Teach your students not to fool themselves

In a world flooded with information—and disinformation—we constantly make choices about what to believe. Our ingrained biases make it easy to fool ourselves. Scientists have spent centuries perfecting techniques to minimize bias and help them avoid falling into cognitive traps. For too long, these thinking tools have been missing from high-school education. But we believe these techniques can be learned and used by anyone. That is why we have worked with a team of experts to create Scientific thinking for all: a toolkit.

Scientific thinking for all: a toolkit is a six-unit curriculum for 14–18-year-old students. It will prepare your high-school students for the challenges and opportunities ahead. It teaches a toolkit of cognitive strategies for real-world issues. But it will also provide a way for people with different opinions to establish a shared view of reality to allow people to solve problems collectively. By learning to view the world scientifically, students will develop skills in reasoning and collaborating, equipping them to deal with the challenges of the 21st century.

The curriculum is based on about 22 key concepts to understand and apply to improve how to think critically. The curriculum will be completed in 2025. 

This project is a cooperation between Nobel Prize Outreach and the University of California, Berkeley. The Lawrence Hall of Science at University of California, Berkeley (LHS) is developing the coursework.

All course materials and more information are available here:
Scientific Thinking for All: A Toolkit

Six units:
Tools for investigating the world                
1. Evidence & iteration in science
2. Scientific modeling

Tools for evaluating data
3. Using evidence to determine causal relationships
4. Addressing uncertainty in data
5. Cognitive bias in science & society

Applying science to everyday life
6. Making group decisions

Get involved:
If you are interested in getting involved as a field test educator: https://scientificthinking.lawrencehallofscience.org/contact/

About

Find out more about this project and how scientific thinking techniques can empower students to make wiser decisions.