But the real data was in the margins. In the spaces next to the problems, students had written not just answers, but reasoning. “I know this is first order because the half-life is constant, like in Model B from the kinetics packet.” “If I plot 1/[A] vs. time and it’s linear, that’s second order—I remember my group arguing about this.” They weren’t reciting. They were recreating the process inside their own heads. Alistair Finch never went back to pure lecture. He became an unlikely evangelist for POGIL, traveling to faculty workshops and showing skeptical colleagues his own transformation. He told them about Derek, the silent student who became a team leader. He told them about the cheer that erupted over a linear regression.
He answered it himself.
“Wait,” called a student in the back. “Aren’t you going to explain it?” But the real data was in the margins
Derek, the silent one, was leading his team. time and it’s linear, that’s second order—I remember
The first three minutes were agonizing. Silence. Then, whispers. Then, a sharp argument from a group near the window. He became an unlikely evangelist for POGIL, traveling