PBL+Stages+of+Inquiry

=Stages of Inquiry (Step 5)= Help launch your investigation using these steps. They can be but do not need to be used sequentially.

5.1. Clarifying the Problem:
Key question: what is the problem?

Probing questions:
Is the problem statement or description clear?

What unjustified assumption, if any, is being made?
 * Is the problem statement too broad or too narrow?
 * In what ways does the problem statement need to be modified?
 * Why is this an important problem?
 * What is unclear or needs to be known?
 * What might be true but there is not date for yet?
 * What might be causing the problem?
 * What might cause the causes of the problem?
 * Why might this be a complicated/complex problem

5.2. Gathering Information:
Key question: what needs to be known and how will this occur?

Probing questions:

 * What specific information is needed?
 * What scope/range of information is needed?
 * Where can information be found? What available sources of information are there? (e.g. people, Internet, publications)
 * What procedures are necessary for obtaining information?
 * Who might assist in obtaining information?
 * What tests or experiments can be performed?
 * What comparison groups may be needed?
 * What anti-bias measures need to be introduced?
 * How can false information be recognized?
 * How will information be recorded?

5.3. Organizing and interpreting information:
Key question: how will this information be organized and understood?

Probing questions:

 * What connections/relationships are there among pieces of information?
 * In what ways might information be grouped or categorized?
 * What alternative groupings are possible?
 * What subsets and overlapping groups can be created?
 * What inferences or implications might drawn about this information?
 * What are some important keys to understanding here?
 * What does this information reveal about possible causes of the problem?
 * What relationships might be causal and what might be correlational?
 * What seems to be left out, why is this an incomplete picture?

5.4. Drawing Conclusions
Key question: what has been learned about the problem?

Probing questions:

 * What things were discovered about the problem in order of importance?
 * What combination of factors contribute to producing the problem?
 * How valid and reliable is what has been learned?
 * When and under what conditions is this problem likely to occur?
 * Where can examples of this be found?
 * What solutions to the problem were identified?
 * What is the relevance of these solutions for similar and/or future problems?
 * What predictions can be made?
 * What opposing information was discovered? What is its significance?
 * What lack of understanding and areas of disagreement are there?
 * What generalizations or overarching ideas are suggested?
 * What new questions are ther as a result of what has been learned?
 * How can what has been learned be put to use?
 * What remains unclear/unknown, yet to be solved?

(Original page by Mary Frangie)