Adapting guided inquiry learning worksheets for emergency remote learning
Information and Learning Sciences
ISSN: 2398-5348
Article publication date: 15 June 2020
Issue publication date: 10 August 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) is a series of learning activities building on student prior knowledge guiding them to construct their own understanding of new concepts in collaborative roles. This paper aims to illustrate how POGIL worksheets can be adapted for low bandwidth and low-computing environments to accommodate the largest swathe of learners in higher education, as was the case during the switch to emergency remote learning in 2020.
Design/methodology/approach
The POGIL worksheets in this paper scaffold the discovery of new concepts while providing sample computer program output, guiding students to make predictions about the connection between program input and program output. Answers are provided to these questions after completion so that students may check their understanding or look to the answers as worked examples. These POGIL worksheets were used for the past two years in an in-person classroom situation with minimal computing resources, replacing 4/5 of a classroom lecture doing POGILs collaboratively. In the midst of emergency remote learning, these worksheets were adapted to complement asynchronous lecture videos, and also serve as lecture replacement as needed.
Findings
This paper discusses an approach to adapting POGIL worksheets for introduction to computer science for students who may not have the necessary digital tools (programing software, bandwidth for streaming video, etc.). While the context for this paper is computer science, POGIL has a deep history in chemistry education and other natural sciences, suggesting an approach that may be adapted for situations where hands-on laboratory experiments may not be possible.
Originality/value
CS-POGIL has many materials available for computer science, but this paper discusses 23 new worksheets and how to adapt them to the novel situation of emergency remote teaching.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper is part of the special issue, “A Response to Emergency Transitions to Remote Online Education in K-12 and Higher Education” which contains shorter, rapid-turnaround invited works, not subject to double-blind peer review. The issue was called, managed and produced on short timeline in Summer 2020 toward pragmatic instructional application in the Fall 2020 semester.
Citation
Howley, I. (2020), "Adapting guided inquiry learning worksheets for emergency remote learning", Information and Learning Sciences, Vol. 121 No. 7/8, pp. 549-557. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-04-2020-0086
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited