When it comes to research design, the literature largely focuses on prescriptions for strengthening causal inference--identifying confounders, selecting appropriately comparable cases, generating testable hypotheses, etc. This approach to research design features the logic of inquiry heavily, but overlooks the logic of discovery. The logic of…

Children are natural scientists full of curiosity. This curiosity allows them to ask questions about and to investigate their surroundings. Since science is not just a collection of facts to be learned, but rather investigations that need to be made, teachers should encourage that natural curiosity in the classroom. Luckily, the "Next…

In our science for non-science majors course "21st Century Physics," we investigate modern "Hubble plots" (plots of velocity versus distance for deep space objects) in order to discuss the Big Bang, dark matter, and dark energy. There are two potential challenges that our students face when encountering these topics for the…