Exploring the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) Approach in Physics Education: A Systematic Literature Review

The Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach is designed to represent the scientific thinking process. This study aims to examine the implementation characteristics, contributions, and challenges of the ISLE approach through the systematic literature review (SLR) method. Articles were collected through the Scopus and Google Scholar databases, using the following inclusion criteria for the years 2015–2025, and analyzed using the PRISMA method. A total of 17 articles that met the criteria were reviewed to identify implementation trends, methodological designs, physics topics, and learning impacts. The results show that ISLE has been applied flexibly at various levels of education and topics, with a dominance of mechanics and waves. This approach has been shown to improve conceptual understanding, critical thinking skills, and collaboration. Implementation challenges include instructor readiness, time constraints, group dynamics, and the need for process-based assessment. ISLE has the potential to be a transformative pedagogical approach in 21st-century physics learning, provided that it is supported by teacher training and contextual learning design. These findings underscore the importance of designing physics learning that supports holistic scientific inquiry, as well as the need to strengthen teacher capacity and develop evaluation systems that are in line with ISLE principles to encourage more meaningful learning transformation.