Overcoming the glassy-eyed nod: an application of process-oriented guided inquiry learning techniques in information technology

Two problems faced by universities are to ensure sustainability and to produce quality graduates. Four aspects of these problems are to improve engagement, to foster interaction, develop required skills and to effectively gauge the level of attention and comprehension within lecture and large tutorial teaching environments. Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) is a technique used to teach in large lecture and tutorial forums. It invokes interaction, team building, learning and interest through highly structured group work. This paper describes a new approach to teaching Information Technology (IT) using POGIL. Two IT subjects were chosen for the implementation of the POGIL technique to explore its potential to resolve the aforementioned issues. Preliminary results from teacher, student and institution perspectives suggest that POGIL is better able to maximise engagement, foster interaction and effectively gauge the level of attention and comprehension in teaching process-oriented IT concepts compared to the traditional didactic approach