Process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) is a student-centered pedagogy. While it has been extensively used in the chemistry curriculum, its use in engineering has been limited. This paper describes the use of POGIL in the Introduction to Materials Engineering course. Assessment of its effectiveness shows that details of implementation can play a critical role. In particular, because of the student-centered aspect of the approach students can feel that they are not being "taught" and thus not take ownership of their own learning. By providing opportunities for students to check their understanding and reflect on their learning process performance is enhanced over a traditional lecture course. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Centre of Engineering Education, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia