Teaching & Learning

How to create educational experiences that support how people learn

Learning is an active and social process. For deep learning to occur, instruction needs to access and connect to prior knowledge and give learners choices and responsibilities in their own learning experience. The learning cycle is a research-based instructional model that focuses on ordering phases of an activity to support learning. The model presented in this session is based on a five-phase cycle: invitation, exploration, concept invention, application, and reflection. The session itself—like all BEETLES sessions—is also based on the learning cycle model, so participants experience the model at the same time as they’re learning about it. The learning cycle is a transformative tool for curriculum design, and this session is highly recommended if you’re planning on a program initiative in staff curriculum design or re-vamping.

Goals for this session are:

• Discuss the benefits of sequencing different stages of an activity strategically to achieve engagement, meaning-making, and in-depth learning.
• Learn about an effective model for instruction known as “the learning cycle,” and gain the ability to make learning cycle-based instructional decisions.
• Learn how the learning cycle can be applied to short, medium-length, and longer field experiences.
• Practice implementing the learning cycle by applying it to the planning of a short field experience for students.

Notes: Professional learning videos are intended to support program leaders, not as online learning experiences for field instructors. This video was edited to focus on how the program leader leads the session; the actual session is much more participant-focused, and participants spend most of the session exploring and discussing ideas with their peers. The script and this video don’t always agree. We recommend you follow the script if you notice a discrepancy.