ILD's are structured to create an active learning environment within the lecture presentation by engaging the students in a learning cycle of prediction, observation, and explanation of the physical phenomenon being demonstrated. Students record their initial predictions.
Students then engage in brief small-group discussions with their nearest neighbors.
Students record their final predictions. The instructor elicits and lists common predictions made by the class. The instructor then carries out the demonstration, displaying measurements provided by MBL devices. Students observe the demonstration and record the measurements or other results. Instructor and students discuss the observations in the context of the predictions and relate them to analogous physical situations and physical theory.