Investigative Thinking

Think…like a Detective

Avatar of a Detective
“The truth is there, if you search hard enough.”
– Eugene Francois Vidocq
World’s First Detective

Focusing on causal-experimental thinking strategies, the Investigation Mode is tailor-fit for analytical researchers who enjoy collecting, categorizing, and measuring information. Focusing on isolating issues and solving mysteries, students explore what it means to be a researcher. Students hypothesize, sample, inspect, test, sift, winnow, derive, substantiate, rank, calculate, catalog, and differentiate to design experiments that explore phenomena.

Key Concepts: Situation specific vs. Generalizable; Correlation vs. causality; Parallel vs. interesting connections; Fact vs. fiction; Intended vs. unintended; Classification and identification; Bias; Comparing different kinds of evidence; Ranking, quantifying and predicting; Diagnosing and treating a problem; Inspecting and testing

Key Skills: Explore knowns and unknowns; Isolate, measure, and classify; Identify and define attributes; Design experiments; Prove it through logical frameworks; Hypothesize and Sample; Inspect and Test; Sift and Winnow; Derive and Substantiate; Rank and Calculate; Catalog and Differentiate