International Baccalaureate · free sample lesson
Designing the inquiry question that carries a unit
How to move from a topic to a question with enough tension to sustain six weeks of inquiry — without losing coverage.
From topic to tension
A topic is a noun. An inquiry question is a problem. 'Urbanisation' fills six weeks with content; 'Whose city is being rebuilt, and who decides?' fills six weeks with argument, evidence and the same content. The difference is tension: a question worth asking should have more than one defensible answer, and students should be able to disagree using evidence rather than opinion.
The four tests of a question
Before committing six weeks to a question, run it through four checks. Is it conceptual, not factual? Is it contestable? Can it be pursued with the sources and skills your students actually have? And does answering it require the syllabus content you are accountable for? A question that fails the fourth test will either drift or leave coverage gaps you have to patch in a panic later.
Scaffolding the inquiry
A big question needs smaller doors. Break the unit into three or four subsidiary questions that build towards the main one, and let each subsidiary question carry one skill — evaluating a source, comparing perspectives, building a justified conclusion. Students should be able to point at the wall and say which question they are working on this week. That single display removes most of the drift that inquiry units are accused of.
Documenting the skills
Approaches to learning are only real when they are planned and evidenced. For each subsidiary question, name the skill, name what students will do that shows it, and name what you will keep as evidence. One photograph of a research log, one annotated source, one short reflection is enough. Ten minutes of collecting per week beats a portfolio scramble in the final fortnight.
Assessing inquiry honestly
Inquiry is not exempt from criteria. Decide in advance what a strong inquiry looks like — a clear position, evidence handled with care, counter-perspective acknowledged, and a conclusion that follows rather than restates — and put those four things in front of students at the start. When criteria are visible from day one, the final assessment stops being a surprise and becomes a demonstration.
Key takeaways
- A topic is a noun; an inquiry question is a problem with more than one defensible answer.
- Test the question for concept, contestability, feasibility and coverage.
- Subsidiary questions carry the skills and stop the unit drifting.
- Plan the evidence you will keep for approaches to learning, weekly.
Knowledge check
Two questions to test the reading
1. Which question is most likely to sustain a six-week inquiry?
2. Why does an inquiry unit still need explicit criteria?
Discussion task
Draft an inquiry question for a unit you teach. Run it through the four tests, then explain which subsidiary questions you would use and which skill each one carries.
Enrolled teachers post their response and receive peer and mentor feedback on this task.
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