Tiny Experiments for Tiny Learners
I’ve been thinking about the concept of tiny experiments lately. In fact, I’ve even been running one of my own (if you want to check it out, you can find it here).
Tiny experiments was a topic discussed by Dr. Anne-Laure Le Cuff in her TEDxNashville talk “How tiny experiments can set you free”. (You can watch it here). A tiny experiment is a short, low-stakes commitment to try something new, framed as “I will [action] for [duration].” The purpose of tiny experiments is to reduce pressure and create space to explore and learn without needing certainty about the outcome. This approach reframes uncertainty as a learning opportunity rather than a threat.
When it comes to trying something new, it’s not always easy, and we tend to retreat from what feels uncertain to what feels familiar. Psychologists refer to this as compensatory control, the tendency to cling to familiar identities when the environment becomes unpredictable. However, this narrows how we experience life to only things that feel safe. This might feel best in the moment, but it doesn’t allow us to grow or serve us in the long term because we remain stuck in our current identity.
And it makes me wonder, in the age of AI, where students are and will be dealing with uncertainty, how can we bring tiny experiments into the STEM classroom to support the growth of this experimentation muscle?
Traditional education is very black and white, where students are told what to learn, when to learn it, and how they will be assessed. It’s predictable, and success comes from following a clear set of instructions.
Then, when we introduce students to STEM and throw all the rules out the window. We give them challenges with no exact answer, and students are rewarded for thinking outside the box and not just following direct instructions.
This shift from certainty to ambiguity is where many students get stuck.
It becomes sink or swim. You are either deemed to be good at STEM or not.
In fact, I have found that students who do great in math and science and move through class with ease often struggle in STEM classes and environments because they haven’t experienced uncertainty before.
And we wonder why students struggle with STEM. It’s not because they aren’t naturally gifted at math and science. It’s because they haven’t been given the opportunity to explore uncertainty and haven’t been provided with the tools to overcome it.
Instead, what if we changed the narrative and said that when students have the right tools, they can be good at STEM too?
And these tools go beyond just calculations and formulas.
When we give students the mindset tools to move through uncertainty, we help set them up for success, and tiny experiments offer a way to build those skills in practice.
How to apply tiny experiments to the STEM education classroom:
Use tiny experiments to support the redesign phase of the engineering design process. Too often, this step is skipped because students feel finished with their project, and teachers struggle to keep them engaged in improving it. Framing redesign as a series of tiny experiments gives students a clear purpose for continuing to iterate.
Give students agency by letting them design their own projects and experiments. STEM classrooms offer a lot of creative flexibility, and we can lean into that by giving students space to design their own experiments. This brings student voice into the classroom, allowing them to take ownership of their learning. Students can even create experiments for the class to try, which helps grow not only their STEM skills but also communication, leadership, and problem-solving abilities.
Use tiny experiments as a way for you to explore using AI. AI can feel intimidating, and the uncertainty of trying something new may make it hard to get started. Tiny experiments give you a low-stakes way to test AI tools, explore new approaches, and learn how to integrate them into your work flow.
When students begin to approach problems like a scientist, observing, testing, and adjusting based on what they learn, they develop a mindset for STEM and beyond. This framework helps them navigate uncertainty and continue learning in all areas of life.