Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning as a Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Qatar

• In Event: Indigenous and Non-Western Cultural Science Perspectives and Their Implication for Science Education

Abstract

In the midst of education reforms aimed to improve education and the quality of institutions, pedagogical research is an area of interest as Qatar which hosts several international institutions of educational excellence and simultaneously is adopting western pedagogies. However, there have been no efforts to make these adopted western pedagogies properly aligned within a high context culture like Qatar. This paper presents an ongoing implementation of a student-centered intervention called Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) in selected independent Arabic schools in Qatar. Carefully structured learning materials when implemented systematically in a POGIL intervention helped Grade 10 science students improve their achievement in mid-semester tests. The study further provided school-based mentoring and professional development opportunities for teachers in the region.

Authors

• Venkat Rao Vishnumolakala, Curtin University

• Katherine Bradley, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar

• Sheila Qureshi, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar

• David F. Treagust, Curtin University

• Daniel Southam, Curtin University

• Mauro Mocerino, Curtin University