We are no longer wonderful. Let's change that. 

By this, I mean that we have lost our emphasis on being filled with wonder - i.e., being curious. Rarely do social science methodology classes spend any time teaching how to ask good questions, let alone practicing that skill on a regular basis. We assume that students know how to ask questions and skip directly to data analysis. The results of this have been disastrous as scholars now crank out research paper after research paper that are not wonder-filled. (Indeed, I recently peer reviewed a 30-page manuscript that did not have even one question mark in the entire paper! It was all findings, and no motivation.)  And not only is research banal, but professors are losing the ability to inspire genuine curiosity in their students; undergraduates seemingly attend college to get answers and not ask questions. We faculty seem to encourage that. This is bad. 

In the spring of 2024, I engaged in an experimental one-credit course that sought to teach students how to make observations, ask questions, engage in wild speculation, and simply be curious. This project came out of the UW' Arts & Sciences Faculty Futurist Programs. Overall, the course was successful, but bureaucratic hurdles have made it difficult to repeat. This course was also an extension of a pedagogical practice in all of my graduate courses, which former students will know as "Life's Little Mysteries." 

The gist of the course was to have students practice asking questions about their everyday surroundings on a weekly basis. They could not ask "profound" questions such as "Why is there injustice?" or "How do wars start?" Rather, the questions had to focus on the "mundane." For instance, why are 12-packs of soda packaged in boxes stacked in two rows of six cans, whereas 12-packs of beer are packaged as a 3x4 brick? Why do travel-sized tubes of toothpaste cost more per ounce than large tubes of toothpaste? Why are Seattle residents less likely to jaywalk than citizens of New York City? 

The pedagogical logic here is that if you can't ask simple questions about what is within arm's reach, then how can you ask the more "important" questions of life? (By the way, many of these mundane questions have answers that scale up to more profound insights into human behavior such as the one above on toothpaste and jaywalking.)

Additionally, the experimental course encouraged students to speculate answers to their various questions. Participants were forbidden from "Googling the answer," because that is not research, that is monkey business. Using the base knowledge that you have to solve puzzles on your own is the real essence of research and what makes the scientific endeavor fun.

Since many people have wanted to see the syllabus for this ten-week class, I have provided the syllabus at the link below. Feel free to download it and incorporate it into your own courses, but please contact me and let me know you are doing it as I want to know how wonderfulness is spreading.