Caveat Academy course · Grades 10 to 12

Philosophy of Science

What makes science different from other ways of knowing, and how far to trust it: falsifiability and pseudoscience, induction and evidence, explanation, causation and models, revolutions from Copernicus to plate tectonics, realism and the limits of observation, and the place of values, replication and expertise. Real cases from physics, medicine and geology, at your own pace, with a certificate at the end.

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$19one-time · every device you sign in on
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Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the High school electives library, $119 for 66 items.

6 modules · 18 lessonsabout 13 hours$19

Six modules, eighteen lessons

Each module ends with a practice set that tracks mastery, an explain-it-back prompt, a short written response and a module exam. The final opens when every module is proficient; passing it earns a certificate with a verification code.

  1. Module 1: What is science?

    Distinguish hypotheses, laws, theories and observations, apply Popper's falsifiability criterion, and identify the warning signs of pseudoscience.

    • Science and its aims
    • Falsifiability and the demarcation problem
    • Pseudoscience and its warning signs
    about 2.1 h

  2. Module 2: Evidence and reasoning

    Classify arguments as deductive or inductive, explain Hume's problem of induction, and analyze how Semmelweis tested rival hypotheses.

    • Deduction and induction
    • Hume's problem of induction
    • Testing hypotheses: the case of childbed fever
    about 2.1 h

  3. Module 3: Explanation, causation and models

    Compare covering-law, causal and unifying accounts of explanation, identify confounders using Hill's considerations, and judge when a model's idealizations hold.

    • What counts as a scientific explanation
    • Correlation and causation
    • Models and idealization
    about 2.1 h

  4. Module 4: How science changes

    Explain Kuhn's account of scientific revolutions and the Duhem-Quine problem, and evaluate the history of continental drift.

    • Kuhn and scientific revolutions
    • Auxiliary hypotheses: Neptune and Vulcan
    • Case study: continental drift
    about 2.1 h

  5. Module 5: Theory and reality

    Explain underdetermination with competing curves, compare realist and anti-realist arguments, and describe how blinding answers the theory-ladenness of observation.

    • Underdetermination
    • Scientific realism and its critics
    • Observation and theory-ladenness
    about 2.1 h

  6. Module 6: Science in society

    Evaluate scientific claims using inductive risk, replication and statistical significance, conflicts of interest and scientific consensus.

    • Values in science
    • Peer review, replication and error
    • Trust, expertise and consensus
    about 2.1 h

Try it before you start

This is how every lesson works: step through a worked example at your own pace, then answer a check and get the reason right away. Nothing here is saved; the course keeps your progress.

Module 5 · Underdetermination

Worked example: two curves, one data set

  1. Data: (1, 2), (2, 4) and (3, 6).

A lesson check from each module

The checks need JavaScript turned on. The course itself works the same way.

What you get

Academics · High School$19 · included with the Academy pass and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A finished course in philosophy of science: you can tell a falsifiable claim from an unfalsifiable one and spot the marks of pseudoscience, separate deductive from inductive reasoning and explain Hume's problem, find the confounder in a correlation, judge where a model's idealizations hold, trace a scientific revolution in Kuhn's terms, show two theories fitting the same data, weigh realism against its critics, and evaluate a study by its replication, statistics, funding and the consensus around it. Passing the final earns a Caveat certificate of completion.
Who it is for
Students in grades 10 to 12 taking philosophy, a science course or a theory of knowledge class, students in science research programs who want to understand what their methods can and cannot show, and homeschool families who want a complete course on how science works and how to evaluate scientific claims.
Format
An online self-paced course: 6 modules and 18 lessons with worked examples you reveal step by step, 144 practice and exam items (multiple choice, numeric, fill-in and ordering), an explain-it-back prompt and a rubric-checked short response in every module, module exams with one retake, a 24-question final and a certificate with a verification code. About 13 hours in all; works on a phone or a computer.
Access
$19 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the course opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the High school electives library ($119) and the Academics Suite pass ($149), and 1 more bundle. Progress is saved in this browser on this device, and the certificate page lets you download your record.
Where it lives
The High School space in Caveat Academics.
Support
Access, a receipt, a refund or a correction to the course: team@caveatacademic.com.

How it works

  1. Open the course and start Module 1. Each lesson takes about 25 to 35 minutes; two or three a week finishes the course in about a semester.
  2. Answer the checks as you read. Every answer shows the reason, and a miss links you back to the lesson that covers it.
  3. Finish each module with its practice set and exam. Proficient on every module opens the final; 70 percent passes it.
  4. Print or download your certificate and record from the certificate page.

Start the course

Sources and accuracy

The lessons are original writing by Caveat Academic Services. Facts were checked against these free, open references, which are also good places to read further.

  1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, entries on Karl Popper, the problem of induction, Thomas Kuhn, scientific realism, underdetermination and scientific explanation: plato.stanford.edu
  2. Open Science Collaboration, Estimating the Reproducibility of Psychological Science, Science, 2015: science.org
  3. U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics: pubs.usgs.gov
  4. Austin Bradford Hill, The Environment and Disease: Association or Causation?, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1965
  5. Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 1962; Carl G. Hempel, Philosophy of Natural Science, 1966

Philosophy of Science is a self-paced course from Caveat Academic Services. Historical cases are described from the published record with their dates; numbers marked as example numbers are for practice only. The course teaches students to evaluate scientific claims, not to distrust science. It does not replace a school course and awards no credit. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.