Episode description

This podcast episode celebrates the inaugural 2022 POGIL IMPACT Award, which is bestowed on individuals or teams of individuals who have achieved extraordinary outcomes related to The POGIL Project’s strategic plan. The award celebrates sustained impact and/or innovation achieved by a member or members of the POGIL community, and highlights a strong footprint in both The Project and the POGIL community.

Today, Co-host Alex Grushow (who is a Professor of Chemistry at Rider University and Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry) interviews Laura Trout, who has been selected as the first recipient of the Impact award. Laura Trout has a B.S. in chemistry from Central Washington University and a M.S. in chemistry from the University of Washington. She has been teaching for 25 years in both public and private schools in Washington State and Pennsylvania. Laura has been using POGIL activities in her classes since 2000. She became involved with The POGIL Project in 2004 and has been writing and implementing guided inquiry activities, facilitating POGIL workshops and serving the POGIL community ever since. She served as the Editor-in-Chief for the High School POGIL Initiative (HSPI) which produced four POGIL activity books for high school - Biology, Chemistry, AP Biology, and AP Chemistry. She has also helped to produce a lab manual for AP Chemistry for PASCO Scientific which utilizes POGIL techniques. She was a member of The POGIL Project Steering Committee for two terms.

Recently, Laura has taken a position with The Project as Materials Coordinator, and continues to teach part-time at Lancaster Country Day School in Pennsylvania. In 2021, she earned the 2021 DivCHED Award for Excellence in High School Teaching for the Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting (MARM).

Please Note: For those who will be attending POGIL’s National Meeting in June, Laura Trout will be officially recognized as the winner of The POGIL Project's inaugural IMPACT award, and the Project will stream the award ceremony. Please be on the lookout for more details at pogil.org.

Enjoy the conversation!