Podcast #37: Using POGIL to Get out of the Lecture Game with Andri Smith

In this episode we talk to Associate Professor Andri Smith about how she brings organic chemistry to life at Quinnipiac University by using POGIL:  Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning. Students work in small groups, and discover scientific principles for themselves through guided exercises.

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Show Notes

0:00 ⏯ Intro

0:38 ⏯ Introducing our first guest from Quinnipiac University

6:01 ⏯ The O-chem course Andri took as an undergrad at Yale

9:17 ⏯ Andri’s Yale courses were mostly large lectures, not active learning.

13:52 ⏯ Learning how to do active learning.

19:02 ⏯ What happens when students abstract the wrong principle? Can you answer this question with a question?

21:24 ⏯ Reading after class instead of before: two to five hours using a workbook.

26:03 ⏯ The bad rap of worksheets in K-12.

27:54 ⏯ Choosing your own textbook to use with the workbook.

31:45 ⏯ Teaching organic chemistry using two different methods. Obstacles to comparisons.

36:19 ⏯ From lecturing to handouts to worksheets to POGIL. No regrets.

43:23 ⏯ Is POGIL better for some students than others? Does traditional lecturing privilege the already-privileged?

46:18 ⏯ Shocking how little we talk about technology on this show–and why that’s so.

48:16 ⏯ Other tools and media Andri’s students use. Sharing the resources students find.

51:53 ⏯ Advantages of peer instruction–and also of long teaching experience.

54:18 ⏯ Andri’s teaching fail: a chemical demonstration that went awry.

58:23 ⏯ Closing.