In 100 seconds, students in the Mastery Learning System show what becomes possible when they are given the time, structure, and support to pursue serious work of their own design. Their projects range across science, engineering, medicine, sustainability, philosophy, and more, offering a glimpse of what student agency can look like in practice.

This TEDx talk begins with Mark’s own experience in gifted education and asks a larger question: why should only some students have access to the autonomy, choice, and meaningful work that made that experience so powerful? Drawing on Self-Determination Theory, humor, and years of program design, the talk argues that Genius Hour should be the beginning, rather than the limit, of making this kind of learning available to every student.

In this episode of the Future Learning Design Podcast, Mark is joined by two Avenues students for a candid conversation about the Mastery Learning System and what changes when students are given meaningful ownership of their education. Together, they explore agency, the role of structure and mentorship, and the challenges and possibilities of building school around students rather than simply for them.

Fast forward to minute 34:35 to hear the segment on the Mastery Learning System

In this Psychology Today interview, Mark explores the difference between self-directed and self-determined learning and makes the case for taking student interests seriously. Drawing on the Mastery Learning System, he discusses how autonomy, structure, and strong mentorship can unlock capacities in young people that schools too often underestimate.

This report from the University of Pennsylvania’s Imagination Institute brings together educators, psychologists, designers, and researchers to explore the role of imagination in learning. Mark contributes ideas drawn from his work, including how schools can create space for students to discover what matters to them, imagine possible futures, and continually rethink who they might become.

This short documentary by Ben Donnellon looks inside the Classics Academy, an interdisciplinary program co-founded at Morristown High School. Through the voices of students and educators, it captures an early chapter of the work that would continue to shape his career: giving students greater agency, breaking down traditional subject boundaries, and creating the conditions for ambitious, original work.