Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) in Computer Science (Abstract Only)

Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) is a research-based instructional strategy with a proven history across STEM disciplines. In a POGIL classroom, teams of students work on activities that are specifically designed to guide them to construct their own understanding of key concepts. At the same time, students develop key process skills such as communication, teamwork, problem solving, and critical thinking. For example, an activity might start with a simple game, and questions would guide teams to identify, analyze, and compare algorithms to play the game, leading them to develop techniques and identify issues and tradeoffs. POGIL incorporates practices shown to be particularly helpful for students from underrepresented populations. In a POGIL classroom, teachers are facilitators, not lecturers. Multiple studies have shown the students in POGIL classes do better on common exams and in subsequent courses.

This BOF will enable people unfamiliar with POGIL to ask questions and learn more, and enable experienced POGIL practitioners to share experiences, concerns, ideas, and insights. As in a POGIL classroom, we will discuss topics in small teams and report out to the larger group. The CS-POGIL community has grown rapidly in the last few years. Our discuss forum has over 40 members, and http://cspogil.org has over 100 activities shared publicly or within the community. For more information, see http://cspogil.org and http://pogil.org.