Implementing POGIL into the High School Chemistry Classroom VAST 2007 Jill Barker James Wood High School Winchester, VA

Nuclear Atom Activity Manager actively participates; keeps the group on task; distributes work and responsibilities; resolves disputes; assures all members participate and understand Spokesperson actively participates; presents reports and discussion to class Recorder actively participates; keeps a record of the assignment and what the group has done Strategy Analyst actively participates; identifies strategies and methods for solving problems and questions; identifies what the group is doing well and in what areas the group needs additional help

What is POGIL? Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning Developed by college professors Helps students understand content and process skills Promotes critical thinking and teamwork Based on research Teacher acts as facilitator instead of as an information source

POGIL Activities Focuses on 1-3 concepts per activity Model for concepts (text, equation, diagram, table, graph, figure, etc…) Key Questions used to guide students to identifying, applying, and/or analyzing key concepts Exercises or Problems to practice concepts Process Skills developed throughout activity

Learning Cycle Learning Cycle (Karplus, Piaget) E I A inductive deductive Exploration Concept Invention Application (Term Introduction) Data Acquisition What did you do? Is there any pattern in the data? What did you find? What does it mean? Apply developed concepts Test hypotheses Higher level of thinking Karplus and Thier, A New Look at Elementary School Science, Chicago: Rand McNally (1967). Piaget, J. J. Res. Sci. Teach. 1964, 2, 176.

Implementing POGIL Groups (3-4 students) can be generated several ways: - randomly - heterogeneous groupings based on grades 1) high, low, and middle 2) high and middle; middle and low Group members rotate through group roles over a period of time I keep groups together (unless major problem) for a unit I give incentives to make sure all group members understand concepts – bonus point on quizzes all students in a group earn a B average or higher

POGIL and Classes Compounds Unit – Honors/General - development - implementation - student response Kinetics Unit – AP - development - implementation - student response

POGIL Resources (free high school resources) - one and three day introductory workshops - lab workshops - writing activity workshops - grantswww.pogil.org - print resources MADCP – Mid-Atlantic Discovery Chemistry Project (origins of POGIL) - group meets annually last meeting June 2007: Washington College (MD)