Turning Science Practices into Student Habits: Strategies That Stick

In this interactive professional development webinar, science teachers will explore how to meaningfully support students’ motivation, strategic thinking, and metacognitive skills while teaching science content and science practices. Together, we will examine how three widely used instructional models in science education - cognitive apprenticeship, explicit and reflective instruction, and the 5E learning cycle - naturally align with key phases of self-regulated learning (SRL). Teachers will see how modeling thinking, providing structured scaffolds, inviting student articulation, and building in opportunities for reflection can strengthen both science learning and student independence. By the end of the webinar, teachers will leave with practical routines, prompts, and instructional moves that make student thinking visible, develop metacognitive habits, and help students take greater ownership of their learning in science.
During the session, participants will engage in hands-on activities that mirror the student experience:
Modeling + Think-Aloud Demo: Facilitators will walk through a science task while verbalizing planning and monitoring strategies, offering teachers a concrete model of SRL-aligned cognitive apprenticeship.
Scaffold Design Workshop: Teachers will collaborate to create scaffolds (e.g., planning guides, metacognitive prompts, reflection routines) that can be embedded into upcoming units.
5E Lesson Re-Mix: Participants will adapt a familiar 5E lesson by integrating SRL subprocesses—planning in “Engage,” monitoring in “Explore/Explain,” and self-evaluation in “Evaluate.”
Peer Reflection Cycle: Teachers will practice short reflection protocols that parallel what students might use in their own science classrooms.

Speaker: Dr. Erin Peters-Burton, George Mason University