Teachers Supporting Student Motivation and Engagement in NGSS Instruction

The NGSS asks educators to create experiences enabling students to participate in real-world practices of science—encouraging students to actively think about, integrate, and apply what they know. 

This relies on students being highly engaged. There are few resources to help teachers support and sustain students’ engagement in NGSS instruction.

Purpose

To advance NGSS-aligned learning, professional learning and effective classroom strategies are necessary for teachers to learn and implement in lesson planning and instruction. 

WestEd is part of a multi‑institutional effort to develop a professional learning approach for science teachers that will equip them to support and sustain students’ motivation and engagement during NGSS instruction. The professional learning approach, called M-PLANS (Motivation – Planning Lessons to Activate eNgagement in Science), is being developed by a team of experts in science education, student motivation, and teacher learning from WestEd; the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and Michigan State University.

Audiences Served

The M-PLANS program aims to offer a set of strategies teachers can readily learn and implement into their lesson planning and instruction.

Project Activities

The project team is collaborating with science teachers from multiple schools to jointly develop a set of resources and classroom strategies that will be part of the professional learning approach. This design feature ensures that the materials are widely adoptable by schools and educators. 

The M-PLANS program includes a suite of professional learning tools and resources to facilitate middle school science teachers’ design, modification, and implementation of instruction that fosters robust and meaningful science learning. 

Project Director

Christopher Harris

Christopher Harris works as a Senior Project Director with the Science and Engineering team.

Funder

This project is funded by the National Science Foundation under Grant Numbers DRL-1813047, DRL-1812976, and DRL-1907480.  

Project Duration

9/1/2019–8/31/2024