Implementing Guided Inquiry in Diverse Institutions

这项提议正在为工程课程中的材料概论课程实施、测试和传播新的课堂材料。这些新材料使用了一种基于化学的教学方法的主动学习、基于团队的方法，称为面向过程的指导性探究学习(POGIL)。学生们不是坐在传统的讲课上，而是团队合作，完成工作表，指导他们完成学习过程。学生积极参与信息处理，并有机会使用和发展重要的技能，如团队合作、沟通和批判性思维。POGIL材料科学工作表是在之前的国家科学基金会拨款(DUE-0633073)中开发的，包含以下部分：1)说明特定概念的模型或数据集；2)引导学生处理模型或数据并引导他们理解概念的引导性问题；以及3)允许他们练习使用概念的练习和问题。四个机构正在使用这些工作表，它们代表了执行这些工作表的不同背景：一所大型公立研究型大学；一所授予综合性大学的中型公立硕士学位；一所HBCU；以及一所私立文科大学。每个站点都有多个实施周期，教员参与者通过年度项目会议、参加地区性POGIL会议和通过电子讨论板进行互动，在用户社区内工作。POGIL相对于传统教学和不同的实施环境的效果是通过形成性和终结性评估来确定的。这些评估活动包括对学生和教师制定的学习和实施目标的评估，对实施的焦点小组讨论，对学生学习的量化评估，学生对学习的看法，以及教师之间的社区建设。这个项目的智力价值集中在这套新的研究型课堂活动的实施和评估上，这套活动既有利于教师的实施，也有利于学生的表现。该项目产生的更广泛的影响包括传播这些经过广泛测试的材料，以供其他机构使用，并对广泛的用户群体的初步发展产生影响。

This proposal is implementing, testing and disseminating new classroom materials for the Introduction to Materials course within the engineering curriculum. These new materials use an active learning, team-based approach based on a pedagogical method from chemistry, called Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL). Rather than sitting in traditional lectures, students work in teams to complete worksheets that guide them through the process of learning. Students are actively engaged in processing information and have the opportunity to use and develop important skills such as teamwork, communication, and critical thinking. The POGIL worksheets for materials science, developed in a prior NSF grant (DUE-0633073), contain the following components: 1) a model or data set that illustrates a particular concept; 2) guided inquiry questions that guide the students to process the model or data and lead them to an understanding of the concept; and 3) exercises and problems that allow them to practice using the concept. These worksheets are being used at four institutions that represent different contexts for their implementation: a large public research university; a medium-sized public Master's degree granting comprehensive university; an HBCU; and a private liberal arts university. Multiple cycles of implementation occur at each site, and the faculty participants work within a community of users through annual project meetings, participation in regional POGIL meetings, and interaction through an electronic discussion board. The effects of POGIL relative to traditional instruction and the different implementation contexts are determined using both formative and summative assessments. These assessment activities include evaluation of learning and implementation goals set by the students and faculty, focus group discussions of implementation, and quantitative assessment of student learning, student perceptions of learning, and community building among the faculty members. The intellectual merit of this project focuses on the implementation and evaluation of this new set of research-based classroom activities for both faculty implementation and student performance. The broader impacts that result from this project include the dissemination of these broadly tested materials for use at other institutions and on the initial development of an extensive community of users.