In Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL), teams of students (typically 3-5) construct their own knowledge by working on specifically designed and scripted inquiry activities and investigations, often by modeling the original processes of discovery and research (Moog & Spencer, 2008). The teams follow processes with specific roles, steps, and reports that help students develop process skills and encourage individual responsibility and meta-cognition. POGIL is based on learning science (e.g. Zull, 2002), and shares characteristics with other forms of active, discovery, and inquiry-based learning (e.g. Eberlein, Kampmeier, Minderhout, et al, 2008).

POGIL has been developed and validated over the last 15 years. Multiple studies (e.g. Farrell, Moog, & Spencer, 1999; Hanson & Wolfskill, 2000; Lewis & Lewis, 2005) have found that POGIL significantly improves student performance. POGIL has been used extensively in chemistry, and also in other areas.

Although active learning and discovery learning are increasingly popular in entrepreneurship education, POGIL does not yet appear to be well known. POGIL’s emphasis on process skills, and the structure and support it provides, should help to prepare students to work more effectively in E-Teams.

For more information, read the NCIIA 2011 paper. http://cspogil.org contains a variety of POGIL activities; those tagged as “software engineering” or “project management” are generally most relevant to entrepreneurship education.