ABSTRACT
Science instruction should be sequenced where students explore before teachers introduce science terminology, ideas, or concepts. We call this explore-before-explain teaching and can be accomplished through tried-and-true sequences of instruction such as the learning cycle. The learning cycle includes three sequential phases: (1) exploration, (2) invention (term introduction), (3) discovery (concept application) (Karplus and Their 1967). When employing the learning cycle, students have experiences with data (exploration) that is then used by students to construct accurate evidence-based claims (the student portion of the invention phase). Students’ evidence-based claims are the foundation for their understanding and used to introduce key science terms, concepts, and supporting ideas (the teacher portion of the invention phase). Once students have constructed knowledge and have official explanations (e.g., teacher lectures, textbook readings, and discussions that occur during the teacher portion of the invention phase), they are given the opportunity to practice and test out new knowledge in new and different situations (i.e. “discovery phase”) (Atkin and Karplus, 1962). Thus, the learning cycle places primacy on students’ exploratory experiences, from which they construct some aspect of scientific knowledge on a conceptual level. Student constructed knowledge serves as an “anchor” for learning related topics.
