POGIL: Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning

1. POGIL:Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning Troy Wolfskill Department of Chemistry Stony Brook University Troy.Wolfskill@stonybrook.edu

2. Overview • The Motivation for POGIL • What is POGIL • Guided-Inquiry Activity Design • Facilitating a Process-Oriented Classroom • Impact of POGIL Locally and Nationally

3. References & Acknowledgements • References • LUCID - A New Model for Computer Assisted Learning, D. Hanson, T. Wolfskill, J. Chem. Educ. 2001, 78, 1417-1424. • Process Workshops - A New Model for Instruction, D. Hanson, T. Wolfskill, J. Chem. Educ. 2000, 77, 120-129. • Improving the Teaching/Learning Process in General Chemistry, D. Hanson, T. Wolfskill, J. Chem. Educ. 1998, 75, 143-147. • Transforming Large Introductory Classes into Active Learning Environments, N. Duffrin, W. Dawes, D. Hanson, J. Miyazaki, T. Wolfskill, J. Ed. Tech. Systems 1998, 27, 169-178. • www.pogil.org • Acknowledgements • David Hanson, Prof. of Chemistry, Stony Brook University • The National Science Foundation • Real-Time Multi-Dimensional Assessment of Student Learning, DUE ASA 0127650 • Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning, DUE CCLI-ND 0231120 • Development & Field Assessment of Web-Based Activities for POGIL, DUE CCLI-EM 0341485 • 58 Other Funded POGIL Projects • Stony Brook University • Department of Chemistry • Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching • Dan Apple, President of Pacific Crest

4. The Motivation for POGIL What issues do you face in helping students learn your course content? What issues do your students face after they graduate from college?

5. Motivation for Change at Stony Brook, mid 90s • Student attitudes and performance in decline • Poor attendance at lectures and recitations • Interns reported little correlation between experiences on the job and in the classroom • Importance of teamwork in the workplace • Emphasis on skills over content • Above were consistent with national reports

6. 1. Employment Criteria Good thinker Problem solver Team player Articulate Good writer Creative Knowledgeable Management skills 2. Course Plans Textbook to use Content to include Homework to assign Logical sequence of topics Quality of lectures Nature of evaluations Composition of exams Provisions for tutorials The Education-Employment Gap Faculty from a prestigious eastern University generated the lists below in response to the following assignments. You are a member of a search committee for a position in a company. What characteristics will you look for in applicants? You are planning your course for next semester. What are the important issues you address in your plan?

7. POGIL: Process-Oriented Guided-Inquiry Learning POGIL is an instructional strategy that… • is Process-Oriented, Students exercise key process skills in class to learn course content • Information ProcessingCritical ThinkingProblem Solving • Teamwork CommunicationAssessment Teachers facilitate content learning by helping develop process skills • uses Guided-Inquiry, Questions guide students through a learning cycle involving the… • Exploration of data, models, materials, or tasks • Invention or discovery of new concepts • Application in both simple and complex contexts • and focuses broadly on Learning… by targeting both content and skills

8. Activity Design: A Learning Cycle Approach • Orientation • Exploration • Model provides information needed to construct a new concept • Directed questions prompt students to explore the model • Concept Discovery or Formation • Convergent questions promote the identification of relationships • Concepts are discovered and then named • Application • Divergent questions prompt students to consider implications • Exercises systematically develop skill in using the concept • Problems integrate previous knowledge, provide greater challenge Types of Questions: • Directed: specific answer determinable from information at hand • Convergent: specific answer requires synthesis of information at hand • Divergent: multiplicity of answers requires transfer to new contexts

9. Student and Teacher Roles in a POGIL Classroom Student Roles Text-Based WorkshopsComputer-Based Workshops Manager  Manager/Spokesperson Recorder  Technician Spokesperson  Strategy Analyst Strategy Analyst Teacher Roles Leader: Plan activities & organization Set objectives & performance criteria Define the reward structure Monitor: Observe the class, teams, and individuals in action Assess strengths, areas for improvement in content & PROCESS Decide if an intervention is appropriate Facilitator: Intervene with the class, teams, or individuals to help Evaluator: Validate all reported work Assign grades to reward effort, recognize achievement, motivate

10. Students work in teams on activities…

11. The instructor facilitates the work of the teams…

12. Students report their answers to the class…

13. And develop skills while having fun…

14. Team Reports Promote Meta-Cognitive Skills • In light of the success criteria in today’s activities, what were the most important things your team learned? • What is your team still confused about with today’s activities? • What were your team’s most important strengths and why? • What are your team’s most important areas for improvement and how can you go about achieving these? • What insights did you gain into being a more successful chemistry student or problem solver?

15. Issues in a POGIL Classroom • What issues might arise when students work in teams in the classroom.

16. Guidelines for an Effective POGIL Classroom For a Performance-Oriented Classroom… • Challenging tasks with clear criteria for performance • High expectations with respect and no prejudging • Mutual trust that promotes risk taking and allows failure • High degree of assessment in both quantity and quality • Shared commitment with learner ownership of the process For a Team-Based Classroom… • Structure the teams • Motivate the students • Create positive interdependence • Assure individual accountability • Encourage promotive interactions • Provide closure As a team, review these guidelines and come up with at least one question you would like answered.

17. Facilitation: to make easier Accomplished through interventions in student work • Directives • Mini-lectures • Assessments • Strategy Analyst oral reports • Instructor’s SII assessment • Promoting discussion of reports • Team interventions • Being playful • Spies and Consultants • Jigsaw, games, challenges Guidelines for team interventions • Reduce effort by only working with managers • Intervene on process, not content • Ask if they would like assistance • Promote critical thinking by asking questions

18. Effective Intervention Questions… Promote student thinking • Promoting: requires reflection, data processing, examining ideas • Limiting: requires recall, manipulates thinking • Inhibiting: brings closure, promotes fear or intimidation Focus on process • Diagnostic: What have you done? Where are you stuck? • Prescriptive: What are you given? What do you need to find? What relationships connect givens with unknowns? • Reflective: What was the problem? How did you resolve it? How can you avoid it in the future? Can be formulated in various ways to assure student success • Directed: specific answer determinable from information at hand • Convergent: specific answer requiring synthesis of given information • Divergent: multiplicity of answers with transfer to new context

19. Student Response to POGIL at Stony Brook • Attendance was ~90% • Overwhelming majority reported that the workshops were challenging, worthwhile, and helped them understand concepts and solve problems • ~half reported that their confidence in studying and learning chemsitry was increased by working in a team • ~1/3 reported that the workshops increased their interest in chemistry and that self-assessment helped them improve their study habits • Students requested that more time be given for workshops by moving them from 55-minute to 80-minute blocks • Common written comments: • When we explain answers to each other it helps us learn the material. • We learn skills not just solutions to some problems. • They help us reason and think and make us think harder. • You learn and understand more by working together.

20. Impact of POGIL Workshops on Exam Scores at SBU

21. The POGIL National Dissemination Project • Funded by the National Science Foundation 2003 – 2012 • Provide • Faculty development workshops • On-site consulting • Visits to schools using POGIL • Support by phone, email, and the web • Support for developing new curriculum materials • One of the most successful teaching/curriculum reform projects that NSF has sponsored.