Abstract

The Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) method is based on in-class, student group collaborations. College Chemistry requires skilled performances in chemical thinking, chemical vision, critical thinking and problem solving. According to American College Testing Services, ACT, many students enter college scoring below the required scientific math level for college courses. POGIL became the approach to modify and provide meaningful intervention strategies to change this reality. Results showed that three of the four classes who took CHE 104 performed much better in General Chemistry I than students who did not need to take the course, according to their match ACT scores. A Chemistry faculty member attended workshops focused on the national dissemination of the POGIL methods and materials, and thus, the break with traditional methods: lecture (I tell them, they listen, they write) and Lab (they perform). Tougaloo College designed its pre-CHE 115 General Chemistry I course, CHE 104 Chemical Problem Solving, to improve student success using components of the POGIL approach; however, the following components were added: basic math for chemical problems, content reading for understanding chemical knowledge and in-class group lab experiments and cooperative learning.