Present subject matter to the students and encourage them to ask questions that promote deeper exploration of the topic. The children will need to find questions about the subject that relate to material that they already understand. For example, if you are learning about magnets, students will understand from your presented material that opposite polarities attract. Now challenge them to think of questions about magnets that expand upon this material, such as why they create friction when the magnets' same polarities are facing each other. Then, instruct them to hypothesize the answer to their question based on their knowledge of the topic.
Allow students to explore theories that answer their question through hands-on activities. They need to have the chance to succeed and fail in their attempts to prove the answer to their question. Using hands-on learning will also help to serve those in your class that learn better through this style.
Group students together and instruct them to analyze the data that they gathered from the different experiments. They can synthesize this information in a group setting and come to conclusions as to why their original hypothesis was correct or incorrect. Working in groups gives students a chance to solve problems that relate to the material and evaluate the experiments in a collaborative environment.
Encourage students to apply what they have learned through their experiment to new situations. They can participate in more hands-on learning, taking it to new levels with their knowledge of the topic. For example, if they are experimenting in a chemistry class and they hypothesized about the reaction of a certain chemical, they can take the data that they gathered and experiment further with different amounts and chemicals, with supervision.
Review and assess with the students what they have learned from the process. Encourage the different groups that were working together to share with the class the results from their experimentation. Have the rest of the students in the class ask the presenting group different questions that they may not have addressed. Have them give a formal assessment after conducting a review of information.