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Learning Cycle

The document discusses the Learning Cycle, an inquiry-based teaching model derived from constructivist ideas. It has 5 phases - Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Extension, and Evaluation - with each phase serving a different purpose. The model emphasizes active student engagement and challenges students to apply new understandings. It casts teachers as curriculum developers who vary their role based on the phase. The Learning Cycle traces back to a 1950s science curriculum and distinguishes itself from traditional approaches through its emphasis on investigating phenomena and using evidence.

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Julius Macaballug
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118 views4 pages

Learning Cycle

The document discusses the Learning Cycle, an inquiry-based teaching model derived from constructivist ideas. It has 5 phases - Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Extension, and Evaluation - with each phase serving a different purpose. The model emphasizes active student engagement and challenges students to apply new understandings. It casts teachers as curriculum developers who vary their role based on the phase. The Learning Cycle traces back to a 1950s science curriculum and distinguishes itself from traditional approaches through its emphasis on investigating phenomena and using evidence.

Uploaded by

Julius Macaballug
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Learning Cycle

It is not hard to learn more. What is hard, is to unlearn when you discover yourself
wrong. 

Martin H. Fischer

About this teacher move

A Learning Cycle lesson can be used for any content area in which the goal is to create
a motivational learning context in which students are actively engaged in exploring,
discussing, and synthesizing information. The Learning Cycle approach to instructional
planning capitalizes on what is known about how people learn and is designed to
cause lasting changes in a student’s conceptual understanding. The model used here
was adapted from the 5E Learning Cycle popularized by the Biological Sciences
Curriculum Study. Although this Learning Cycle framework is geared toward building
individual lessons, the Learning Cycle approach is more commonly applied when
designing instructional units that consist of multiple lessons.

Each step in a learning cycle serves a different purpose and incorporates specially
structured activities. What makes this type of lesson format particularly effective is its
emphasis on active engagement of the learner and that it requires students to explore
their prior understanding as they encounter new material. Finally, the 5 E Model
provides opportunities that challenge students to apply these new understanding in
novel, but related situations.

Learning Cycles cast teachers in the role of curriculum developers. During the lesson’s
actual implementation, teacher responsibilities vary according to what happens during
each stage of the Learning Cycle. Sometimes the situation calls for direct instruction. In
cases where activities are more student-centered, the teacher plays a less prominent,
background role.

The Learning Cycle Approach is an inquiry-based teaching model which can be useful
to teachers in designing curriculum materials and instructional strategies in science. The
model is derived from constructivist ideas of the nature of science, and the
developmental theory of Jean Piaget (Piaget, 1970). The model divides the activities of
instruction into phases. In this approach, students are first given experience with a
concept to be developed. This experience is most often a laboratory experiment and is
called the exploration (E) phase. This is followed by the conceptual invention (I) phase
where the student and/or teacher derives the concept from the data. This is usually
carried out during a classroom discussion. The final phase, the application (A) phase,
gives the student the opportunity to explore the usefulness and application of the
concept. A useful and extended discussion of the Learning Cycle Approach with
examples can be found in Lawson (1995).
The learning cycle approach as a recognized instructional strategy can be traced to the
Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS), an elementary school science
curriculum project initiated during the late 1950's. (Atkin & Karplus, 1962).

There are several characteristics which, when used in combination, establish the
learning cycle approach as a distinct instructional strategy. The most important of these
is the presence of three phases of instruction in a specific sequence, E-->I-->A. This
sequence has a number of logical consequences. The exploration phase coming first
implies that the information exposed by the laboratory activity will be used inductively by
students during the invention phase. Since in science instruction the exploration is most
commonly a laboratory activity, the data generated by the laboratory will be generalized
to a concept. Because laboratory work is used as an introduction to a concept in the
Learning Cycle Approach, it takes on a more central role in instruction. Traditional
laboratory activities used to confirm concepts are more peripheral to the main focus of
instruction.

Students distinguish the Learning Cycle Approach from traditional approaches in the
following ways (Abraham, 1981):

 the Learning Cycle Approach emphasizes the explanation and investigation of


phenomena, the use of evidence to back up conclusions, and the designing of
experiments.
 traditional approaches emphasize the development of skills and techniques, the
receiving of information, and the knowing of the outcome of an experiment before
doing it.

Implementing this teacher move

1. Choose a topic and identify the related student Learning Expectations to which the
topic is aligned.

2.  Design an assessment that is closely tied to the Learning Expectations that you are
targeting. Build a corresponding scoring rubric if necessary.

3. Apply the focusing questions in the Learning Cycle framework to determine the ideal
stage for introducing an activity.

 Always ask, “Does this activity really help students to meet the learning
expectations on which the assessment is based?”
 If an activity is a good one, but does not really address the targeted learning
goals, consider using it for enrichment purposes.

4. Assess student understanding.


5. Consider supplementing the Learning Cycle with a Learning Center where students
can further explore the topic.

Managing this teacher move with students

The key to building a quality Learning Cycle is to carefully select activities that address
the goals for each particular stage in the 5E Model.

1. A quality Engagement activity promotes student involvement in the topic or question


in an exciting way.

 Tends to be of short duration and is highly motivational and interesting.


 “Hooks” the learner and generate interest in the topic.
 Focusing Question: What is your plan for generating excitement about the topic?

2. A quality Exploration activity taps into and activates student’s prior knowledge.

 Offers opportunity for students to mess around and investigate objects, materials,
and events based on their own ideas and prior knowledge of the topic.
 Often reveals student misconceptions.
 Provides information to the teacher about student readiness for learning about
the topic.
 Focusing Question: What is your plan for activating students’ prior knowledge?

3. A quality Explanation activity provides direct instruction or active learning


experiences that build new content knowledge or promote skill acquisition.

 Often requires a more active role by the teacher.


 Focusing Question: What is your plan for introducing students to new content
knowledge or skills?

4. A quality Extension activity enables students to compare the efficacy of former ideas


about the topic with new understandings.

 Encourages students to apply or transfer their new knowledge or skills in new


and different contexts.
 Can be used to make connections with other content areas.
 Focusing Question: What is your plan for allowing students to extend their new
content knowledge to a new, but related context?
5. A quality Evaluation activity is the opportunity for students to demonstrate their
understanding of the topic or question.

 Is a formative assessment that reveals if Learning Expectations have been met


by the student.
 Provides an indication of teacher effectiveness.
 Focusing Question: What is your plan for assessing students’ understanding of
this topic?

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