We learn from mistakes… cognitive ones! Mind traps in an era of misinformation
In this workshop, you will experience how cognitive biases affect our perception and can lead to misinformation. Through engaging exercises, you will learn about the mechanisms of biases such as confirmation bias, availability heuristic, and out-group homogeneity. You will play the role of the creator as well as the verifier of false content. The workshop is designed in line with Kolb’s learning cycle – reflection will be preceded by experience, and the knowledge gained will be put into practice right away. Get ready for an inspiring meeting that will improve your skills and give you new ideas for working with young people.
Instructor: Patryk Zakrzewski, Demagog Association
The (im)perfect experiment, or how we go astray
The protagonist of the workshop will be a well-known and simple experiment, often conducted in classes at school and in Young Explorer’s Clubs. This experiment puzzles many people. It has traps and leads to wrong conclusions. We often engage in heated discussions to explain the observed phenomenon. During the workshop, we will look for these traps together and design a fascinating study with sugar as the main character.
Instructors: Agnieszka Grzelakowska, PhD – chemistry teacher at the 3rd High School in Bydgoszcz, methodical advisor at the Municipal Teacher Training Centre in Bydgoszcz, Monika Jędrzejewska – science educator
I learn from making mistakes
In Young Explorer’s Clubs (YEC), we often make mistakes, which usually eventually lead us to a positive result. When experimenting in YEC, you should not be afraid of making mistakes. That is why, during the workshop, we will carry out a dozen or so simple experiments in which a mistake is the key element. We will work individually, in pairs and in groups. I wonder – when will we make more mistakes: when undertaking individual efforts or when working in teams? Or perhaps we can use mistakes to find innovative solutions and increase (our) creativity?
Instructor: Janusz Laska – geography teacher, founder of the YEC programme
Philosophical inquiries – from mistakes to knowledge
Discover how mistakes can become the foundation of true understanding and how to use the Socratic method in everyday teaching practice. The workshop will focus on the P4C (philosophy for children) method, promoted by The Philosophy Foundation, among others. You will learn a variety of methods and techniques that help students critically analyse information and develop logical thinking skills. Referring to the Socrates’ Dialectic method, special attention will be paid to the way in which correct conclusions can be drawn from incorrect statements. In practice, this means that by posing questions, exploring assumptions and polemics, we can come to a
deeper understanding of topics and dismiss false beliefs. By participating in interactive sessions, you will take part in inspiring discussions and share experiences, learn about practical approaches to philosophical discourse and enrich your teaching skills.
Instructor: Krystian Karcz, I teach philosophy, Little Great Philosophers Club
A mistake from the start. We experiment and discover!
This workshop is a great opportunity to develop your analytical skills and understand how the world of science works in practice! By taking part in the workshop, you will experience first-hand how mistakes can become learning opportunities and challenges for young explorers. Together, we will consider how to support club members in making mistakes and being inspired by them. In this class, you will work in a team, designing and carrying out experiments that can help you understand phenomena that are invisible in everyday life. You will gain practical research skills: from formulating hypotheses to analysing variables to drawing conclusions from your experiments.
Instructors: Anna Władkowska – supervisor of YEC, chemistry teacher and consultant of the Teacher Training Centre, Karolina Dolatowska-Żebrowska, Learning Communities Department of the Copernicus Science Centre
Admiration of perceptual errors
Is an optical illusion just a misinterpretation of an image by the brain? Or an aesthetic impression that can encourage the viewer to understand where the error was? During two workshop sessions, we will consider the role of aesthetic impressions in the learning process. We will create simple objects based on sensory experiences and perceptual errors. To this end, we will make use of the non-obvious leftovers and waste waiting in the warehouses of the Copernicus Science Centre.
Please note: the workshop consists of two blocks and lasts a total of 4.5 hours. Part one starts on Friday, part two on Saturday. By choosing this workshop, you choose to take part in both parts.
Instructors: Szymon Filipowicz, Research Department of the Copernicus Science Centre; Marta Iglewska, Public Engagement in Science Department of the Copernicus Science Centre
Solar photography. Cyanotype workshop
Cyanotype, also known as solar photography, is an old photographic technique. It uses the light sensitivity of iron salts resulting from a chemical reaction. After exposure, it creates Prussian blue – a characteristic deep blue shade associated with the ocean. Images are created by placing objects directly on paper coated with a light-sensitive substance. This allows for original compositions using dried flowers, leaves, openwork fabrics.
Instructor: Angelika Gumkowska, Laboratory Department of the Copernicus Science Centre
The art of flying – lighter than a feather
Many of us have dreamt of flying and have often watched with envy the birds soaring above our heads, seeing their sky-high pirouettes as an expression of absolute freedom. Yet the truth is that humans are flightless mammals and cannot fly. Therefore, we may think that the ability to fly is a magical superpower, although in reality it is based on the hard principles of physics and aerodynamics, as you will discover in this class. Birds and other flying creatures have bodies perfectly adapted to move in the air. Their wings generate a lifting force that allows them to float above the ground. This is one of many examples of how nature has prepared for controlled flight and even gliding. In this class, you will learn about aerodynamics. You will experiment with the resistance of atmospheric air, create structures that can support themselves in an air flow created by a blower fan and test objects of different shapes in an aerodynamic mini-tunnel. After the class, we will ask you for feedback so that we can learn from our mistakes and further improve our classes.
Instructors: Wiktoria Bartosik, Mikołaj Zawłocki, Igor Chmielewski – Laboratory Department of the Copernicus Science Centre
Mental shortcut
During the class, we will talk about situations when a mistake appears to be invisible, yet strongly influences our beliefs and decisions. We will attempt to understand how these mistakes work and use them so that they act to our advantage.
Instructors: Jan Cieślak and Agnieszka Wichrowska, Learning Communities Department of the Copernicus Science Centre; Justyna Tymińska, Development Department of Partner Centres of the Copernicus Science Centre
Anger, sadness, resignation. On supporting children in the face of failure.
How can we support children in coping with failure? How do we address the anger and frustration they may feel when they fail at something? What might failure and setbacks mean to a child, as seen through their eyes? Let’s think about it together!
Instructors: Marta Tittenbrun and Katarzyna Trzeszkowska, Scientific Inspiration Department of the Copernicus Science Centre
(F)All Together at Majsternia!
At Majsternia, we will show that a mistake is not just a step backwards, but also an important part of the learning and discovery process! In our creative stations, we will prove that mistakes made in the creative process can act as a catalyst – inspiring us to think and helping us to grow.
Sometimes, even a failure can turn into a success if we analyse the situation skilfully and learn from it.
Instructors: Olga Gołębiowska, Joanna Skrzypowska, Marta Syrotiuk, Kacper Zabielski, Operations Department of the Copernicus Science Centre
Meanders of prototyping
When we search for a route to a destination, algorithms suggest a fast or short route, with minimal fuel consumption or only on toll-free roads. We can arrive at the same destination through different routes. Each of these routes is a kind of prototype, a different version of the journey, a different way of achieving the desired result. When creating products of any kind – from a new rocket to interplanetary flights, or from school teaching models to concepts of effective education – we move along different paths. Each of these involves slightly different ‘driving’ conditions, but also different risks, different vulnerability to possible mistakes, and imperfect solutions. In this workshop, we will explore what kinds of unexpected things can surprise us during prototyping and what the consequences of making mistakes or making wrong assumptions can be.
Instructors: Adam Zahler, Learning Communities Department of the Copernicus Science Centre; Piotr Michalczuk, Scientific Inspiration Department of the Copernicus Science Centre
