Analysis of the Traditional Method of Teaching and POGIL Employed in a One Semester Engineering Materials Technology Course

A review of the literature has shown the interest and implementation of the Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) method in introductory Materials Science and Materials Engineering Courses. In this limited study, in an Engineering Materials Technology course, both the Traditional method of teaching and POGIL were employed. At approximately one third of the semester, students were assessed solely on the Traditional method of lecturing, at approximately the second third of the semester, students were assessed after both methods were employed, and at the end of the semester, the students were assessed only on the use of POGIL. The first assessment, which was based on the Traditional method, will be used as a bench mark. Concerning resources for this class, two materials textbooks were utilized for this purpose, a Materials Science and Engineering, and a guided inquiry Materials Science and Engineering textbook, each by different authors. The feedback of the students was also received in the form of a survey given them by the instructor, and will be further analyzed, in an effort to indicate information, such as their preference of the Traditional method of teaching versus POGIL, and the particular learning method that they believe to have had a greater impact on their learning. Students also indicated whether group members did contribute effectively to their learning outcomes, as they also worked in groups during the implementation of POGIL. Although other forms of evaluation were utilized during the specific semester, such as report writing and powerpoint presentations, these were not included in the study, as they may not have had a direct bearing on the research.