The Mind Lab: Thought Experiments as a Means to Teaching Science Effectively and Efficiently

Western educational philosophy has long emphasized the importance of first-hand observation in learning. This view, however, overlooks another important form of learning, sometimes called learning by thinking. Here, we compared three conditions: instruction using thought experiments (Thought Experiments condition), instruction using real experiments (Real Experiments condition), and no instruction (Baseline condition). A total of 100 children (MAge = 84.79 months; 43 girls; predominantly White) were assigned to the conditions. All participants completed a pre-training physics assessment, received physics instruction (Thought and Real Experiments conditions only), and completed a post-training assessment. Results showed that only children in the Real and Thought Experiments conditions improved from pre- to post-training. Critically, there was no significant difference between the two instructional methods.