JoinProfessional Learning Units & Courses
Bite-sized, self-paced, and asynchronous short courses
Improve your practice, enrich your students’ learning, and increase equitable participation in your classroom.
Regardless of your schedule or location, you can earn a NSTA PLU certificate—that could be used towards credit hours of professional learning—when it’s convenient for you! Learn how it works.
Gain Practical Teaching Strategies That Enrich Student Learning
NSTA Professional Learning Units (PLU) are bite-sized, self-paced, asynchronous short courses that educators can use to improve their practice, enrich students’ learning, and increase equitable participation in the classroom. Regardless of your schedule or location, you can earn a NSTA PLU certificate—that could be used towards credit hours of professional learning—when it’s convenient for you!
Benefits
- self-paced and flexible short courses that can be completed anytime, anywhere
- designed around relevant science education topics
- supports student-centered teaching and learning
- earn a certificate that could be used towards credit hours of professional learning (for each PLU)
Latest PLUs
Professional Learning Unit
Supporting Student Development of Science and STEM Identity
What is a STEM identity, and why is it important for all students? Gain insight and strategies to help your students develop a STEM identity....
Professional Learning Unit
Transdisciplinary Learning: Working Across Disciplines to Address Complex Real-World Problems
Participants will explore the transdisciplinary approach to STEM education and consider how this shift fosters workforce readiness skills....
Professional Learning Unit
Creating Class Consensus Models to Support Student Sensemaking
Gain experience and strategies in using the wealth of your students’ ideas to collaboratively build consensus models for complex phenomena....
Professional Learning Unit
Analyzing and Interpreting Data to Support Student Sensemaking in a High School Evolution Unit
This Professional Learning Unit uses a storyline unit with an anchoring phenomenon that is a case study in which the patient has acute mountain sickness at Everest base camp to focus participant learning on how the Science and Engineering Practice An...
PL Courses
Professional Learning Course
Science Notebooks in Student Centered Classrooms
Science notebooks are a powerful and flexible tool to support students’ sensemaking. The science notebook creates a space for students to document their thinking, develop and revise models, plan investigations, and analyze data—all of which serve...
Professional Learning Course
The Three-Dimensions of Teaching and Learning
Build an understanding of the three dimensions of teaching and learning by exploring (1) the research behind the three dimensions; (2) the K-12 learning progressions in each of the three dimensions; and (3) how each dimension works with the other two...
Free PLUs
Professional Learning Unit
NSTA partnered with Amazon Future Engineer and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on the Alexa for Astronauts program to create the Alexa for Astronauts: Using AI to Monitor Health NSTA Daily Do Playlist for high school life science co...
Professional Learning Unit
NSTA partnered with Amazon Future Engineer and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on the Alexa for Astronauts program to create the Alexa for Astronauts: Using AI to Monitor Health NSTA Daily Do Playlist for high school life science co...
Professional Learning Unit
Learn to recognize the four critical attributes of sensemaking and how these attributes work together to help ensure all students have access and a strong desire to learn science. ...
Professional Learning Unit
Recent research on race, language, and culture are working to re-shape science teaching and learning. As educators, how we say things can have an enormous impact on students’ sense of belonging....
Get Access to All PLUs
NSTA’s Professional Learning Add On allows you the convenience and flexibility to choose the specific resources you need to achieve your professional learning goals. The add-on includes…