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Investigative architecture·Medium cognitive demand·20–40 minutes

Hypothesis Tournament

Pit plausible explanations against shared evidence so students compare explanatory reach and residual problems.

Knowledge
Causal · Evidential · Evaluative
Sequence
Guided Construction · Disciplinary Application
Interaction
Medium

Pit plausible explanations against shared evidence so students compare explanatory reach and residual problems. Hypothesis Tournament is selected when its reasoning mechanism matches an accepted learning requirement and produces evidence a teacher can inspect.

01How the architecture unfolds

  1. State the phenomenon and constraints.
  2. Generate distinct plausible hypotheses.
  3. Derive a prediction from each hypothesis.
  4. Score each against the same evidence set.
  5. Retain, revise or reject with residual questions.

02The work on each side

Teacher moves

  • Keep the target reasoning visible
  • Press for evidence at consequential decisions
  • Use the final product to diagnose the next move

Student moves

  • Notice
  • Construct
  • Test
  • Revise
  • Justify

03What would count as learning?

  • Students derive discriminating predictions
  • Final judgments acknowledge residual evidence

04Across the curriculum

Science

Population decline

Hypothesis Tournament applies its sequence to Population decline so the disciplinary reasoning remains visible.

History

Cause of a political shift

Hypothesis Tournament applies its sequence to Cause of a political shift so the disciplinary reasoning remains visible.