The Learning Cycle is a paradigm for teaching science that is in step with the way science is actually done.

Phase One: Engage
A learning cycle usually opens with the facilitator introducing the central idea to be studied with an exciting story, a discrepant event, an example from the world -- anything that will engage the students' interest. This phase gets students to have a reason to want to explore.

example: Tell a story about a girl who is locked in a cage. The combination to the cage is written around the corner from where she is. She has a rodent helper who will place mirror for her to see the combination. Where should this mirror be placed and at what angle?

 

Phase Two: Explore
In this phase, the students work in groups to explore the systems they are studying. At times the teacher provides some structure here (such as suggesting a way of gathering data), but the goal is for the students to ask questions and discover on their own.

example: Give pairs of students mirrors to play with and have them explore how changing the position and angle of the mirrors affects what one sees.

Phase Three: Explain Together
Here, the teacher helps the students make sense of their data. Often, there will be the need to use a common language to discuss what they have discovered, and the teacher can introduce standard vocabulary.

example: Discuss what people have found and try to abstract this into a rule. How can we predict what we will see in a mirror? Use a laser to show how light bounces off a mirror, dusting the beam with chalk to show how the angles change as the light source is moved. Introduce the terms "Angle of Incidence" (the angle light hits a reflective surface) and "Angle of Reflection" (the angle light bounces off a reflective surface), and note that the two angles are equal.

Phase Four: Expand
Once the students have a basic understanding of the system they have been studying, they are given a chance to apply their knowledge to a new system. Now the understanding they have built is put to use.

example: Explain that once the girl escaped her cage, she went on to become a brilliant artist, using lasers and mirrors to make patterns. Have students set up several mirrors to reflect light around in a pattern, and have them predict what pattern will be made when you shine a laser in their "hall of mirrors." Have them write about why they think their pattern will be shaped as predicted using the terms you developed in class.

All Along: Evaluate
Formative evaluation takes place all along in the learning cycle. This gives the teacher feedback about how students are synthesizing their experiences and allows him or her to modify the lesson to meet needs as they arise. Summative evaluation is used at the end of the lesson to get information about what the students have gotten out of the lesson as a whole. Information for use in evaluation can take many forms: answers to oral questions, student drawings, student journal writing, student role plays, etc. Evaluation does not have to mean a test.

example: Use the students' diagrams and writing to assess their understanding of the principle of reflection and their understanding of the terms "angle of incidence" and "angle of reflection."