The significance of the proposed project is that it will establish the value of Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) as an approach to teaching computer science. The POGIL approach has been shown in other STEM disciplines to increase student learning and retention, particularly for students from underrepresented populations, including females and minorities. There has not yet been a concerted effort to teach computer science using the POGIL approach. The creation of a computer science POGIL community, which is a fundamental aspect of this proposal, is a necessary step to providing an evaluation of the effectiveness of POGIL in computer science education. Broader and more effective use of strategies such as POGIL will improve the quality, quantity, and diversity of students who complete STEM programs.
The main goal of this project is to study factors that most influence faculty to adopt POGIL in introductory computer science courses and how the degree of POGIL implementation impacts student learning and engagement. A secondary goal is to make it significantly easier for computer science faculty to adopt POGIL, by disseminating high quality instructional resources and enhancing current professional development practices. The project theory of action is that enhanced instructor support will improve faculty adoption of and persistence with POGIL, which in turn will improve student outcomes. To assess the impact of these and other factors, the project will collect and analyze multi-institutional data including surveys, interviews, and student learning outcomes.
