Whatever the subject or grade level, the learning cycle offers a proven instructional strategy for engaging middle school students. It helps them to see the relevance of learning, and makes learning more interesting and enjoyable. Encouraging teachers to incorporate the learning cycle into their teaching repertoires is certainly a promising step toward helping middle-level students become active participants in their own learning. The exploration phase tries to initiate students' interaction with information, materials, and each other in order to investigate an open-ended question. All class members are given common, concrete experiences that challenge them to gather and organize data and compare their answers.
Lessons involving paradoxical or conflicting information capitalize on their natural curiosity.
The concept development phase builds on student curiosity, discoveries, and inquiries as the teacher assimilates data that students have organized, and clarifies terms and concepts they have developed. In this phase, students are far more receptive to vocabulary lists, direct instruction, and investigating other resources because their earlier explorations have shown them the relevance of the lesson. They also are far more likely to retain ideas and concepts because they begin to see patterns and connections to their knowledge of the world. During the concept application phase, the teacher challenges students to apply their knowledge to real-world situations and to explore broader applications of their discoveries. At this point, the teacher can pose new situations and questions to ensure deeper understanding.