The Mozzie Monitors Citizen Science program provides an authentic context for students to engage in sustainability, because they can claim ownership and responsibility over their local environments. But engaging in STEM requires more than inspiration; it requires complex thinking, curiosity, and most of all, motivation. Motivation is a powerful contributor to agentic participation in STEM and sustainable practices, but three basic human requirements must be met to facilitate intrinsic motivation. These needs, as described in Self-Determination Theory, are autonomy, relatedness and actual and perceived competence (Deci & Ryan, 1985).
According to the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2024), sustainability requires systems thinking, futures thinking, design thinking and challenging mental models. We recognise that students are both individuals and part of a society (Kemmis, 2023), so the lesson plans were designed upon the principles of Self-Determination theory and the 4 key skills described in the Australian Curriculum, as a mode of orienting students as valuable, active global citizens with complex capabilities. Excitingly, this means that the outcome of their projects are unknown; just as in ‘real’ scientific discovery.
We wanted to ensure that the programe was built with a futures-oriented lens, where students will become agents of change in their lives beyond school. Whether it’s through a STEM career, environmental advocacy, community engagement or sustainable practices in their everyday lives, we know that change-makers use systems thinking to solve complex problems (Midgley, 2003). For this reason, the Mozzie Monitors lesson plans were designed to achieve the Theory of Change shown in Figure 1.
We also recognise that every class is different. Only you, the educator, can be the true expert on the dynamics and needs of your classroom. We know you will adapt and change the lesson to suit your needs, so we have included pedagogical tips and tricks and information about the design principles of activities so you can make the best pedagogical choices for your context. Finally, we make what we research and we research what we make. This program is a component of our ongoing, iterative Design-Based Research projects that explore how students develop complex, critical capabilities, and so may evolve over time.
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