Characteristics of Driving Questions
Frames the curricular unit
Worthwhile
Contains rich science concepts/principles
Promotes higher order thinking
Related to what scientists really do
Complex enough to be broken down into smaller questions
Helps link concepts/principles across disciplines
Feasible
Students can design and perform investigations to answer question
Appropriate time frame
Materials readily available
Contextualized
Anchored in the lives of learners
Related to real-world problems
Meaningful
Interesting to learners
Relevant to learners own lives
Ill-structured/Open-ended
Divergent
No straight forward answer
Complex
Return to the following pages:
Features of Project-Based Science
Learning Theory
Joe's Overheads
Joe Krajcik's Homepage