During the investigation phase, students are asked to develop an active research plan in order to find credible answers. While scientific investigations require testing, sampling, or building, academic investigations require researching scholarly and peer reviewed materials. AIS-education strongly encourages students to execute all academic research via the Internet. This exposes students to a great variety of written, video taped, recorded, animated, or any other form of material. 

In order to ensure a successful investigation phase, AIS-education developed the following five stages:

1. Identify a personal bias
2. Develop a research plan
3. Execute the research plan
4. Record findings
5. Prepare a multimedia presentation

Each stage fulfills an important purpose and ensures a factual learning outcome. The AIS learning method is designed to guide students to research results that are based on factual information and to build credible personal opinions.