A broad International Project Qualification question becomes workable when the student narrows four things: the subject, the group or setting, the time period, and the evidence they can realistically access. The goal is to help the student make and defend those choices, without choosing the answer for them.
Consider an illustrative student, Kojo, sitting at the dining table in Accra at 8:40 p.m., his laptop open beside a cooling mug of tea. He has written: “How has technology changed education?” His first planning check is approaching, but every search produces another branch: artificial intelligence, tablets, online lessons, social media, assessment, rural access, university teaching.
If he keeps the question, he risks spending the week collecting disconnected articles and reaching the check with no investigation he can explain. Deleting it and accepting a polished question from an adult would create a different problem. The project would sound focused, but the reasoning behind it would not belong to him.
Start with the decision hidden inside the topic
A broad topic often contains several possible decisions. “Technology and education” could lead to a comparison, an evaluation of impact, an investigation of access, or an argument about policy. Before changing the wording, ask the student what they genuinely want to find out.
Useful prompts include:
- What surprised or bothered you about this topic?
- Which part would you still want to discuss after several weeks?
- What could two informed people reasonably disagree about?
- What evidence would change your current view?
Kojo says he is interested in whether artificial intelligence helps secondary-school students learn independently. That answer reveals a direction, but the question still covers too much. “Artificial intelligence,” “secondary-school students,” “learning,” and “independently” could each mean several things.
The tutor’s role here is to expose those choices. Kojo must make them.
This matters even more as interest in the qualification grows. International Project Qualification entries rose 68%, which means more students may be encountering the same uncomfortable first week: a promising idea, an empty planning document, and too many browser tabs.
Narrow the question through four filters
A simple narrowing grid can turn that discomfort into a sequence of decisions. Write the current question at the top, then test it against four filters.
First, define the subject precisely. “Technology” might become generative AI tools. “Education” might become independent revision in one subject.
Second, choose the population or setting. Which learners are being discussed? A question about all students everywhere will usually produce claims too broad to support.
Third, set a defensible time boundary. A rapidly changing topic may need a recent period, while a historical comparison needs two clearly chosen points. The student should be able to explain why the boundary suits the investigation.
Fourth, check the evidence. Can the student find credible sources representing more than one view? Could they collect appropriate first-hand evidence, if their project permits it? A narrow question with almost no usable evidence may be as difficult as a broad one.
Kojo tests several versions aloud. One is specific but assumes AI improves learning before the investigation begins. Another would require access to data he cannot obtain. With the planning check close, the bad ending remains possible: he may arrive with a neat sentence that cannot support a balanced project.
Then the grid does its job. He selects a defined learner group, one aspect of independent revision, and a recent period with accessible published evidence. The final wording is his because each limit records a choice he made.
Test the question before approving it
A narrowed question still needs a pressure test. Ask the student to complete three short tasks without beginning the full project.
They should explain the question in one sentence without using vague terms. They should name at least two plausible positions an informed person could take. They should also identify several credible source types that could help examine those positions.
Watch for warning signs. If every source appears to support the same conclusion, the wording may be leading. If the student needs to define six major concepts before discussing the issue, the scope may still be too wide. If the question can be answered with a simple fact, it may not allow enough evaluation.
A source log can help at this stage. Three columns are enough: what the source claims, what evidence it uses, and how it might affect the question. The same discipline behind the three-column sheet used to surface a buried deadline applies here: making hidden decisions visible reduces the chance that an important gap survives until the deadline.
Keep ownership with the student
Support becomes over-direction when an adult supplies the wording, argument, sources, and conclusion. A better tutoring conversation uses questions, comparisons, and visible criteria.
A tutor might place two versions side by side and ask which one allows stronger evidence. They might underline an undefined word and ask what it means in this project. They can challenge a proposed boundary by asking what falls outside it and whether that exclusion is reasonable.
This approach fits curriculum-specific one-to-one support because the session can respond to the student’s actual brief, goals, available evidence, and stage of planning. It also gives parents a clearer picture of progress. The result to look for is not a question that sounds impressive. It is a student who can explain why every word is there.
The next evening, Kojo returns to the dining table with fewer tabs open. At the top of the page sits one question, followed by four handwritten notes explaining its subject, setting, period, and evidence base. When someone asks why he narrowed it that way, he no longer looks at the tutor.
He answers from his own plan.
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