Unlock Student Engagement with Their Own Questions
Getting students truly engaged in science learning can be a challenge, especially when implementing new high-quality instructional materials like OpenSciEd. One powerful strategy? Centering instruction around student questions.
Why Student Questions Matter
Research shows that when students generate their own questions, they take ownership of their learning. Questions create cognitive tension—students want to figure things out. This intrinsic motivation increases engagement, deepens learning, and fosters a culture where students see themselves as scientists. In storyline instruction, using student questions ensures learning is relevant, meaningful, and driven by curiosity.
Using Questions to Drive Instruction
Driving Question Boards (DQB) are a dynamic classroom tool that visually captures students’ questions and organizes them around a central, overarching question or theme. It serves as both a reference point and a roadmap for learning, evolving as students’ understanding deepens and new questions emerge. Whether you’re teaching about ecosystems, energy transfer, or space exploration, a DQB ensures student voices drive the direction of inquiry.
Here’s why the work…
Student Buy-In: Students see how their ideas shape the learning journey. This is a pivotal shift to student-centered learning.
Promotes Coherence: It keeps the storyline focused and connected to their initial wonderings. This makes learning visible, allows us to celebrate progress and reveal connections between concepts.
Encourages Collaboration: The board becomes a shared space where students’ ideas come together, fostering a sense of community and teamwork as they work to answer questions collectively.
How to Implement a Driving Question Board
Start with a Phenomenon: Introduce an observable event that sparks curiosity and connects to students’ lives. (e.g., "Why do cold drinks sweat on hot days?" (Need more information about phenomenon, check out this previous Science Solutions brief)
Gather Questions: Have students write down what they wonder. No question is too simple or too complex - the goal here is to encourage their curiosity.
Organize the Board: Group similar questions.This helps students see connections and identify areas for deeper investigation.
Prioritize and Investigate: Work with students to identify key questions to explore. Design activities, experiments, or research projects that address these questions.
Revisit and Revise: Return to the board regularly to celebrate the questions that have been answered and determine where the learning needs to go next. Encourage students to add new questions, share findings, and reflect on their learning.
Overcome The Challenges
Shifting to student-driven learning can feel messy at first. It takes practice to facilitate discussions without giving away answers. Trust the process! The DQB helps anchor instruction while keeping student curiosity at the center.
3 Resources to Dig Deeper...
Harnessing Students’ Curiosity to Drive Learning - Article from Edutopia
Driving Question Board Resources - from OpenSciEd
Driving Questions Board | Iowa Science Phenomena - Video from Iowa PBS
2 Questions to Ponder and Discuss...
In what ways am I currently building on student curiosity, and how could a Driving Question Board enhance this?
Understanding that physical space in a classroom can be limited, how could you create a visible driving question board in the space that you have?
1 Action to Take...
Anticipate the challenges that you may experience in using student questions to guide instruction. Discuss these as opportunities for growth with your colleagues to begin transforming your classrooms!