The Right Question Institute

Last updated

The Right Question Institute (RQI) is a nonprofit educational organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. [1] [2] [3] It is known for developing and sharing teaching methods and skill improvement techniques that focus on questioning, inquiry, self-advocacy, parent involvement, and citizen participation in democracy. [4] [3] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] It collaborates with organizations in areas such as primary, secondary, and higher education, [6] [11] [12] [13] voter engagement, [14] [15] [16] health care, [17] [18] [19] [20] legal services, [10] and social services [21] to build people's skills for learning, engagement, advocacy, navigating systems, and taking action on their own behalf. [3] [5] [22] [8] [10] [23] RQI's methods are used in classroom settings to encourage student curiosity and questioning. [13] [8] RQI's stated motto is, "A Catalyst for Microdemocracy", [24] [25] which RQI describes as "the idea that ordinary encounters with public agencies are opportunities for individual citizens to ‘act democratically’ and participate effectively in decisions that affect them". [25]

Contents

History

The origins of the organization stem from a dropout prevention program, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1990. [26] [27] [14] During this effort parents reported they struggled to get involved in their children's education because they didn't know what questions to ask. [27] In its early days the organization was known as "the Right Question Project". [28] [6] [11] The Right Question Institute was co-founded by Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana, who served as directors of the organization until May 2021. In May 2021, former EqualityMaine director Betsy Smith joined the Right Question Institute as executive director. [29] [30] [31]

During the 1990s the organization was mostly involved in conducting workshops and seminars for improving parent involvement in schools. [32] [33] Additionally, it also was involved in adult education, community organizing, and voter engagement. During this time, the institute coined and started to use the phrase Microdemocracy as a tool for shared decision-making and democratic action. [34] [35] [36] [37] Post 2000, the organization commenced activities in field of mental health. In 2017, The Right Question Institute received a grant from the National Science Foundation, through Brandeis University, for developing "the Question Improvement Model" to improve question formulation skills among students pursuing doctorates. [25] [22] In 2019, The Right question Institute received a grant from the National Science Foundation through Northeastern University for organizing a Conference on Question Formulation Technique in Higher Education. [12] In the same year, the organization also received a grant from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program for implementation of "digitized primary sources in K-12 classrooms". [38] In late 2019, the institute initiated the "Why Vote" campaign, an initiative to spread awareness about the necessity to participate in the electoral practice. [15] [39] In 2021, the institute collaborated with National Geographic to introduce a course to explore "Geo-Inquiry Questions" as part of National Geographic's Geo-Inquiry Learning Process. [40] In 2022, the Right Question Institute, in partnership with Northeastern University, received grant funding from the National Science Foundation "to increase the ability of academic researchers to formulate research questions and ideas with potentially transformative outcomes." [41]

Question Formulation Technique

The Question Formulation Technique (QFT) is a method developed by the Right Question Institute that allows and enables a person, typically a student, to ask questions while engaged in a learning process. [42] RQI's co-founders, Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana, introduced educators to this method in a 2011 book, Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions, published by Harvard Education Press. [27] [23] As of late 2022, the book was fourth on the list of "top 10" bestselling titles in the history of Harvard Education Press. [43] In April 2018, the EBSCO Information Services reported that the Question Formulation Technique has been used by more than 250,000 instructors and educators across diverse disciplines in different educational systems. The model is described as a student-centric approach, rather than the traditional instructor-centric model, where students are encouraged to form questions, categorize them, improve them, use them, and reflect on the experience. The QFT is used by educators across all academic subject areas. [13] Educators often use the QFT in connection to primary source learning, where the instructors select a suitable primary source and present it to students to aid them in formulating relevant questions. In this way, students, guided by the practice of question formulation, learn about the subject. [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49]

The Right Question Institute, in collaboration with The Harvard Graduate School of Education, conducts a course in best practices in Question Formulation Technique. [50] [13] [51] [52] [53]

Voice in Decisions Technique

The Voice in Decisions Technique (VIDT), formerly known as the Framework for Accountable Decision-Making (FADM), [54] is a strategy or method which is used to make someone conscious about the decision-making process. It aims to make a person more effective by providing a method for actively participating in the decision-making process and identifying their roles in the decision-making process. [8] [18] [55] A major practical application of this strategy has been in building more effective relationships between schools and parents/guardians, where schools enable parents/guardians to become more involved in decisions around their kids’ education. [56] [9] The model has also been applied in community health centers and in the domain of mental health, where the model is used to aid and assist patient activation to boost patients’ attendance and retention. [57] [20] [58] [59] [60]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neuroscience</span> Scientific study of the nervous system

Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system, its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developmental biology, cytology, psychology, physics, computer science, chemistry, medicine, statistics, and mathematical modeling to understand the fundamental and emergent properties of neurons, glia and neural circuits. The understanding of the biological basis of learning, memory, behavior, perception, and consciousness has been described by Eric Kandel as the "epic challenge" of the biological sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Business school</span> University-level institution teaching business administration

A business school is a university-level institution or professional school that teaches courses leading to degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, or colloquially b-school or biz school. A business school offers comprehensive education in various disciplines related to the world of business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early childhood education</span> The teaching of children from birth to age eight

Early childhood education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of education theory that relates to the teaching of children from birth up to the age of eight. Traditionally, this is up to the equivalent of third grade. ECE is described as an important period in child development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School psychology</span> Branch of psychology

School psychology is a field that applies principles from educational psychology, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, community psychology, and behavior analysis to meet the learning and behavioral health needs of children and adolescents. It is an area of applied psychology practiced by a school psychologist. They often collaborate with educators, families, school leaders, community members, and other professionals to create safe and supportive school environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forensic psychiatry</span> Subspeciality of psychiatry, related to criminology

Forensic psychiatry is a subspeciality of psychiatry and is related to criminology. It encompasses the interface between law and psychiatry. According to the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, it is defined as "a subspecialty of psychiatry in which scientific and clinical expertise is applied in legal contexts involving civil, criminal, correctional, regulatory, or legislative matters, and in specialized clinical consultations in areas such as risk assessment or employment." A forensic psychiatrist provides services – such as determination of competency to stand trial – to a court of law to facilitate the adjudicative process and provide treatment, such as medications and psychotherapy, to criminals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hildegard Peplau</span> American nurse (1909–1999)

Hildegard E. Peplau was an American nurse and the first published nursing theorist since Florence Nightingale. She created the middle-range nursing theory of interpersonal relations, which helped to revolutionize the scholarly work of nurses. As a primary contributor to mental health law reform, she led the way towards humane treatment of patients with behavior and personality disorders.

The case method is a teaching approach that uses decision-forcing cases to put students in the role of people who were faced with difficult decisions at some point in the past. It developed during the course of the twentieth-century from its origins in the casebook method of teaching law pioneered by Harvard legal scholar Christopher C. Langdell. In sharp contrast to many other teaching methods, the case method requires that instructors refrain from providing their own opinions about the decisions in question. Rather, the chief task of instructors who use the case method is asking students to devise, describe, and defend solutions to the problems presented by each case.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health education</span> Education for awareness of and influence on the attitude of health

Health education is a profession of educating people about health. Areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health, as well as sexual and reproductive health education.

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is education to teach spiritual care to clergy and others. CPE is the primary method of training hospital and hospice chaplains and spiritual care providers in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. CPE is both a multicultural and interfaith experience that uses real-life ministry encounters of students to improve the care provided by caregivers.

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a counseling approach developed in part by clinical psychologists William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick. It is a directive, client-centered counseling style for eliciting behavior change by helping clients to explore and resolve ambivalence. Compared with non-directive counseling, it is more focused and goal-directed, and departs from traditional Rogerian client-centered therapy through this use of direction, in which therapists attempt to influence clients to consider making changes, rather than engaging in non-directive therapeutic exploration. The examination and resolution of ambivalence is a central purpose, and the counselor is intentionally directive in pursuing this goal. MI is most centrally defined not by technique but by its spirit as a facilitative style for interpersonal relationship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civic engagement</span> Individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern

Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to protect public values or make a change in a community. The goal of civic engagement is to address public concerns and promote the quality of the community.

Robert Leopold Spitzer was a psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at Columbia University in New York City. He was a major force in the development of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health literacy</span> Ability to understand healthcare information

Health literacy is the ability to obtain, read, understand, and use healthcare information in order to make appropriate health decisions and follow instructions for treatment. There are multiple definitions of health literacy, in part, because health literacy involves both the context in which health literacy demands are made and the skills that people bring to that situation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medical simulation</span> Medical training and evaluation technique

Medical simulation, or more broadly, healthcare simulation, is a branch of simulation related to education and training in medical fields of various industries. Simulations can be held in the classroom, in situational environments, or in spaces built specifically for simulation practice. It can involve simulated human patients, educational documents with detailed simulated animations, casualty assessment in homeland security and military situations, emergency response, and support for virtual health functions with holographic simulation. In the past, its main purpose was to train medical professionals to reduce errors during surgery, prescription, crisis interventions, and general practice. Combined with methods in debriefing, it is now also used to train students in anatomy, physiology, and communication during their schooling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham Low Self-Help Systems</span>

Abraham Low Self-Help Systems (ALSHS) is a non-profit organization formed from the merger of Recovery International and the Abraham Low Institute. ALSHS facilitates the estimated 600 worldwide Recovery International meetings and all projects formerly run by the Abraham Low Institute including the Power to Change program. The organization is named after Abraham Low, founder of the mental health self-help organization now known as Recovery International.

Patient participation is a trend that arose in answer to medical paternalism. Informed consent is a process where patients make decisions informed by the advice of medical professionals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Institutes for Research</span> Nonprofit social science organization

The American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan behavioral and social science research, evaluation and technical assistance organization based in Arlington, Virginia. One of the world's largest social science research organizations, AIR has more than 1,800 staff in locations across the United States and abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artificial intelligence in healthcare</span> Overview of the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare

Artificial intelligence in healthcare is an overarching term used to describe the use of machine-learning algorithms and software, or artificial intelligence (AI), to mimic human cognition in the analysis, presentation, and comprehension of complex medical and health care data, or to exceed human capabilities by providing new ways to diagnose, treat, or prevent disease. Specifically, AI is the ability of computer algorithms to approximate conclusions based solely on input data.

The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) is an American non-profit, charitable organization. Founded in 1990, its stated goal is to provide expert information on health-related issues concerning sleep. It is largely funded by pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education in the United States</span>

In 2020, school systems in the United States began to close down in March because of the spread of COVID-19. This was a historic event in the history of the United States schooling system because it forced schools to shut-down. At the very peak of school closures, COVID-19 affected 55.1 million students in 124,000 public and private U.S. schools. The effects of widespread school shut-downs were felt nationwide, and aggravated several social inequalities in gender, technology, educational achievement, and mental health.

References

  1. ↑ Gibbs, Hailey. "Kids may need more help finding answers to their questions in the information age". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  2. ↑ Bryan Marquard (July 1, 2017). "Enid Shapiro, 91, 'grande dame' of Boston's Jewish community". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  3. 1 2 3 Brodsky, Julia. "Why Questioning Is The Ultimate Learning Skill". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  4. ↑ Minigan, Andrew P. (2017-05-24). "The Importance of Curiosity and Questions in 21st-Century Learning (Opinion)". Education Week. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  5. 1 2 Neyfakh, Leon (May 20, 2012). "Are we asking the right questions?". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  6. 1 2 3 "The Essential School Network and How It Grew | Coalition of Essential Schools" . Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  7. ↑ "For Students, Why the Question is More Important Than the Answer". KQED. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Helping Families Ask Questions Could Be Your Most Powerful Engagement Tool". KQED. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  9. 1 2 Ferlazzo, Larry (2016-08-25). "'Partnering With Parents' by Asking Questions (Opinion)". Education Week. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Campbell, Naomi; Santana, Luz (2021-03-04). "Building Self-Advocacy Skills of Legal Services Clients: Three Principles for Promoting an Innovation in Practice". Social Innovations Journal. 5. ISSN   2692-2053.
  11. 1 2 "Making Family and Community Connections: Demonstration". www.thirteen.org. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  12. 1 2 "NSF Award Search: Award # 2010551 - 2020 Conference on Question Formulation Technique in Higher Education". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions: Best Practices in the Question Formulation Technique". Harvard Graduate School of Education. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  14. 1 2 jenniferbloom. "Better Questions - Better Decisions Voter Engagement". Teaching Civics. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  15. 1 2 "Why Ongoing Power Building Matters and How Every Nonprofit Can Do It". Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly. 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  16. ↑ "Better Questions, Better Decisions - Voter Engagement Workshop" (PDF).
  17. ↑ PhD, Margarita Alegria (2016-06-02). "The Right Question Project-Mental Health: An Intervention to Increase Engagement and Retention in Mental Health Care". Massachusetts General Hospital, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD).{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  18. 1 2 Allen, Michele L.; Cook, Benjamin Lê; Carson, Nicholas; Interian, Alejandro; Roche, Martin La; Alegría, Margarita (2017-07-01). "Patient-Provider Therapeutic Alliance Contributes to Patient Activation in Community Mental Health Clinics". Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research. 44 (4): 431–440. doi:10.1007/s10488-015-0655-8. ISSN   0894-587X. PMC   5735851 . PMID   25964131.
  19. ↑ "What Are The Crucial Components of Patient Activation Interventions?" (PDF).
  20. 1 2 Alegría, Margarita; Polo, Antonio; Gao, Shan; Santana, Luz; Rothstein, Dan; Jimenez, Aida; Hunter, Mary Lyons; Mendieta, Frances; Oddo, Vanessa; Normand, Sharon-Lise (2008). "Evaluation of a Patient Activation and Empowerment Intervention in Mental Health Care". Medical Care. 46 (3): 247–256. doi:10.1097/MLR.0b013e318158af52. ISSN   0025-7079. PMC   3580315 . PMID   18388839.
  21. ↑ D. and Santana, Rothstein. "Frontline Staff as Social Innovators". Social Innovations Journal. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  22. 1 2 "Library Announces Grant Recipients for Teaching with Primary Sources". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  23. 1 2 "Educators Want Students To Ask The Questions". www.wbur.org. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  24. ↑ "Microdemocracy is the next logical step for the United States". Ars Technica. 2016-12-16. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  25. 1 2 3 "Microdemocracy". Right Question Institute. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  26. ↑ "Our History". Right Question Institute. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  27. 1 2 3 4 "Harvard Education Publishing Group". www.hepg.org. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  28. ↑ PhD, Margarita Alegria (2016-06-02). "The Right Question Project-Mental Health: An Intervention to Increase Engagement and Retention in Mental Health Care". Massachusetts General Hospital, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD).{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  29. ↑ INSTITUTE, COURTESY OF RIGHT QUESTION. "Betsy Smith joins the Right Question Institute as executive director". Wicked Local. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  30. ↑ "Betsy Smith joins the Right Question Institute as executive director". Right Question Institute. 2021-05-14. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  31. ↑ "PHOTOS: Cambridge coffee shops create an upbeat atmosphere amid the pandemic". www.wickedlocal.com. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  32. ↑ "Tapping External Supports for Partnerships".
  33. ↑ "3 Ways a Company Can Personalize Its Support for Teachers - EdSurge News". EdSurge. 2018-06-11. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  34. ↑ Rothstein, Dan (2013-11-05). "Microdemocracy: A new starting point for shared decision-making and democratic action". APHA.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  35. ↑ "The Necessity of Asking Questions – Project Information Literacy" . Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  36. ↑ "Question Everything". Colonial Times Magazine. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  37. ↑ "Microdemocracy is the next logical step for the United States". Ars Technica. 2016-12-16. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  38. ↑ "Library Announces Grant Recipients for Teaching with Primary Sources". The Library of Congress. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  39. ↑ "Overview of the "Why Vote?" Initiative". Right Question Institute. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  40. ↑ "Teaching Students to ASK Their Own Geo-Inquiry Questions". nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  41. ↑ "NSF Award Search: Award # 2203717 - GERMINATION EXPANSION: Building Question Formulation Capacity through the Research Question Network (rQnet)". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  42. ↑ Berger, Warren (2016-06-06). "How Brainstorming Questions, Not Ideas, Sparks Creativity". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  43. ↑ Hough, Lory. "Stop the Press". Harvard Graduate School of Education. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  44. ↑ "Introduction to the Question Formulation Technique for Primary Source Learning". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  45. ↑ "Introduction to the QFT for Primary Source Learning". Students at the Center. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  46. ↑ "How Can Student Questions & Curiosity Drive Primary Source Learning?". Right Question Institute. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  47. ↑ "How Can Student Questions & Curiosity Drive Primary Source Learning?" (PDF).
  48. ↑ "Question Formulation Technique (QFT) | Emerging America". www.emergingamerica.org. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  49. ↑ "Promoting Student Learning Through Primary Source Inquiries" (PDF).
  50. ↑ "August News from e3 Consulting". myemail.constantcontact.com. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  51. ↑ "Right Question Institute QFT Seminar". www.bsd.k12.ca.us. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  52. ↑ "Harvard University". Habibcv. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  53. ↑ "Middle School Students Use QFT for Project-Based Learning". Sanford School. 2020-03-02. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  54. ↑ "Voice in Decisions Technique". Right Question Institute. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  55. ↑ "Better Questions, Better Decisions - Voter Engagement Workshop" (PDF).
  56. ↑ "What Are The Crucial Components of Patient Activation Interventions?" (PDF).
  57. ↑ "Northeasterner Nevada Professional Program" (PDF).
  58. ↑ Polo, Antonio J.; Alegría, Margarita; Sirkin, Jenna T. (2012). "Increasing the engagement of Latinos in services through community-derived programs: The Right Question Project–Mental Health". Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 43 (3): 208–216. doi:10.1037/a0027730. ISSN   0735-7028.
  59. ↑ "NSF Award Search: Award # 1745919 - EAGER: The Question Improvement Model: A Simple and Scalable Model for Improving the Question Formulation Skills of Ph.D. Students". nsf.gov. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  60. ↑ Deen, Darwin; Lu, Wei-Hsin; Rothstein, Dan; Santana, Luz; Gold, Marthe R. (2011-08-01). "Asking questions: The effect of a brief intervention in community health centers on patient activation". Patient Education and Counseling. 84 (2): 257–260. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2010.07.026. ISSN   0738-3991. PMID   20800414.
  61. ↑ "A Pathway out of Poverty for Students in Low-Income Communities: Learning to Ask Questions". www.hepg.org. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.