Asia-Pacific Forum
on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 9, Issue 2, Article 10
(Dec., 2008) |
Constructivism is the teaching philosophy that proposes learners need to build their own understanding of new ideas. Teaching via the Learning Cycle originated with the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (Trowbridge & Bybee, 1990). The five phases, ( Seyhan & Morgil, 2007;Ozsevgec, Cepni & Ozsevgec, 2006) which capture the essence of the students’ actions, are as follows:
Engagement: The activities in this section captures the students’ attention, stimulates their thinking, and helps them access prior knowledge.
Exploration: Students are given time to think, plan, investigate, and organize collected information.
Explanation: Students are now involved in an analysis of their explorations. Their understanding is clarified and modified because of reflective activities.
Extension: This section gives students the opportunity to expand and solidify their understanding of the concept and/or apply it to a real world situation.
Evaluation: Evaluation occurs throughout the lesson. The teacher should observe students’ knowledge and skills along with their application of new concepts and a change in thinking.
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