The second wave of reform (1980s) was mainly guided by a theory that can be considered
as a reaction to descriptive behaviourism as well as a follow-up of the cognitive development
perspective. The new psychological theory mainly focuses on the throughput of the ‘black box’
(that is no longer seen as ‘closed’), so, it focuses on the learning process itself. This perspective
is generally indicated with the term cognitive psychology and mainly includes the theories of
guided discovery learning (Bruner, 1975) and information-processing mechanism of learning
(Gagne, 1977). Both theories stimulated the development of science curricula and courses
that paid much more attention to creating ways of active learning by students, especially by
promoting laboratory work for school students. In line with these perspectives, the instructional
strategy of the ‘learning cycle’ became influential, consisting of the phases of exploration,
conceptual invention, and application (Karplus, 1977). Finally, it can be indicated that, in reaction
to the use of multiple choice questions, the use of essay questions was promoted. This provided
science teachers the possibility for acquiring much more insight in students’ learning process