The Ins, Outs, Ups, The Ins, Outs, Ups, and Downs of POGIL and Downs of POGIL

PedagogyPedagogyMelissa C. Rhoten

Longwood UniversityDepartment of Chemistry & Physics

Blackwell Lecture SeriesOctober 18, 2010

Employment Criteria

You are a member of the Employment Committee of a start-up biotechnology company, which is planning to double the number of employees over the next year.

List at least three characteristics or skills that your committee will use to screen the applicants.

Quick learnerCritical thinkerCreativeProblem solversGood communicatorTeam playerSelf-motivatedKnowledgeable

Employment Criteria

Only one component!

What is POGIL?

Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning

• A classroom and laboratory technique that seeks to simultaneously teach content and key process skills within the confines of a collaborative team.

• Research shows that students who work collaboratively learn more, understand more, remember more, and acquire skills essential in the workplace.

The POGIL Classroom

• Students work in small groups on specially-designed activities intended to develop mastery of both course content and key process skills

Targeted process skills include: information processing, critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, communication, management, and assessment.

Traditional Pedagogy

• Teaching occurs by telling• Knowledge is a collection of facts• Learning is recall

Cohen, D. K. in Contributing to Educational Change, P. W. Jackson, ed., McCutchan: Berkeley, CA, 1989.

Johnstone, A. H. J. Chem. Ed. 2010, 87, 22-29.

• Current knowledge and our interests, prejudices, and beliefs control how we handle new information.

• This affects what we select from the sensory stimuli around us, how we process the stimuli, and how we store information.

• We each have a unique filter by which we select what interests us, what makes sense to us, and what is important to us.

Information Processing Model

Johnstone, A. H. J. Chem. Ed. 2010, 87, 22-29.

Information Processing Model

Limited working space: shared space that holds information temporarily and processes it.

• If linkages are formed between new information and current knowledge in LTM, understanding occurs.• If linkages are faulty - give rise to alternative frameworks (misunderstanding)• If no linkages could be made (no understanding) - information rejected or rote learned.

A New Approach

• Knowledge results only through active participation in its construction.

• Students teach each other and they teach the instructor by revealing their understanding of the subject

• Teachers learn by this process…by steadily accumulating a body of knowledge about the practice of teaching.

Elmore, R. F. in Education for Judgment, Harvard Business School, Boston, MA, 1991.

Guided Inquiry Approach

Students work in groups (typically 3-4) Activities use the Learning Cycle

(Exploration, Concept Invention, Application)

Students construct knowledge Students teach/discuss/learn from

students Instructors facilitate learning

www.pogil.org

A POGIL Classroom Experience

Team Design

Manager – actively participates, keeps team on task, distributes work/responsibilities, assures that team members participate and understand

Recorder – actively participates, prepares written reflection/self-assessment report in consultation with team

Reporter – actively participates, communicates with instructor and presents reports to the class when necessary

Team roles rotate on a daily basis!!

Activity 02-1 – Atoms, Isotopes, and Ions

In the next 10 minutes, complete Critical Thinking Questions 1-11

All isotopes of a given element have the same number of but different numbers of _______________.a) protons, neutronsb) neutrons, protonsc) atoms, electronsd) protons, electrons

Question Question #1#1

Question Question #2#2

What is the symbol for the atom or ion that has 34 neutrons, 29 protons, and 27 electrons?

Complete Recorder’s Report

Homework – Meet as a group to complete Exercises 1 & 2 (pg 18). You must turn in a group answer to these questions on Wed at the start of class

Team MembersManager: _____________________________________________Recorder: _____________________________________________Reporter: _____________________________________________

Reflection on Learning – What questions does the team still have about the material covered today?

Self-Assessment - Did everyone in the team understand the material covered today? If so, explain how your team assured that everyone understood. If not, identify what your team needs to do to assure that everyone in the team understands the material next session.

Recorder’s ReportRecorder’s Report

Our StudyOur Study

General Chemistry

CHEM 111/112 • 4 credit lecture/lab courses (3 hours of

lecture and one 2 hour lab period per week)• required of all science majors

CHEM 111 (Fall 2009) – 6 sections taught by three separate faculty

CHEM 112 (Spring 2010) – 5 sections taught by three separate faculty

CHEM 111 Student Distribution

Traditional Lecture (N=49) Hybrid-POGIL (N=49)

POGIL (N=42)

Commonalities in CHEM 111

• Textbook and companion POGIL workbook• Laboratory exercises• Test review problems• In-class tests• ACS final exam• Concept Inventory post-test

CHEM 111 Topics

• Elements and compounds• The mole (including balancing reactions, molarity, stoichiometry, etc.)• The structure of the atom• Covalent bonding (including Lewis structures, resonance, formal charges, and molecular shapes)• Gas laws• Thermochemistry

Format of Lecture-based sections

– “Teaching by telling”– Example problems worked out by

the instructor during class– No group work– Online homework assignments (via

Bb)

Format of POGIL sections

– Daily Quizzes– Workshop sessions– Team reporting– Mini-lectures (pre- or post-

workshop time)– Wrap-up & report writing– No online homework (students

were expected to finish any POGIL activities not completed during class)

Format of hybrid POGIL sections

– “Teaching by telling” - two lecture periods per week

– Example problems worked out by the instructor during class

– Group work (using the POGIL book) to reinforce concepts presented in lecture – one time per week

– Online homework assignments (via Bb)

In-class test dataC

lass

Avera

ge

t-tests (95% CL) show:

• Significant difference POGIL vs. lecture for Test #2

• Significant differences POGIL vs. lecture and POGIL vs. hybrid for Test #3

• Significant difference POGIL vs. lecture in overall test performance

Final Exam and CI Test

28th 45th 39th

Av. #

of

Quest

ions

Corr

ect

Av. #

of

Quest

ions

Corr

ect

Concept Inventory Test**

** by Krause, Birk, Bauer, Jenkins, Pavelich

Student Evaluation of the Instructor

Student Evaluation of the Class

Student Evaluation of Self

Future Endeavors

Continue to improve POGIL facilitation in CHEM 111/112

Initiation of research study: Does a POGIL experience in 1st semester general chemistry affect retention of science majors?– Colleagues at UNC-Asheville found increased graduation rates among

STEM majors that had POGIL in 1st semester general chemistry relative

to those in traditional general chemistry courses.

Initiation of research study: Is there are correlation between GALT (Group Assessment of Logical Thinking) score and performance on the conceptual ACS exam? If so, is this correlation affected by the learning environment (POGIL vs. traditional)?

Acknowledgements

Dr. Sarah PorterDr. Keith Rider

Mrs. Catherine ShufordMr. Benjamin Bilodeau