Knowing what each student needs is second nature for teachers. Assessing students where they are in the learning process is a key part of teaching. Educators also know that delivering lessons through high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) is critical. The trick is finding resources teachers can count on to reach every student.
What are high-quality instructional materials (HQIM)?
What is HQIM in education? High-quality instructional materials (HQIM) are more than educational buzzwords. They are essential to effective instruction that leads to student success. HQIM are content-rich resources aligned with academic standards and evidence-based practices. Teachers use them to create engaging and meaningful learning experiences for students.
Key elements of high-quality instructional materials
There should never be a one-size-fits-all approach to instruction. The beauty of high-quality instructional materials is that they have the components necessary for positive learning outcomes. What are the key elements of high-quality instructional materials? HQIM provide accessible, motivating content in a variety of formats. User-friendly designs are easy for teachers and students to navigate, with logical sequencing and pacing baked into the materials.
Benefits of high-quality instructional materials
HQIM offer many benefits for teachers, including enhanced student engagement and improved learning outcomes. Because these materials have clear learning objectives that are aligned with academic standards, students master content more effectively through a deeper understanding. HQIM support all students, including at-risk and ELL students, because the flexibility easily fits into any lesson plan and helps teachers identify strengths and concerns for remediation.
Examples of HQIM
How can teachers know if resources are high-quality instructional materials? Checking for alignment with academic standards is a good place to start, but there’s so much more! HQIM are content-rich, use evidence-based practices, and offer comprehensive teacher and student support.
HQIM aren’t just core curricula. Examples include textbooks, novels, films, digital learning resources, and even real-world applications of concepts. Supplemental materials, like ExploreLearning Gizmos, support curricula AND are high-quality. The Digital Promise Research-Based Design Product Certification recognizes products that center empirical research on learning in their design. Gizmos Simulations earned this distinction by using an inquiry-based approach validated through continuous, rigorous efficacy research as a highly effective way to build conceptual understanding in STEM.
Empowering teachers as STEM curriculum designers
Today’s educators are more than instructors—they’re learning architects. Teachers bring deep knowledge of their students, communities, and classroom realities to the table, which makes them uniquely equipped to craft meaningful learning experiences. When given the tools and flexibility to design or adapt curriculum, teachers can foster greater engagement, relevance, and ownership in their classrooms.
ExploreLearning supports this vision by offering HQIM that empower educators rather than prescribe to them. Gizmos give teachers the ability to choose, customize, and integrate engaging science experiences in a way that complements their expertise and supports their instructional goals.
Designing impactful instruction is both a creative opportunity and a professional challenge. But teachers don’t have to do it alone—or from scratch. While some may seek ready-to-use solutions, others want room to innovate, adapt, and personalize.
That’s why our approach offers a flexible toolbox: plug-and-play resources for when time is short, customizable options for deeper integration, and scaffolds that support instructional planning and delivery. Gizmos are designed to meet teachers where they are and grow with them—making it easier to implement inquiry-based STEM learning without sacrificing autonomy or quality.
“These virtual tools offer very rich, engaging, and high-quality case studies for high school science that closely align with curriculum expectations. I have found them to be an incredibly valuable resource. Student engagement and feedback have always been positive. I have not been able to find any digital resources that can compare to the educational quality of Gizmos (especially the health-focused case studies). These resources are especially useful when the number of lab rooms are so limited and for students who require visual models to express abstract concepts.”
—High School Teacher
The challenge behind curriculum innovation
Empowering teachers in curriculum design can increase their sense of ownership, improve implementation fidelity, and foster more adaptive instruction. But there’s a catch. Designing an effective curriculum is a skill set all its own.
When curriculum development falls on individual teachers, the task is challenging. Teachers have to work around time constraints, lack of autonomy, outdated content, and balancing traditional knowledge with educational trends to build content. Besides adding frustrations to already overloaded teachers, this can also lead to:
- Inconsistent curriculum quality across classrooms and schools
- Burnout from the pressure of “creating from scratch”
- Missed opportunities to implement innovative, inquiry-based learning in STEM
The solution: High-quality instructional materials that flex
Teachers need HQIM that offer flexibility and turnkey lessons, like Gizmos Investigations.
Built around ExploreLearning’s library of over 550 math and science simulations, Gizmos Investigations are designed to balance structure with flexibility. Aligned to standards that emphasize science sensemaking practices or NGSS, each Gizmos Investigation is centered around research-based instructional practices like inquiry learning, modeling, and data analysis — but allows teachers to choose how and when to use them. They come in a range of sizes from one standalone lesson to a series of lessons.
“Textbooks have come and gone in our district at all grade levels, but what our teachers have been able to rely on for years is the quality of the product ExploreLearning is putting out with Gizmos.”
—District Director of STEM Education
Why Gizmos Investigations?
Gizmos Investigations are part of the Gizmos suite of teacher tools that include Gizmos Simulations, STEM Cases, and Gizmos Investigations. Each research-based Gizmos product has everything you need to succeed, from product support to professional development that makes planning and preparation easy!
Gizmos Investigations come with scaffolded lesson materials, built-in data collection, and formative assessments—all designed to support novice and expert teacher-designers. Whether used as-is or remixed into a larger unit, they offer inquiry-based HQIM that meets teachers where they are. Gizmos Investigations fit easily into the classroom routine. Integration is seamless for students who are already familiar with Gizmos.
Rooted in effective instructional design
Gizmos Investigations wraps fully guided lessons for grades 6-8 around one or several of our Gizmo Simulations, scaffolding the sensemaking practices, and guiding and assessing students as they solve real-world problems. Ready-to-use and student-driven, Gizmos Investigations gives STEM teachers engaging and repeatable ways to bridge gaps in science instruction.
“The new Investigations helped boost student engagement and science understanding by encouraging independent exploration and critical thinking, making data meaningful via graphs, charts, and real-world applications, and enforcing positive reinforcement in learning.”
—Middle School Teacher tester
Where HQIM and flexibility meet
Teachers often feel locked in with larger, inflexible core curriculum materials. With Gizmos, teachers have the flexibility to meet students’ needs with high-quality instructional materials, without loss of agency. The Gizmos suite gives teachers tools in their toolbox to select what's best for their students. Gizmos includes three unique collections that serve slightly different roles for teachers and students, the value is obvious. Teachers have both flexibility AND high-quality instructional materials at one price point.
Award-winning Gizmos Simulations started it all with interactive online simulations and case studies covering STEM topics for grades 3-12.
Gizmos Investigations are student-driven lessons that combine a traditional Gizmo simulation with built-in student questioning and interactive investigations for grades 6-8.
Gizmos STEM Cases put students in elementary grades through high school in the role of STEM professionals tasked with solving real-world problems by formulating and testing ideas to find solutions.
Supporting a better path forward for teachers
To truly support teacher agency while ensuring rigorous, standards-aligned STEM instruction, teachers must be given the tools, not just the task of finding and creating them.
That means:
- Investing in high-quality instructional materials like Gizmos Investigations that embed research-based teaching practices and support flexible use
- Honoring teacher expertise and context, allowing them to adapt and remix resources
- Providing professional learning that builds curriculum design capacity, not just compliance
- Shifting the narrative from “fidelity to curriculum” to “fidelity to students and standards”
Coming soon: Gizmos Investigations
The Gizmos suite offers learning experiences for all students to engage in powerful, engaging STEM learning. Launching this fall, Gizmos Investigations addresses the challenges teachers face in helping all students DO the DOING of science.
It's time to bring turnkey, scaffolded HQIM with built-in student questioning, interactive investigations that incorporate existing Gizmo Simulations, and just-in-time feedback to your students.