The Research Cycle places great emphasis on critical questions and subsidiary questioning in the early stages of the process. The goal is to engage learners in higher order thinking, as opposed to "information consumption" - the mere collection and restating of information. Instead, this model enourages the learners to be information producers. By continually asking themselves questions as they research they repeat a cycle of gathering, sifting, synthesising and evaluating information until they produce satisfactory answers to their questions. Note the emphasis on "they produce", because the purpose of this pursuit of information is for learners to be independent thinkers, make up their own minds and come to their own conclusions.

Once the learners have produced their answers, they report on their findings and share their ideas. This part is very similar to the other models of working with information included in this module.

Click here to see examples of research modules designed according the guidelines of the Research Cycle.

Read McKenzie's articles online: The Research Cycle

Use the online Module Maker

How to create a module using the Research Cycle