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The Learning Cycle

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Focus students' attention on science experiences. ... Provide definitions, clear explanations, and terms for the new science idea. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: The Learning Cycle


1
The Learning Cycle
  • The Use of Innovative Instructional Strategies
  • Jeanelle Day, Ph.D.

2
The Learning Cycle
  • To create meaningful learning, instruction has to
    be adapted to help students
  • Become aware of their prior knowledge
  • Work cooperatively in a safe, positive learning
    environment
  • Compare new ideas to their prior knowledge

3
We must also help students to
  • Connect new ideas to what they already know
  • Construct their own new knowledge
  • Apply the new knowledge in ways that are
    different from the situation in which it was
    learned.

4
Traditional Course Lessons
Lesson Begins
Lesson Ends
Instructor tells/lectures content, questions
students Student answers questions, recites
work and problems
Instructor provides verification and
summary Student Asks for clarification
5
More Meaningful Learning
Lesson Begins Here
Science Lesson Ends Here Leading to the NEXT
Exploration
6
Why Use a Learning Cycle?
  • It allows students to
  • Become aware
  • Recognize shortcomings
  • Apply critical reasoning
  • Search more efficiently
  • Apply what they learn
  • Transfer knowledge

7
A Deeper Look..
  • History of the Learning Cycle
  • Created by Karplus (late 50s-early 60s), and
    fully conceptualized by Atkin and Karplus (1962)
    as guided discovery and used in SCIS elementary
    science program. At the same time, written about
    by Chester Lawson in his book, Language, Thought,
    and the Human Mind (1958). In 1967, Karplus and
    Their first named the learning cycle and the
    component phases. Reinterpreted by Barnes in
    1976, with alternate versions by Driver (1986),
    Karplus (1977), Erickson (1979), Nussbaum and
    Novic (1981), Renner (1982), and Rowell and
    Dawson (1983). There is no One Right Way to
    design a learning cycle.

8
The Learning Cycle-First Stage Exploration
  • If we accept that each of us must develop
    understandings that we have about a concept for
    ourselves, then an alternative instructional
    method is most appropriate. The learning cycle
    was created out of concern with pupils gaining
    experience and this becomes the first stage of
    the model.
  • Learners are provided with suitable experiences
    in order to create for themselves what is to be
    learned.
  • This is where experience must be given in order
    to allow students to assimilate what is to be
    learned with prior knowledge.
  • A common weakness in this stage is not allowing
    sufficient time, and that the time must be spent
    with the materials and activities that will lead
    to the concept. A strong exploration provides
    opportunities for students to assimilate the
    concept from more than one activity.

9
The Learning Cycle Second Stage Invention or
Term Introduction.
  • The students and/or teacher derive the concept
    from the data, usually a classroom discussion.
    The learner is introduced to some
    appropriately-specific terminology in relation to
    the phenomenon being investigated. The teacher
    uses this to assist the learner to interpret what
    has been found.
  • Five factors to be included in a term
    introduction include
  • The findings of the exploration need to be
    reviewed and summarized.
  • All findings used must be the students.
  • The concept must be stated in the students own
    words.
  • The proper terminology of the concept should be
    introduced.
  • One or more reasons for the importance of the
    concept need to be given.

10
The Learning Cycle Third Stage Concept
Application or Expansion
  • The purpose is to provide students the
    opportunity to organize the concept they have
    just learned with other ideas that relate to it.
  • The scientific terminology of the concept must be
    used during the concept-application phase. The
    new ideas of the learner are meshed with existing
    knowledge in order to expand both that knowledge
    and the newly acquired idea. Additional
    experiences to help this elaboration process are
    an essential part of this stage. These
    experiences would have some of the attributes of
    experiments because the outcomes would not be
    known even though the pupils know the concept
    that is the subject of investigation.

11
What to include in each phase
  • Exploration (initial actions)
  • Help students try out and confront their prior
    knowledge
  • Ask probing questions to diagnose students prior
    knowledge on the science idea.
  • Focus students attention on science experiences.
  • Encourage students working cooperatively in
    groups to recall and relate prior knowledge to
    the new science idea.
  • Make public students prior knowledge

12
What to include in each phase
  • Invention (next actions)
  • Ask students to reflect on and explain related
    experiences, concepts and terminology in their
    own words (e.g. whole group discussion of the
    exploration activity)
  • Ask students to clarify the new idea and justify
    statements with evidence.
  • Provide definitions, clear explanations, and
    terms for the new science idea.
  • Provide clear examples of the new science idea or
    model the new skill.
  • Provide for student practice using the new
    science idea just explained.
  • Provide a concise, brief closure of the key
    science idea.

13
What to include in each phase
  • Expansion (concluding actions)
  • Provide additional practice to help students use
    terms, definitions and explanations experienced
    previously in the lesson.
  • Provide application activities in new, relevant
    contexts, at the same time helping students to
    recall their original alternative explanations.
  • Provide activities to help students transfer the
    new science knowledge to increasingly real world
    events.
  • Provide a summary of the important events in the
    science lesson.

14
An important note
  • Each phase of the learning cycle uses one or more
    teaching methods to accomplish its purpose. The
    choice of the methods to use depends upon 1) the
    type of science idea(s) or skill(s) to be taught,
    2) prior knowledge and specific learning needs of
    the student, and 3) part of the learning cycle
    with which the teacher is involved.

15
Preparing Learning Cycles
  • Select the concept students are to learn and
    write out a concise statement of it.
  • Select the activities students will use to
    collect data and to guide them toward forming the
    concept in the term introduction.
  • Prepare instructions to use as an outline and/or
    to give to students for collecting the data.
  • Be certain that the instructions direct students
    ONLY in the collection of data, and DO NOT
    provide information that allows them to ascertain
    the concept from the instructions alone.
  • Prepare teacher guidelines for the term
    introduction or invention phase. The guidelines
    will consist of carefully structured questions to
    lead the students through the interpretation of
    their data and TO the concept.
  • Select the activities to be used during the
    concept application or expansion phase. Be sure
    these activities freely use the concept AND its
    terminology.
  • Prepare evaluation materials that are to be used.

16
In Order for ANY Instruction to Work, There MUST
be a Match
Needs of the Student
Match Required for Meaningful Science Learning
Science Instructional Strategy to be Used by the
Teacher
Science Content and Skills to be Learned
17
Exploration Phase Summary
  • Encourages learning through students own inquiry
    and focuses their interest.
  • Involves minimal guidance or expectation on the
    teachers part.
  • Often provides an experience that confronts
    students old way of thinking.
  • Begins with a preplanned open or divergent
    question from the teacher.
  • Involves students in working in cooperative
    groups.
  • Encourages observation of the natural world and
    raises questions for the students.
  • Provides for student interaction with ideas and
    materials as well as the collection and
    organization of data.
  • Encourages students reflection in selecting
    resources, discussion, and debate.
  • Encourages trying out prior ideas, suspending
    judgment, predicting, hypothesizing, and testing.
  • Provides students with adequate time to relate
    prior knowledge to the new idea or skill.
  • Allows students to know the purpose and objective
    of the science lesson.
  • Allows teacher to know students present
    understanding of the idea or skill.

18
Invention Phase Summary
  • Follows adequate exploration of the science idea
    or skill where some development may have
    occurred.
  • Encourages discussion of past experiences with
    the science idea or skill in the exploration
    phase and elsewhere.
  • Allows learning from explanation through an
    interesting variety of teaching methods and
    student hands-on, minds-on learning activities.
  • Introduces an idea or skill in a structured
    manner through additional experiences using a
    variety of mediums including student senses,
    teacher explanations, technology interfaces,
    films, textbook readings, field trips,
    cooperative group discussions, Internet searches,
    guests to be interviewed, and others.
  • Encourages students to develop as much of the new
    idea or skill as possible through providing one
    or more complete cycles of explanation, giving
    clear examples and modeling, and checking for
    understanding.
  • Provides a closure on the new idea or skill.

19
Expansion Phase Summary
  • Provides for learning through repetition.
  • Provides additional time and experiences for the
    science idea or skill to become part of the
    students thought processes (conceptual change)
  • Provides application activities in new, relevant
    conte3xts while helping students to recall their
    original alternative explanations.
  • Encourages retrieval from long-term memory by
    helping students form an abstraction from
    concrete examples.
  • Extends the range of applicability of the new
    science idea or skill outside of the learning
    setting by transferring it to other relevant
    contexts and times.
  • Provides a summary of the important events in the
    science lesson.

20
Next Steps
  • You will now be given a rating sheet for a
    learning cycle lesson.
  • In pairs, take the two sample lessons and rate
    them according to the rubric.
  • Compare the two lessons on strengths and
    weaknesses.
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