Those who chose the Critical Thinking: Science Acceleration elective had the pleasure of attending an excursion to the University of Wollongong along with other schools lasting two days, involving the topic of conspiracy theories. Our first day at UOW consisted of learning about what conspiracy theories are, the structure of conspiracy theories, and how to spot conspiracy theories and confirmation bias. The day began with a few icebreakers to get to know the other students from different schools followed by learning about what conspiracy theories are, along with a guest speaker who came from the university to talk about Conspiracy Theories and Doomsday Prepping. After recess we learnt about confirmation bias and how to spot conspiracy theories. This part of the day consisted of splitting into groups with students from other schools and working on various activities to get a good grasp on both confirmation bias and how to spot conspiracy theories. Lunch rolled around and we indulged in the UOW’s cafe enjoying the good food before ending our conspiracy theory-filled day with an overview of what we will be doing on our second day. 

On day 2 of the excursion we started to explore specific conspiracy theories instead of looking at them as a whole. Some theories consisted of aliens building the pyramids, Was the moon landing fake and the flat earth theory. It was nice to be able to communicate with those that have similar interests from different schools as we were assigned groups to push us out of our comfort zones and get us talking to new people. The work for day 2 was heavily consisting of one project that went for most of the day, this was looking at a specific conspiracy theory and debunking it. After the group project we wrapped the day up with looking at everyones work and giving constructive feedback and pointing out things they did well. Overall it was a very engaging excursion that taught us a lot about being a critical thinker.

Carolynne Chalmers and Lucas Gregson
Year 9 Critical Thinkers

Dr Aidan Johnson
Leader of Curriculum and Improvement