(Note: This is part two of a post on The Problem Based Question.  Click HERE to read part one.)

As I mentioned in my last post, I found myself reflecting on the essential questions that I had been using in my classroom.  Essential questions have a time and place in the classroom but I wanted my students to delve deeper into the content, solve-real world problems, and answer questions that mattered to them.

So, I started asking myself – how can I develop AND help my students develop deeper questions that were truly centered on solving real-world problems and focused on student interest?  How do we develop something beyond the essential question?

Enter….the problem-based question!

A problem-based question is a grade level appropriate question that promotes content-specific skills while capturing student interest, tackling a real problem, and evoking empathy from the students.

As you can see, this type of question will be much deeper and richer than an essential question. It is a question that will require our students to be problem-solvers who address real-world issues and dilemmas.

What’s an example of a problem-based question? Let’s take a look!

Content Area: 8th Grade Math

The Prompt: On average, each person in the United States generates 4.4 pounds of trash per day.

Problem-Based Question: If this amount of trash were continues to generate of the next twenty years, what kind of impact would this have on our cities, country, and the world?

Let’s break this down to see if it will truly be a problem-based question:

Is it content specific?

While not expressly discussed in the prompt, it is clear that the teacher will be using math specific content for the students to calculate.

Potential topics could include:

• Calculating the trash per day, month, or year for the entire United States.
• Calculating the trash per day, month, or year for the entire United States if the amount generated were to increase.
• Developing graphs and analyzing data.

Is it grade level appropriate?

Absolutely. The teacher can easily align the math content to the standards. However, the bigger question might be – is the topic appropriate for this age of students? Again, absolutely! Students are aware that there are issues of trash generation, littering, etc, so it will be an appropriate their age and grade level.

Are students interested in this question?

This one can be a bit tricky because there are many different students in your classroom with a variety of different interests. However, most students will be interested in this question out of the sheer curiosity of understanding how much trash is generated per day.  Include some interesting facts, a fun video, and bam! Your students are engaged.

Does it tackle a real-world problem?

Definitely – this is a major conversation in our world that will have an impact on their future.

Does it require empathy from students?

Absolutely. Students will be required to think about how this affects their city, state, and country. They will have to determine how this will affect other people, not just themselves.

As you go into your week, I challenge you to keep these five questions in the back of your mind. Not every lesson needs to have a problem-based question but, if we want to encourage our students to be problem-solvers, then we must begin creating more opportunities for students to answer these kinds of questions.

Do your students answer essential questions, problem-based questions, or both in your classroom?  What strategies do you incorporate to help your students become problem-solvers?

In the twelve years I spent in the classroom, my students participated in a variety of buzzword worthy creative lesson plans and student-led activities: Project-based learning, Genius Hour, and 20Time. Just to name a few. All of these lesson plans had several common goals, such as learning content-specific standards or allowing students the opportunity to develop a “student choice” project. Yet, after many years of experimenting with these types of lesson plans and activities, I found myself thinking: “Is it enough?”

I always felt like there was something missing from these types of student-led activities that were implemented in my classroom. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that any of the activities were not beneficial – it just wasn’t exactly what I was looking to have my students accomplish. The level of “real-worldness” was not what I felt like it should be. Something was missing…and I couldn’t place my finger on it.

Until now.

My students were not developing a true, problem-based question. A question that would be the foundation of all of their work. A question that would drive their learning while capturing their interest and relating to the real-world.

Perhaps you find yourself thinking, ”Wait, isn’t that the same as an essential question? I already do this!” However, there is a significant difference between an essential question and a problem-based question.

An essential question is a grade level appropriate question that is strongly driven by the content.

Some examples could include:

• How is the circumference and area of a circle calculated?
• How did the effects of World War 1 lead to World War 2?
• How can a writer increase the tension in a piece of work?

These are great examples of essential questions and they have a time and place in the classroom. However, if I want to truly push my students to dive deeper and solve real-world problems, then I need a question that they care about answering.

So, I started asking myself – how can I develop AND help my students develop deeper questions that were truly centered on solving real-world problems and focused on student interest?  How do we develop something beyond the essential question?

Well…that is a question to be answered in next week’s blog post!  Stay tuned for Part 2!