#PBL Series Driving Questions: Students Uncovering Amazing Content Through Inquiry

Driving Questions: Uncovering Amazing Content Under Through Inquiry

I really like Diving Questions. In fact, I like them so much more then Essential Questions. You might ask why? I think it just might be my affection for the revised Bloom s Taxonomy. You may remember that in the revision the different levels were changed into action. In fact, I strongly believe that learning is a verb and is based on action. Take away the word Question and Driving is a verb loaded with action. The word Essential standing alone is only a word devoted to describing a colorful but inactive adjective.

Another reason I am fond of Driving Questions is that they allow students to work together in the amazing process of divergent thinking. As students bring this process around to identify answers and ideas that finally converge, they are suddenly back on the path to even higher order divergent thinking. It is amazing to watch students become aware that answers can bring on even more questions. Seems to me that it is a lot like moving up Bloom s Taxonomy.

Last,  I like Driving Questions because there are  so simple, that they can be difficult to construct. Let me explain. The Driving Question in Project Based learning is often the hardest concept to get across to teachers. Even after a workshop devoted to PBL… questions will come across my email asking for help in constructing and refining the Driving Question.

Why are driving questions so difficult? Perhaps it is the powerful and simple concept they ride upon in a world where teachers have been taught to use so much of their “educationese language” Educators must work at being aware of the important standards in their content area without blurting them out. It is at this point that educators come across that often talked about idea of of uncovering, not covering, the standards.  Educators are so often told to practice this methodology, but are seldom told how to do it.

This is the power of the Driving Question and its importance in PBL. The Driving Question must be simply stated so that students can uncover the content standards themselves. The Driving Question should not give away the contents standards which students may not really care about. It should engage the students and create wonderment through relevancy to their world. It should drive them to “uncover the standards” Through carefully planned PBL the teacher then facilitates this learning experience. The added bonus of building important 21 st century skills is a natural outcome. In order for students to “uncover the standards” they will need to communicate, collaborate, think critically, and provide creative thought.

Please feel free to explore the links below to even better understand the Driving Question. Also on the pages that follow you download the beginnings of my rubric for assessing your DQ. Any feedback you have would be appreciated. Enjoy the Tubric that was created from the awesome people at BIE. That s right it is a tube and a rubric designed to create Driving Question. You may even wish to look at the video.