ISLE (Investigative Science Learning Environment): inquiry organized around observational, testing and application experiments

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (1 for, 1 against) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description

ISLE is an approach to physics teaching in which students build and test physics knowledge the way physicists do, starting from phenomena they observe with their own eyes and hands. It is organized around three kinds of experiment: observational experiments where students look for patterns and propose multiple explanations; testing experiments where each explanation is put at risk in hypothetico-deductive form, aiming to falsify; and application experiments where the surviving model solves a practical problem. In this study, the laboratory session on statics of fluids followed the ISLE sequence, with the AI facilitator configured to follow it. It rests on four foundations: the epistemology of physics, findings of cognitive science, theories of learning communities, and universal design.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

• Students work through the process in small groups and express ideas in multiple representations: words, diagrams, graphs and equations, and in practice gestures as well

Constraints

• The structure of ISLE derives from how physics itself produces knowledge, not from a general theory of learning; its family resemblance with Kolb's cycle is a resonance rather than a foundation

Target Learners

• university students in physics education, many of whom intend to become teachers

Learning Goals

• learning physics by building and testing models like physicists
• thinking scientifically through observation, testing and application experiments

Claims

• Ai Gem Scaffolds Isle Epistemic Core [+M]
• Ai Facilitation Fragile Invents Data [-M]

Related Designs

Examples

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Key Sources

• Eugenio Tufino, Paola Damiani. (2026). Embodied inquiry with AI as facilitator: an exploratory case study. https://udlguidelines.cast.org

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	design
id	isle-three-experiment-inquiry-approach
title	ISLE (Investigative Science Learning Environment): inquiry organized around observational, testing and application experiments
description	ISLE is an approach to physics teaching in which students build and test physics knowledge the way physicists do, starting from phenomena they observe with their own eyes and hands.
status	review
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-10
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	1 — eugenio-tufino-2026

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