Northern Arizona University partnered with WestEd’s Making Sense of SCIENCE (MSS) project and the Peoria (AZ) Unified School District to form the Exploring Energy and Matter Collaborative (E²MC), which has shown positive impacts on teachers and students.

A research study measuring the efficacy of the E²MC indicated that teachers deepened their knowledge of energy and matter concepts, felt more confident in teaching these concepts, and shifted the way they thought about teaching these cross-cutting concepts.

E²MC provided teachers with the MSS: Energy and the MSS: Matter courses to support teacher content knowledge and effective pedagogical practices, and additional supports around incorporating science and engineering practices in classrooms. The research study found that students taught by these teachers showed statistically significant gains in their content knowledge in both disciplines. States the study report:

“Use of high-quality curricular materials, such as the Making Sense of SCIENCE courses, supported structured and systematic learning for teachers and allowed them to experience content and investigations as their students would experience them. [Professional learning] sessions emphasized alignment of activities, lessons, and units to instructional goals and promote active learning in the classroom.”

For more information on the study, conducted by Magnolia Consulting, LLC, download the report, An Evaluation of the Exploring Energy and Matter Collaborative (E²MC) Mathematics and Science Partnership Project. (PDF)