P. Test is and how you can use it. After the video, there's also a written explanation of the C.R.A.P. Test.

 

The C.R.A.P. Test

Currency

  • How recent is the information?
  • How recently has the website been updated?
  • Is it current enough for your topic?

Reliability 

  • What kind of information is included in the resource?
  • Is the content of the resource primarily opinion?  Is it balanced?
  • Does the creator provide references or sources for data or quotations?

Authority 

  • Who is the creator or author?
  • What are the author's credentials? Can you find any information about the author's background?
  • Who is the publisher or sponsor?
  • Are they reputable?
  • What is the publisher's interest (if any) in this information?
  • Are there advertisements on the website? If so, are they clearly marked?

Purpose/Point of View 

  • Is this fact or opinion? Does the author list sources or cite references?
  • Is it biased? Does the author seem to be trying to push an agenda or a particular side?
  • Is the creator/author trying to sell you something? If so, is it clearly stated?

Adapted from Molly Beestrum.

This is the discussion icon. Working with Questions

  1. Take one of the questions you identified as most important, or one of the ones your partner added to your QFT organizer. Type that question into the search engine (definition:A search engine is a program that retrieves information from the internet. e.g., Google, Bing, Yahoo.) of your choice. 
  2. Click on the first "hit" you get.  It’s important to know that many companies pay to have their businesses appear as one of the first links that appear when people do online searches. Check out this video for more information about promoted links.
  3. Apply the C.R.A.P. test.
  4. Write an explanation of whether or not you think this is reliable based on the C.R.A.P. test.
Join The Discussion
 
Consolidation

CONSOLIDATION

Reflection

What is the most challenging part about this activity?

Was it creating the questions? Or was it applying the C.R.A.P. test to analyse a webpage?

How might you use one of these two skills (generating questions/evaluating a website) in your life outside of school?

This is the dropbox icon. Reflection

Write or record a reflection where you explain what you found was the most challenging part of this activity and why you think it was challenging.

Finish your reflection with a statement about how you might use one of these two skills (generating questions/evaluating a website) in your life outside of school.

Submit Your Work
test text.