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NSTA Sensemaking Professional Learning Packages

 

Empower educators. Transform instruction. Engage all learners.

NSTA’s professional learning offerings support the shift from traditional, content-driven teaching to phenomenon-based, three-dimensional science instruction. Whether you're adopting high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) or designing your own, our research-based workshops are tailored to help educators build capacity and implement the vision of the NGSS and A Framework for K–12 Science Education.

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What Is Sensemaking?

Sensemaking happens when students actively engage in science and engineering practices to investigate phenomena, ask questions, and construct explanations. It's not about memorizing facts—it's about making meaning of the world.

Our workshops help educators implement this approach in real classrooms with practical tools, classroom-ready routines, and immersive experiences that model what 3D teaching looks like.

Learn More About Sensemaking

Sensemaking Wheel

Sensemaking Professional Learning Pathways

NSTA’s Sensemaking Packages provide a scaffolded series of research-based workshops—from building foundational understanding to advanced implementation and coaching. Each experience is tailored to your district’s grade levels, curriculum priorities, and instructional goals. Whether you're just beginning or scaling high-quality science instruction, our flexible professional learning helps teachers, leaders, and administrators bring three-dimensional teaching to life in any classroom setting.

Build the Foundation

For teams beginning their sensemaking journey or looking to re-calibrate their educators.

Making Sense of 3D Teaching and Learning
Explore three-dimensional teaching through immersive experiences using high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) such as OpenSciEd. Participants will engage in classroom simulations, analyze student thinking, and learn strategies like Driving Question Boards and formative assessment tools to support student engagement, sensemaking, and productive discourse.

Now Available Using Class CrunchLabs and OpenSciEd Curriculum!

Engaging Young Learners in Science and Engineering Practices
Designed for K-5 educators, this session unpacks the three dimensions—Science and Engineering Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts—and models what they look like in K–5 classrooms. Educators will engage in lessons that integrate science and literacy, explore instructional strategies that support sensemaking, and learn how to nurture young learners as question-askers, meaning-makers, and effective communicators.

Launch

For schools implementing HQIM or ready to deepen practice.

Implementing High-Quality Science Curriculum
This workshop supports the instructional shifts needed to implement HQIM effectively. Educators explore routines such as the anchoring phenomenon routine, investigation routines, and strategies for facilitating student discussions and formative assessments. Sessions are tailored by grade level and built around district-selected HQIM units.

Supporting Student-Led Scientific Argumentation
Help students build and refine scientific claims using evidence and reasoning. Participants experience lessons from a student perspective and explore scaffolds like the CER (Claims-Evidence-Reasoning) framework to promote both oral and written scientific argumentation.

Reviewing Curriculum for 3D Design
Ideal for districts designing or adapting curriculum, this workshop helps teams assess whether materials truly support 3D learning. Educators learn how to identify opportunities for students to use disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and practices in exploring phenomena and solving problems.

Note: Not intended for use with existing HQIM. Consider the "Implementing HQIM" workshop instead

Elevate

For experienced teams looking to master sensemaking.

Assessing 3D Learning in the Classroom
This workshop helps educators evaluate both assessment tasks and student work for alignment with three-dimensional learning. Participants will use research-based tools to examine how assessments provide opportunities for students to engage with science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas. They’ll also explore strategies for analyzing student artifacts—such as models, explanations, and discussions—and learn how to provide meaningful feedback and adjust instruction to support deeper sensemaking.

Coaching Teachers in 3D Instruction
Support teacher growth with coaching strategies grounded in the principles of three-dimensional learning. Participants will explore observation tools, facilitation protocols, and collaborative planning approaches to help build teacher confidence and capacity.

Leading for Learning: Supporting 3D Learning in Science Classrooms
Strengthen your role as an instructional leader by learning how to guide and support teachers in implementing three-dimensional learning. This professional learning experience equips administrators, coaches, and instructional leaders with tools, strategies, and protocols designed to promote effective science instruction aligned to the vision of A Framework for K–12 Science Education. Participants will engage in practical, leadership-focused learning using classroom observation tools and collaborative planning approaches to build teacher confidence, capacity, and coherence across classrooms.

New for School Year 2026–2027

Sensemaking and Place-Based Data

Developed in Partnership With:

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Turning Data into Discovery. Making sense of science, together.

Developed in partnership with Tuva, this workshop offers a deep dive into using local data as evidence in making sense of complex phenomena. At the start of the session, educators will pose questions about a local anchoring phenomenon and use the Tuva Tools to explore and visualize real datasets in pursuit of answers. The latter half will include a community science experience, where participants will gather and analyze their own data. Participants will leave with practical strategies for guiding students to use mathematics and science practices to uncover patterns in their communities.

All Voices, All Ideas: Engaging Multilingual Learners in Science Sensemaking

Developed in Partnership With:

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Sensemaking Supports All! Empowering Multilingual Learners through Science.

Developed in partnership with BSCS, this hands‑on workshop explores how to create inclusive and intellectually rich science classrooms for multilingual learners. Through real classroom examples and video footage, you’ll see how intentional routines and high‑quality curricula support both language development and scientific sensemaking, giving multilingual learners meaningful opportunities to share their ideas, participate fully, and deepen their understanding of the natural world.

Sensemaking in the Age of AI: Empowering Critical Thinkers in Science Classrooms

Teaching Science in the Age of AI: Elevating Critical Thinking and Sensemaking.

This interactive workshop introduces science educators to the emerging role of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning. Participants will build a clear understanding of what AI is, how it works, and where its limitations come from, while examining everyday uses of AI, current trends in education, and what these shifts mean for teaching science. Through interactive investigations, they will investigate how AI can support high‑quality science instruction, from sparking student curiosity to strengthening collaborative, three‑dimensional learning experiences, and develop a foundation for designing learning experiences that promote student sensemaking, critical thinking, and thoughtful engagement with AI.

Making Sense of Meaningful STEM

Make STEM meaningful by helping students develop and use durable skills to solve real-world problems.

What makes STEM meaningful for students? When students engage with real-world problems that matter to them, they are motivated to think critically, make sense of complex ideas, and develop solutions. In this full-day workshop, participants will develop a shared definition of what meaningful STEM looks like in practice and explore how opportunities to solve problems can build durable skills that support students’ long-term success in STEM. This professional learning experience provides an immersive opportunity to examine how phenomenon-driven, three-dimensional teaching and learning creates meaningful STEM experiences for all students. Participants will engage with high-quality instructional materials and analyze classroom videos and vignettes to identify instructional moves that support student sensemaking, problem solving, and application of STEM ideas in meaningful contexts.

Ongoing Support

Sustain progress and build long-term capacity with flexible support services tailored to your district’s evolving needs. These options can be bundled with professional learning packages or used individually to extend impact over time.

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Mentoring & Coaching
Personalized support for educators as they implement new instructional practices, with regular observation and feedback cycles to accelerate growth.

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PL On-Demand Subscription
Unlimited access to self-paced learning courses — designed for flexible, bite-sized learning that fits educators’ schedules and earns PD clock hours.

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Curriculum Review
Expert analysis ensuring alignment with NGSS or state standards, instructional goals, and classroom practicality.

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District Partner Program
Ongoing consultation, planning tools, usage dashboards, and access to NSTA member resources and discounts.

Why Choose NSTA for Professional Learning?

As a trusted leader in science education for over 80 years, NSTA has a long-standing reputation for delivering high-quality, research-based professional learning experiences that empower educators to implement effective science instruction. As a certified OpenSciEd Professional Learning provider, NSTA leverages its decades of expertise in professional learning to support the successful implementation of high-quality instructional materials.

Partnering with NSTA gives you:

  • Access to a national network of science education expertise.
  • Evidence-based instructional strategies aligned with NGSS.
  • Classroom-ready tools to enhance teaching and learning.
  • Ongoing support to sustain long-term professional growth.
  • Professional learning that aligns with Science Professional Learning Standards
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Let’s Talk!

Want to learn more about how these offerings can support your school or district? Fill out the form below to connect with our team.

 
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