Project Based Learning Electives provided by the Berrien Springs Virtual Academy
Innovation Central: Mental Malware: Spotting Faulty Thinking Fall 2025
All students must complete a project for these classes.
Instructor: Christopher Peddie
Email: cpeddie@sbcglobal.net
Phone: 269-208-2282
Grades: 6-12
Day & Time: Tuesday, 1:00pm - 2:30pm
Dates: Sept. 4 - Oct. 9
Location: Innovation Central at Lakeside Family Church, 6999 Red Arrow Highway, Stevensville
Course Description: "Ever wonder why smart people make dumb decisions—or why we’re so good at justifying bad ones? Mental Malware: Spotting Faulty Thinking is a fun, eye-opening 10-week course that explores how our brains really work when it comes to making decisions, forming beliefs, and falling for bad ideas.
Using real-world examples, group discussions, and engaging activities, students will uncover the hidden mental shortcuts (called heuristics), common cognitive biases, and classic logical fallacies that shape how we think— often without us even knowing it. We’ll explore topics like confirmation bias, the Dunning-Kruger effect, ad hominem arguments, the anchoring effect, and more.
Based on the bestselling books Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, You Are Not So Smart, and You Are Now Less Dumb by David McRaney, this course will challenge students to think more clearly, argue more logically, and recognize when their brains are trying to trick them.
*Please note: it is important to make as informed a decision as possible when choosing your student's Community Resource classes. Most locations will allow a student to drop a class after one meeting, at no charge if it wasn't a good fit for the student, but not all. Some classes plan ahead based on the number that have signed up and have purchased materials, hired teachers, etc. and there might be a fee for class time or materials given to the student if the student drops after one or two meetings. The school cannot pay for classes that students do not complete, so choose wisely; if you do not take the class off of your student's schedule by the deadline, you may be asked to pay for the class time incurred prior to dropping the class.
Teacher of Record: Lisa Van Plew-Cid
