D186 asks teachers to ground everyday classroom choices in research on how people learn. It appears in the first term of WGU's MS Curriculum and Instruction standard path.
WGU's program guide describes the course as applying research from the learning sciences to improve teaching. It covers creating community through examining personal biases and building a culturally inclusive environment, plus evidence-based strategies for motivation, understanding and retention, and social-emotional skills.
Most teachers already use some of these strategies. The course asks you to name the evidence behind them and apply them deliberately to your own students.
Course at a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| University | Western Governors University (WGU) |
| Course code | D186 (codes can change between catalog versions) |
| Program | MS Curriculum and Instruction (MSCIN) |
| Competency units | 3 (per the program guide) |
| Prerequisites | None |
| Typical work | Written plans applying evidence-based strategies to a classroom |
What D186 Covers
| Competency (summarized) | In practice |
|---|---|
| Supportive learning environment | Relationships, community, inclusive practice, awareness of bias |
| Student motivation | Evidence-based strategies that increase engagement and effort |
| Understanding and retention | Strategies that help learning last |
| Social-emotional skills | Teaching the skills students need socially and academically |
Key Concepts Explained
Retrieval Practice and Spacing
Research in cognitive psychology shows that recalling information strengthens memory more than rereading it, and that practice spread over time beats cramming. Low-stakes quizzes and revisiting earlier topics are simple ways to apply both.
Example: A ninth-grade biology teacher starts each lesson with three questions: one from yesterday, one from last week and one from last month. Answers are not graded. Over a unit, students meet each key idea several times, spaced out, and the teacher sees which ideas need reteaching.
Motivation
Self-determination theory links motivation to autonomy, competence and relatedness. Offering meaningful choices, setting achievable challenges with feedback, and building belonging all draw on it.
Social-Emotional Learning
The CASEL framework groups social-emotional skills into self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making. Teaching them explicitly, with modeling and practice, supports both behavior and achievement.
Typical Assignments and How to Approach Them
| Task type | What it tests | How to approach it |
|---|---|---|
| Learning environment plan | Community and inclusion | Describe routines, relationship-building and bias reflection |
| Motivation strategy | Evidence use | Name the strategy, its research basis and how you will use it |
| Retention strategy | Learning science | Show where it fits in a lesson or unit |
| SEL lesson or plan | Social-emotional skills | Target one skill with modeling, practice and reflection |
Building an Inclusive Learning Community
The first competency centers on relationships and community, including examining personal biases. This is reflective work with practical outcomes.
- Know your students: learn names, interests, home languages and strengths early.
- Examine bias: notice whom you call on, praise and correct, and adjust patterns you find.
- Build routines: predictable structures such as morning meetings help every student feel safe.
- Reflect culture: include texts, examples and voices from students' backgrounds.
Culturally responsive teaching links new learning to students' lived experience, which can support both engagement and understanding. In a task, give concrete examples from your classroom and explain the evidence behind each practice rather than listing good intentions.
Where Students Get Stuck
- Strategies without evidence. Cite research for each strategy you propose.
- Generic plans. Describe your actual grade, subject and students.
- Surface-level bias reflection. Give a specific example and what you will change.
- Mixing up motivation and retention. Keep each competency in its own section.
Where D186 Fits in the MSCIN Program
WGU's standard path places Learning as a Science in the first term with Designing Curriculum and Instruction I and The Reflective Practitioner. Together they set the foundations: how learning works, how to design for it and how to reflect on your own teaching.
Ideas from D186 return throughout the degree. Differentiated Instruction builds on knowing your learners, and many capstone projects test a learning science strategy such as retrieval practice or explicit social-emotional teaching in a real classroom.
Teaching a Social-Emotional Skill Explicitly
The fourth competency asks you to facilitate the social-emotional skills students need. Explicit teaching works much like teaching an academic skill: name it, model it, practice it and reflect.
Example: A second-grade teacher targets self-management during group work. She introduces a "stop, breathe, choose" routine, models it with a think-aloud when a tower of blocks falls, has pairs role-play a frustrating moment, and closes with students drawing when they used the routine that day. A simple tally of calm-down card use tracks progress over a month.
Connect each SEL activity to evidence and to your students' needs, and show how you will know whether it is working.
Study Tips for D186
- Try one strategy in class during the course and note what happens.
- Keep a list of strategies with the research behind each.
- Read the rubric and use its wording in your headings.
- Connect your ideas to D629 The Reflective Practitioner, taken in the same term.
How We Help with D186
Send the task, rubric and a short description of your classroom. An education writer prepares a custom plan, suggests research for your strategies, or edits your draft for clarity and APA style.
GradeEssays is independent of Western Governors University. Reflections on your own teaching must be yours; use our work as a reference and submit your own tasks under WGU's academic integrity rules.
Put Learning Science to Work in Your D186 Tasks
Share your grade level, context and rubric. We prepare a model or review your draft for evidence and fit.
Start My D186 HelpFree revisions · Full refund if late · Written from scratch for your order
Frequently Asked Questions
WGU's program guide states there are no prerequisites.
A field drawing on psychology, education and neuroscience research about how people learn.
Retrieval practice, spaced practice and elaboration have strong research support.
Yes. One competency covers developing the social-emotional skills students need.
The course is designed for K-12 teachers; check WGU's requirements for your situation.
Yes. We point you to relevant studies and show how to cite them.