POGIL Activities for Environmental and Earth Science

Kendall Hunt is excited to partner with The POGIL Project to publish materials in a variety of disciplines that are designed for use in active learning, student-centered classrooms.

POGIL is an acronym for Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning. Because POGIL is a student-centered instructional approach, in a typical POGIL classroom or laboratory, students work in small teams with the instructor acting as a facilitator. The student teams use specially designed activities that generally follow a learning cycle paradigm. These activities are designed to have three key characteristics:

• They are designed for use with self-managed teams that employ the instructor as a facilitator of learning rather than a source of information.
• They guide students through an exploration to construct understanding.
• They use discipline content to facilitate the development of important process skills, including higher-level thinking and the ability to learn and to apply knowledge in new contexts. 

For more information, please visit www.pogil.org

Caryl Fish is an Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at Saint Vincent College. She taught chemistry, environmental science and earth science courses for 33 years. She earned her B.S. from Manchester College and her Ph.D. from SUNY-ESF. She is passionate about student-centered active learning and helping students develop process skills.

Susan Sutheimer is retired from her position as Professor of Chemistry at Green Mountain College. She has a BS from Marquette University and a PhD in analytical chemistry from Kent State University. A long-time POGIL practitioner, she specializes in environmental and green chemistry primarily at the undergraduate level.

Stephanie Erickson has an MS in Earth and Environmental science and a PhD in STEM education from the University of Minnesota. She has extensive experience creating lessons and curricula using inquiry instructional strategies for a wide range of learners. The majority of her career has been in middle and high school science, with additional experience in graduate-level science teaching methods courses. Her research focuses on teaching and learning in Earth System Science, emphasizing accessibility and engagement for all learners.