The Question Formulation Technique (QFT), a powerful yet simple teaching strategy recently featured in an ASEE online webinar, teaches students how to formulate, work with, improve, and use their own questions. As a result, students become more confident researchers and better value the role of question formulation in the learning process [1]. While the QFT has been widely used in other educational settings, its adoption in higher education has recently been accelerated in-part because of a National Science Foundation research study. In this work we demonstrate two unique, innovative ways to integrate the QFT as a teaching strategy for renewable energy engineering students. First, we will make visible how the QFT was utilized in
a junior level class in Materials for Renewable Energy Applications to develop the outline of a term research paper. Secondly, we will share how the QFT was used in a cross-listed
senior/graduate course in Bioenergy to develop a research topic. The QFT’s impact on student learning will be described and eminently practical details for integrating the QFT into engineering coursework will be outlined.
