Idealized Science is a movement that encourages students to participate in authentic scientific practice. That is, learning science while engaging in the material and social aspects through engagement with nature and a scientific community. The belief that students can engage in and develop the habits and dispositions of scientists while they inquire about the world is foundational.

An open environment of inquiry coupled with mentoring from more knowledgeable scientific knowers alleviates the potential pitfalls of the two extremes of the chaos of “discovery” learning, or the opposite, of complete guidance, as often occurs in “hands-on/laboratory” experiences.

Dialogic discourse is a key aspect of learning, where ideas are vetted through the scientific community (scientific knowers), who adhere to a plethora of scientific methods and norms in an effort to guide future actions, thoughts, and allotment of resources (time, supplies, intellectual work) as a means of solving problems, determining underlying effects, and creating new knowledge and solutions to previous and contemporary conundrums.

The ultimate arbiter of claims of scientific work is evidence, which is usually in the form of empirical data that is analyzed through a theoretical framework, and is certified by the relentless adherence to quality, understandability, and acknowledgement of the limitations of the precision of the equipment, techniques, and methods that fundamentally bind our solution within a realm of scientific knowledge.