DQB is a sense-making strategy to support student engagement in SEP #1.

1. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
Using the Driving Question Board (DQB) to
Support Student Inquiry
iZone Summer Science Retreat 2018
Presenters:
Jerreca Saulsberry, 6th grade teacher- Riverview K8
Tonya Parham, iZone Science Curriculum Advisor

2. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
KUD
Know- The new Tennessee Academic Science Standards provides the opportunity for
students to fully engage in three dimensional phenomena driven learning by incorporating
the science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts to develop mastery of the
disciplinary core ideas in the classrooms everyday.
Understand- The Driving Question Board is a sense making strategy which provides
students the opportunity to engage in science and engineering practice #1: Asking
Questions and Defining Problems which encourages students to become a more engaged
learner whose questions and thoughts are needed and valued.
Do-Teachers will engage in learning about the driving question board (DQB), participate in
completing a DQB, and reflect on the impact this strategy can have in your classroom to
support student learning.

3. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
Focus Questions
➢ Why do we want students to ask questions in class?
➢ How can a driving question board support my teaching and student learning?
➢ How can we incorporate a driving question board into a unit?

4. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
How do you prompt your students to ask questions?
What strategies do you use in the classroom to motivate your students to
ask questions of you or their peers?

5. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
Let’s Engage!!
1. Select the card for Round 1, but do not let anyone in your group see it.
2. Use the spoon to collect 1 M&M at a time from the bowl and place in your cup
(the cup cannot be held).
3. At the end of each round, record how many M&Ms were collected to
determine if you survived.
a. Compare your cup to the other species in your group.
b. Write down any observations you have for Round 1.
c. Convert your observations to questions.

6. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
Voicing Questions
Sentence Stems
➢ I wondered/asked_______________.
○ Place post-it anywhere on the Driving Question Board.
➢ I had the same question as ________when he/she/they
said_______and I also asked __________.
○ Place post-it next to the group with similar questions.
➢ I asked ______instead because….
○ Place post-it in a NEW place.

7. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
Teacher & Student Moves
What were your actions during this time? How did we facilitate
everyone creating their questions?

8. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
Let’s Debrief!
Driving Question: How do relationships among
organisms affect an ecosystem?
6LS2.2: Determine the impact of competitive, symbiotic,
and predatory interactions in an ecosystem.
What was the significance of providing time after each
round to convert observations to questions?

9. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
What is a DQB?
- Sense making strategy to promote student inquiry.
- Open ended question written in everyday language to encourage students to
generate their own questions.
- Visual organizer of student ideas and questions.
- Reminder for the teacher to connect activities to the questions about the
phenomena.
- Opportunity for students to connect the content to their personal experiences.
(Weizman, Schwartz, Fortus 2008)

10. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
Observations
Could you see your students writing multiple
observations and questions about what they just did?
Why?

11. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
Asking questions and defining problems
Asking questions and defining problems in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to specifying relationships between
variables, and clarifying arguments and models.
● Ask questions
○ that arise from careful observation of phenomena, models, or unexpected results, to clarify and/or seek additional
information.
○ to identify and/or clarify evidence and/or the premise(s) of an argument.
○ to determine relationships between independent and dependent variables and relationships in models.
○ to clarify and/or refine a model, an explanation, or an engineering problem.
○ that require sufficient and appropriate empirical evidence to answer.
○ that can be investigated within the scope of the classroom, outdoor environment, and museums and other public
facilities with available resources and, when appropriate, frame a hypothesis based on observations and scientific
principles.
○ that challenge the premise(s) of an argument or the interpretation of a data set.
● Define a design problem that can be solved through the development of an object, tool, process or system and includes
multiple criteria and constraints, including scientific knowledge that may limit possible solutions.
6-8 Science & Engineering Practices Progression

12. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
Asking questions and defining problems
Asking questions and defining problems in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to specifying
qualitative relationships.
● Ask questions about what would happen if a variable is changed.
● Identify scientific (testable) and non-scientific (non-testable) questions.
● Ask questions that can be investigated and predict reasonable outcomes based on patterns such
as cause and effect relationships.
● Use prior knowledge to describe problems that can be solved.
● Define a simple design problem that can be solved through the development of an object, tool,
process, or system and includes several criteria for success
and constraints on materials, time, or cost
3-5 Science & Engineering Practices Progression

13. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
Why should I incorporate a DQB in the classroom?
-Teacher accountability/reminder to address student wonderings.
-Increase student engagement.
-Supports the practice of asking questions.
-Provides students with a sense of ownership in their learning.
- Organizes students’ questions and thoughts in a centralized location to refer to
throughout the unit.

14. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
Driving Question Board Outline
1. Present students with a phenomena.
2. Students write their observations.
3. A driving question is presented to the class.
a. Convert observations to questions.
4. Student questions are posted on the DQB.
5. Questions are grouped into categories/lessons the teacher has
already pre-planned.
6. All activities are aligned to the lesson and connected to the thoughts
and questions on the DQB.
7. Summaries of what has been learned so far, are posted to the board.
(Johnson, 2018)

15. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
What questions or concerns do you have regarding
implementation of a DQB in the classroom?

16. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
Key Takeaways
● All questions are valid.
● The DQB is a ‘living board’ of your unit.
● The phenomena should be sustainable, meaningful, possible to
investigate, aligns to the standard, and ethical.
● Every task should support student gathering of evidence to answer the
anchoring phenomena by the end of the unit.
(Krajcik and Czerniak, 2007)

17. iZone Science Instructional Support Team
Questions after the session? Reach out to us!
Jerreca Saulsberry
saulsberryj1@scsk12.org
Tonya Parham
parhamtd@scsk12.org
Thank you for your time and participation!