Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
International Conference on Science, Mathematics, Entrepreneurship and Technology Education (FMGTEK) , İzmir, Türkiye, 12 - 14 Nisan 2019, ss.224-225
Scientific knowledge is a product of inquiry. Therefore, students should be encouraged to find inquiry-based solutions for authentic problems while learning science. In this process, ensuring cooperation between students makes inquiry-based learning more effective. The aim of this study is to examine the views of students about Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL), a strategy of collaborative inquiry, to teach particulate nature of matter at 6th grade. During the instruction, the students worked with their teammates on the worksheets designed by considering learning cycle. At the end of the instruction, Group Assessment of Logical Thinking was administered to determine the formal reasoning level of the students. They were categorized as low, middle and high scorers based on their scores and three students were selected from each category to be interviewed. The data were analyzed using content analysis. The themes and codes were determined by taking the questions and answers into account. Determined themes were “main characteristics of POGIL”, “features promoting learning”, “features to be changed”, “features to be kept”, “difficulties in practice”, “instructor of POGIL” and “academic and social benefits”. According to the results, the students regarded “doing experiments” and “exploring” as main characteristics of POGIL. POGIL features contributing to their learning most were indicated as group work/collaboration, doing on their own, making inferences and activity worksheets. The students stated that they faced difficulties such insufficient contribution of group members and difficulty in reaching proper conclusions. In addition, the answers given in general indicate that the students understood the role of the teacher as facilitator and mediator. The improving friendship, promoting learning and having fun were explained as academic and social benefits of POGIL. In conclusion, the students evaluated POGIL positively, and were aware of the main characteristics and the benefits of POGIL as a collaborative inquiry approach.