The IntroCS Project has supported over 35 computer science faculty as they adopted POGIL in their introductory computer science classes.
The main goal of IntroCS POGIL 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 collects and analyzes multi-institutional data including surveys, interviews, and grades.
This work aims to 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. But until now, there has not yet been a concerted effort to evaluate teaching computer science using the POGIL approach. The growth of the computer science POGIL community, which is a fundamental aspect of this proposal, is a necessary step to study the effectiveness of POGIL in CS education. Broader and more effective use of strategies such as POGIL will improve the quality, quantity, and diversity of students who complete STEM programs.
● Analysis of Student Grades Before and After Adopting POGIL, Chris Mayfield, Sean Raleigh, Helen H. Hu, Clif Kussmaul. 2023. In Proceedings of the Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE '23). ACM, New York, NY, USA.
● Teamwork in CS1: Student Learning and Experience with POGIL, Helen H. Hu, Aman Yadav, Donna M. Gavin, Clif Kussmaul, Chris Mayfield. 2023. In Proceedings of the ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE '23). ACM, New York, NY, USA.
● POGIL in CS1: Evidence for Student Learning and Belonging, Chris Mayfield, Sukanya Kannan Moudgalya, Aman Yadav, Clif Kussmaul, Helen H. Hu. 2022. In Proceedings of the ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE '22). ACM, New York, NY, USA.
● Professional Development and Support for POGIL in Computer Science, Clif Kussmaul, Helen H. Hu, Pat Campbell, Chris Mayfield, Aman Yadav. 2022. In Proceedings of the ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE '22). ACM, New York, NY, USA.
● Collaborative Learning, Self-Efficacy, and Student Performance in CS1 POGIL, Aman Yadav, Chris Mayfield, Sukanya Kannan Moudgalya, Clif Kussmaul, and Helen H. Hu. 2021. In Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE '21). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 775–781. [ video ]
● Measuring Students' Sense of Belonging in Introductory CS Courses, Sukanya Kannan Moudgalya, Chris Mayfield, Aman Yadav, Helen H. Hu, and Clif Kussmaul. 2021. In Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE '21). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 445–451. [ video ]
● Guiding Students to Develop Essential Skills, Clif Kussmaul. 2020. Communications of the ACM 63, 2 (January 2020), 35–37.
● POGIL in Computer Science: Faculty Motivation and Challenges, Aman Yadav, Clif Kussmaul, Chris Mayfield, and Helen H. Hu. 2019. In Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE '19). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 280–285.
● Results from a Survey of Faculty Adoption of Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) in Computer Science, Helen H. Hu, Clifton Kussmaul, Brian Knaeble, Chris Mayfield, and Aman Yadav. 2016. In Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE '16). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 186–191.