Questioning: The Springboard for PBL

As I work with schools it is clear that one of the most challenging elements for a successful Project Based Learning initiative is to really practice asking good questions. This is easy to overlook but essential for pushing students to continue a path toward deep curiosity and inquiry when they run into roadblocks.

When students hit roadblocks in their work this deficiency seems to appear.  Since deep questioning is not always practiced in advance, learners are not always sure how to proceed. Questions provide a path for the future inquiry, and often students do not have this clear path.

I firmly believe that good questioning skills provide the springboard for excellence in PBL. I will be writing more about this in the coming week, sharing ideas for practicing this skill. And it IS a skill -- a skill that needs to be regularly honed, practiced, and applied, so that curiosity and inquiry may be fostered and perfected.