KATA IN THE CLASSROOMWhy the KiC exercise doesn't require One-Factor-at-a-Time experiments

"Let's try it and see"

There are Different Kinds of ExperimentsThe purpose of the 50-minute KiC exercise is to introduce the Improvement Kata pattern as a way of practicing foundations of scientific logic. The premise is that science is not strange and mysterious and can be used by anyone in daily life. KiC seeks to move away from the idea that science is separate from the rest of human activity. An effective way to strive for any challenging goal is to compare observations (from experiments) with predictions. Such 'reality checks' help us learn whether the way we think the world is matches the way the world really is. When scientists design an experiment their goal is to fill a gap in current knowledge. There are different kinds of experiments. In professional science, experiments include controlled experimental situations and uncontrolled field situations. An experiment can be done simply to "see what will happen." For example, many times a scientist will try things and then, when they get an interesting result, go back and try to isolate the variables.

Teaching metacognitive scientific-thinking skillsso students learn how to learn in everyday life

Non-scientists sometimes mistakenly believe that being scientific always requires single-factor experiments (OFAT, or one-factor-at-a-time). Unfortunately, such impressions can prevent scientific thinking from spreading into normal daily life, where controlled experiments are often not possible.

If we teach that controlled experiments are required for scientific thinking it suggests that science is different from daily life, and thus we may tend to base everyday actions on narratives and folklore.

Perhaps a good place to start is simply to practice the (scientific) mindset that any idea will need to be tested!

Operating based on narratives and folklore

Understanding that ideas need to be tested

OFAT(One-Factor-at-a-Time

experiments)

Multi-variabledesigned experiments

A KATA IN THE CLASSROOM OBJECTIVEThe Kata in the Classroom exercise is about teaching the logical thinking skills of science more effectively by making them applicable to daily life. One intention of the exercise is to help a teacher move students from operating based on internal narratives to understanding that any idea we have will need to be tested.

KiCNot Scientific

Scientific!

Scientific!

Scientific!

The Puzzleor Game

Challenge

Scientific Way of Working

and Thinking

ONE FOCUS OF THE KiC EXERCISEW

hat i

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Stud

ents

' Aw

aren

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Students practice and think about a way of working

KiC is about engaging with ideas by evaluating them through tests

INFLUENCING THE TEACHER IS A GOALIncreasing the probability that the teacher will have students practice the Improvement Kata pattern repeatedly throughout the school year

Over the school year a teacher can have students follow the Improvement Kata pattern in various activities and projects, to help them practice and progress in their scientific thinking. Practice helps develop the habit of seeing every step we take as an experiment, and to know when you should do focused (single-factor) experiments.

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