The POGIL Project

“I’ve got people behind me as I do this.”

When longtime science teacher Mare Sullivan first began using POGIL, she saw changes in her classroom.

Students helped one another. Students who might otherwise have struggled found ways to contribute and succeed. And the structure of POGIL teams helped create a classroom in which more students had a voice.

Mare saw something else, too: teachers need support when they try something new.

So she set out to provide it.

Over the years, Mare has become one of the most active members of The POGIL Project community. She has facilitated workshops, written and developed classroom materials, mentored educators, and built a network in the Pacific Northwest where new and experienced POGIL practitioners can share questions, challenges, ideas, and successes.

For Mare, that community gives educators an important feeling:

“I’ve got people behind me as I do this.”

That's what your ExtraGive donation helps make possible.

Great teaching grows through community

Changing the way you teach isn't always easy.

POGIL asks educators to do something very different from traditional instruction. Instead of primarily delivering information, teachers create an environment in which students work together, ask questions, examine evidence, solve problems, and construct their own understanding.

That can be exciting.

It can also be challenging.

That's why The POGIL Project doesn't simply provide educators with activities and send them back to their classrooms. We provide professional development, mentoring, resources, and a community of educators who learn from one another.

Mare has seen firsthand what that support can mean.

Through workshops, mentoring, and regional gatherings, she has helped educators build the confidence to try something new and keep going when things don't work perfectly the first time.

Your gift helps another educator take that first step

High-quality professional development isn't equally accessible to everyone.

Many teachers have little or no funding available to attend workshops or conferences. Others may be the only person in their school or department trying a learner-centered approach.

Your support helps The POGIL Project lower those barriers.

Donations help us keep professional development affordable, provide scholarship opportunities, develop and improve classroom materials, and create spaces where educators can learn from experienced practitioners and from one another.

And the impact doesn't stop with the educator who attends a workshop.

One teacher can reach hundreds of students

When you help one educator become a more effective facilitator of learning, you're also reaching the students who enter that educator's classroom year after year.

Those students aren't simply learning chemistry, biology, mathematics, or another subject.

They're learning how to think through a difficult problem. How to explain an idea. How to listen to someone else's perspective. How to work as part of a team. How to ask good questions. And how to take greater responsibility for their own learning.

That's the ripple effect of investing in educators.

Mare's own POGIL journey began in her classroom. But it didn't stay there.

The educators she has mentored go on to teach their own students. Some become mentors and facilitators themselves. They share what they've learned with colleagues. New communities form.

One classroom becomes many.

What is POGIL?

POGIL stands for Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning, a student-centered approach to teaching and learning.

In a POGIL classroom, students work in small teams with carefully designed activities and defined roles. Rather than simply being given information, students examine models and information, identify patterns, discuss ideas, and use evidence to construct their own understanding.

At the same time, they develop skills that extend well beyond a single class: critical thinking, teamwork, problem-solving, communication, and reflection.

The teacher's role changes, too. The instructor becomes a facilitator of learning: observing, listening, asking questions, and helping students learn how to learn.

Help us create the next ripple

Somewhere, there's an educator who wants students to be more engaged in their own learning.

Maybe that teacher has already heard about POGIL but doesn't have the professional development funding to attend a workshop.

Maybe they're trying POGIL for the first time and need someone like Mare to say, I've been there. Here's what I've learned.

Or maybe they simply haven't discovered us yet.

Your ExtraGive gift helps us reach that educator.

It helps make high-quality professional development more accessible. It supports the resources educators need to create learner-centered classrooms. And it helps sustain a community where teachers know they don't have to do this work alone.

One educator can change a classroom.

A community of educators can create a ripple that reaches thousands of students.

Thank you for helping us keep that ripple going.