Agenda for 3-Day Workshops

A sample agenda is available for the 2020 summer workshops. 

Please note that all workshops in 2021 will be virtual.

On Day 1, participants will follow a schedule based on their POGIL experience level. 

• Those who have never attended a POGIL workshop should attend the Fundamentals of POGIL session.

• Those who have previously attended a POGIL workshop should attend their choice of Team Formation, Inclusive Excellence, or Intro to POGIL Labs session. 

On Days 2 and 3, participants will follow a series of sessions (a track) based on their content area interest: Activity Writing, or Classroom Facilitation.

 2021 Summer Workshop Descriptions 

Fundamentals of POGIL

This session is designed for those with limited or no previous exposure to POGIL. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in POGIL activities, observe facilitation strategies firsthand, learn about POGIL classroom implementation, and discuss common barriers to implementation.

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• list the essential elements of POGIL pedagogy and philosophy
• list desirable student learning outcomes supported by POGIL pedagogy
• collect strategies to begin implementing POGIL in the classroom

Team Formation and Design

This session promotes discussion of strategies for creating effective student teams, as well as the issue of if, when, and how to change teams.  This session works by drawing upon the variety of experiences that those using the POGIL pedagogy (and other approaches) have with team formation.  

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• identify the characteristics of effective teams
• describe a variety of approaches for team construction and changing team composition

Inclusive Excellence

There has been much talk in the education community about implicit bias in classrooms. At The POGIL Project, we believe that POGIL pedagogy can improve achievement for ALL students. This session will help you reflect upon your POGIL practice as a classroom facilitator and give you tools to use to counteract implicit bias from yourself and your students.

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• have an understanding of implicit bias and its consequences
• recognize incidents of implicit bias in the POGIL classroom
• develop strategies for counteracting implicit bias in the classroom

Modeling A POGIL Classroom

There is no single way to implement POGIL -- each time there are unique characteristics that can influence how particular goals are achieved. Facilitating a POGIL classroom effectively involves more than student groups and collaborative activities; it requires careful planning and effective classroom management through reflective facilitation techniques. This session is designed to provide participants with an introduction to facilitating POGIL activities. Through this experience, participants will reflect on how facilitation can enhance or interfere with student learning, as well as how facilitation strategies can be critical in the development of student process skills.

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• identify the components of POGIL classroom facilitation
• provide examples for how the actions of instructors can promote or inhibit development of student process skills
• propose facilitation strategies for classroom use

How Are POGIL Activities Structured?

This session is an introduction to the essential characteristics and structure of high-quality POGIL activities. Participants will collect tools to help them create cohesive, quality acitivites. After completing this session, participants will be prepared to attend intermediate-level sessions on writing activities.

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• identify the basic components of a POGIL activity, such as a model and critical thinking questions    
• classify questions in an activity according to the following types: directed, convergent, or divergent
• classify questions in a learning cycle activity according to the following types: exploration, concept invention/term introduction, or application
• use both the Learning Cycle and question types to critically analyze activity structure and guide construction of quality POGIL activities

Introduction to POGIL Labs

This session introduces participants to the basic concepts and principles of a POGIL laboratory experience. Participants will complete an abbrevitated POGIL experiement. The criteria for a POGIL laboratory experiment will introduced, and participants will examine the components and structure of the model experiment and compare them to other laboratory experiences.  Please note that this session is optional for those who plan on attending the POGIL Lab Track.

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• describe the differences between a POGIL laboratory experiment and a traditional laboratory experiment
• articulate the components of a POGIL laboratory experiment and correlate them with the components of the Learning Cycle
• determine the extent to which an experiment meets the POGIL laboratory criteria

Writing POGIL Activities: Scaffolding Critical Thinking Questions

This session will provide participants with an opportunity to take the first steps in writing a POGIL activity. In this session, participants will learn the role of learning objectives in class, how to integrate objectives and assessment questions, and how to identify the content needed for students to accomplish the objectives. At the end of the session, participants will have an outline for part of a POGIL activity for their own classroom which they can further develop in later workshop sessions.

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• write measurable content and process objectives for a POGIL activity using action verbs
• identify assessment questions which will measure the success of  a POGIL activity
• identify prerequisite knowledge that is necessary for a student to successfully complete a particular POGIL activity
• construct an outline for a POGIL activity

Writing POGIL Activities: Developing Robust Models

In this session, participants will examine the features common to models that are suitably robust for use in POGIL activities, and gain practice developing a robust model that could be used in a POGIL activity in the participant’s classroom.

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• identify features common to robust models
• create a model that is suitably robust for use in a POGIL activity

Writing POGIL Activities: Author Coaching

During the Author Coaching sessions, participants will be able to work on writing activities in whatever fashion is most helpful to them. A room or working area will be made available for participants to work individually on writing POGIL activities. At least one writing consultant, or “coach,” will be available for consultations. These consultants will guide participants in assessing their own activities and provide suggestions for improvement.  If there are participants who have progressed to advanced stages of authoring, the consultant may introduce several rubrics will be used to assist authors in reflecting on their work. 

Assessing POGIL Activities: Providing and Receiving Quality Feedback

In this session, participants will be introduced to the content and process rubrics to assess POGIL learning cycle activities. The rubrics are yet another tool for activity authors, helping them keep in mind the major characteristics of a POGIL activity. Participants will review submitted activities, compare their reviews with others, and work to achieve consensus. Participants will also learn about the POGIL collection endorsement process and how it differs from the author feedback process. 

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• explain the process used to provide activity authors with feedback
• use rubrics to assess a POGIL activity
• provide high-quality and consistent feedback to authors about their activities

Writing POGIL Activities: Foursome Feedback/Author Coaching

Much can be learned about writing POGIL activities by interacting with other POGIL authors. This session allows teams of authors to share activities and help each other improve each other's writing. It is not necessary to have a completed activity to participate.

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• provide high-quality and consistent  feedback to authors about their activities
• identify key characteristics of a POGIL Learning Cycle activity

Classroom Facilitation: Introducing Process Skills

In this session, participants will examine the seven process skills in a variety of contexts. Participants will acquire several effective tools for introducing process skills to students and facilitating student reflection on process skills.

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• define each POGIL process skill
• identify methods to raise students' buy-in for the use of process skills
• implement strategies to teach students to use process skills
• enable students to reflect on their group's use of process skills

Classroom Facilitation: Facilitating and Assessing Process Skills 

In this session, participants will consider how process skill development can be enhanced during collaborative learning when assessment and feedback are provided. One way in which particular process skills are developed in active learning environments is through student-student interactions. Monitoring these interactions provides a means to incorporate the assessment of process skills into regular classroom practice.

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• explore process skills and behaviors that provide evidence for them
• gain experience using rubrics to assess process skills
• discuss strategies that encourage students to reflect on their group's use of process skills and how they can be improved

Classroom Facilitation: Improving Facilitation Skills

This session will provide participants with an opportunity to improve their facilitation skills through facilitating, observing, and/or reflecting on the student experience in a POGIL classroom. In this session, a sub-set of participants will each facilitate an activity of their choice.  All participants will have the opportunity to serve as an observer and a student during the session.

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• identify how facilitation strategies impact the effectiveness of implementing POGIL activities
• identify how different perspectives of a classroom (i.e. student, observer, and instructor) provide different insights into the learning process
• improve their own classroom facilitation

Classroom Facilitation: Effective Facilitation Strategies

Effective facilitation requires attention to what is going on in the classroom as well as a set of strategies one can use to respond to a variety of classroom situations.  This session will help participants consider various situations that can impact effectiveness of responses within the classroom, including: disparities in student pacing, dysfunctional student dynamics, and other barriers to student learning in the classroom.   

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• identify constructive facilitation strategies to ensure the classroom provides an effective learning environment for students
• describe facilitation practices that are useful when responding to specific disparities and barriers in a POGIL classroom

Classroom Facilitation: The Facilitator's Toolbox

While there are characteristics of a POGIL classroom that are common, instructors have serveral choices when it comes to the facilitation of activities. In this session, participants will explore a wide variety of roles, report-out strategies, introductory activities, assessment rubrics, and pacing techniques.

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• choose appropriate team roles and responsibilites for their classroom
• employ a variety of pacing strategies
• employ a variety of report-out strategies
• introduce POGIL pedagogy to their students
• assess team interactions during POGIL activities

POGIL Labs: Doing a POGIL Experiment

Participants begin the lab track by experiencing an actual POGIL laboratory experiment from the perspective of a student. The experiment can be used at the introductory or more advanced courses in physical science, and includes an emphasis on developing questions and experimental methods. 

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• take on the role of a student performing a POGIL laboratory experiment
• devise an experimental plan for measuring the rate of a physiochemical process

POGIL Labs: The POGIL Laboratory Experience

In this session, participants will finish the experiment from the previous session and then begin the process of deconstructing the POGIL laboratory experience. Participants will examine the components and structure of the experiment, compare them with the traditional laboratory experience, and correlate them to the Learning Cycle.

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• describe the differences between a POGIL laboratory experiment and a traditional laboratory experiment
• articulate the components of a POGIL laboratory experiment and correlate them with the components of the Learning Cycle
• identify elements that make up a POGIL experiment

POGIL Labs: Structure and Facilitation of a POGIL Experiment

Implementing POGIL labs into a course comes with challenges related to student expectations and organization. This session will continue to deconstruct the POGIL laboratory experiment, looking at how the experience was facilitated and what challenges may arise. 

• describe how facilitating a POGIL experiment differs from facilitating a traditional laboratory experiment
• explore strategies for successfully facilitating POGIL experiments
• discuss how to introduce and implement a POGIL experiment in an existing lab course
• develop ideas for addressing challenges that may arise in implementing POGIL experiments

POGIL Labs: Implementation & Introduction to Writing a POGIL Experiment

This session explores the structure of a POGIL laboratory experiment in greater depth. Participants will work through the key elements of POGIL experiment, including the importance of an Instructor's Handbook. This session also introduces the POGIL experiment screening rubric, which can assist instructors in designing their own experiments. 

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

• adapt the POGIL pedagogy to teaching laboratory in their discipline
• use the Instructor Handbook and Initial Screening rubric to assess a POGIL laboratory
• write draft versions of a POGIL experiment objectives, protocol, and focus question

POGIL Labs: Writing a POGIL Experiment: Part One and Part Two

During the Part One and Part Two sessions, participants will begin to write their own POGIL experiment. Participants are encouraged to bring their own ideas for an experiment that they want to transform from traditional to POGIL. Working as a team is strongly recommended. 

After attending both parts of this session, participants will be able to:

• identify an experiment that could be re-cast as guided inquiry, and develop a set of content and process objectives for this experiment
• write parts of a rough draft of an experiment that students would use in at least two learning cycles
• identify the challenges specific related to writing a guided inquiry experiment, and suggest ways to meet those challenges