Page 102 - International Journal of Process Educaiton (Special Issue)

instructor explains, “These materials were written using a
process-oriented guided-inquiry learning (POGIL) model
and are expected to be used in structured small groups with
instructor facilitation.” A typical first step of a learning
activity plan is for a team manager to assign the roles of
spokesperson, recorder, and reflector.
The Student Success Toolbox (Pacific Crest, 2011) offers
numerous tools to support the use of cooperative learning
practices in any classroom:
Rubrics: Performing in a Team
Forms: Team Assessment Report (with a completed
sample), Planner Report, Recorder Report, Weekly
Recorder Report, Reflector Report, Weekly
Reflector Report, Spokesperson Report
Methodologies: Teamwork Methodology
Other: Team Roles (including performance criteria
for: Captain, Recorder, Spokesperson, Reflector,
Technology Specialist, Optimist, Planner,
Timekeeper, Critical Thinking, Conflict Resolver,
Spy), Profile of a Strong Team Player
Active Learning
(see also Learning to Learn)
“All genuine learning is active, not passive.
It is a process of discovery in which
the student is the main agent, not the teacher.”
M. J. Adler (1982)
The key ideas shared at the first Teaching Institute in
1991 focused on teaching students how to learn (Apple,
1991); this is the definition of active learning, according
to Bonwell & Eison (1991): the responsibility of learning
lies with the learner.
The best practice, in this case, is described by the
Transformation of Education (Hintze, Beyerlein, Apple
& Holmes, 2011) aspect, “delivery,” which defines active
learning as the opposite of “presentation.” In usual terms,
this takes place in a lecture-style context, in which there is non-disciplinary curricula, such as Foundations of Learning
a teacher who dispenses learning, knowledge, information,
or wisdom to a student. Because of this traditionally
defined context, we are used to thinking of “learning” as
the receiving end of “teaching.” But in an active learning
environment, the learner drives the learning process.
If the learner is responsible for learning and actively
engages in doing so, then instead of “teaching,” the
educator must shift to a role of supporting the learner
and facilitating the process of learning. In the role of
facilitator, the focus is on process rather than content (see
the Facilitation section). Several modules in the Faculty
100 International Journal of Process Education (February 2016, Volume 8 Issue 1)
Guidebook speak directly to this changed role: Overview
of Facilitation (Smith, 2007b), Facilitation Methodology
(Smith & Apple, 2007), Constructive Intervention (Leise
& Smith, 2007), Constructive Intervention Techniques
(Smith & Leise, 2007), and Profile of a Quality Facilitator
(Smith, 2007c). Beyond the Faculty Guidebook, pertinent
scholarship in Process Education includes Transforming
Large Introductory Classes into Active Learning
Environments (Duffrin, Dawes, Hanson, Miyazaki, &
Wolfskill, 1998-1999).
A well-known and very popular active learning approach
is POGIL (Process-Oriented Guided-Inquiry Learning). In
POGIL classrooms or activities, though the responsibility
for learning still resides with the learner, the active learning
is group-based, with learning teams working to discover
and construct knowledge (Hanson & Moog, 2007). Whether
active learning is performed by an individual or group, the
key is that the learner actively seeks out understanding,
engaging in some kind of learning process or cycle. In a
POGIL activity, the learning process consists of three stages:
exploration, concept invention/formation, and application
(Abraham, 2005). These three stages correspond to Steps
9, 10, and 11 in the Learning Process Methodology (see the
Learning Process Methodology section):
9 Models
Study and review examples that assist in meeting
the learning objectives and performance criteria
10 Thinking Critically
Pose and answer questions that stimulate thought
and promote understanding
11 Transfer/Application
Transfer knowledge to different contexts; apply
knowledge in new situations
Because Process Education is active learning, all Process
Education curricula are, by definition and design, active
learning curricula, created to support active learning
classroom practices. The only difference is with respect to
(Redfield & Hurley Lawrence, 2009) and Learning to
Learn: Becoming a Self-Grower (Apple, Morgan & Hintze
2013). Not only are these books designed to support active
learning; the issue of shifting responsibility to the learner
is explicitly addressed. The following is excerpted from
the introduction to Foundations of Learning:
With this book, you become the master of your
learning experience and the person in charge
of your own learning. It might help to think
of yourself as an “athlete of learning.” As a
student, you are in training to strengthen and
hone your ability to learn... You’re not on your