IL-09: A Pedagogical Framework Informed by Self-determination Theory to Motivate Students in Science and Sustainability Education

Science teachers continue to face decreased motivation, lower achievement levels, and decreased enrollment in post-secondary science programs. Student-centered pedagogies, such as in-depth pedagogy informed by Self-Determination Theory, can improve student motivation by addressing students’ basic psychological needs of autonomy, competency, and relatedness. Problem-based learning presents students with relevant situations and actively engages them in developing plausible solutions to problems. We propose a pedagogical framework, drawing on Self-Determination Theory, to promote students’ motivation to engage actively with environmental sustainability education through problem-based learning. This framework is designed for secondary science classrooms to inform science teachers’ pedagogical practice.