Eugenia Etkina and Alan Van Heuvelen This chapter from Volume 1
of "Research-Based Reform of University Physics" describes an
interactive method of teaching, Investigative Science Learning
Environment (ISLE), that helps students learn physics by
engaging in processes that mirror the activities of physicists
when they construct and apply knowledge. These processes involve
observing, finding patterns, building and testing explanations
of the patterns, and using multiple representations to reason
about physical phenomena. ISLE is a comprehensive learning
system that provides a general philosophy and specific
activities that can be used in "lectures" (interactive meetings
where students construct and test ideas), recitations (where
students learn to represent them in multiple ways while solving
problems), and labs (where students learn to design their own
experiments to test hypotheses and solve practical problems). In
ISLE, students are assessed for conceptual understanding, for
problem-solving ability, and, mos