Lego bricks teach reproducibility skills in a fun way

“This variation on the age-old game of telephone — can a message be communicated through a chain of people intact? — is actually a serious exercise in understanding the challenges and requirements of making research replicable”

Abstract

What is the link between Legos and reproducible science practices? Documentation! In this exercise, students build a specific Lego structure and document the steps they used to build it. Then another team tries to reproduce the structure following the instructions. However the replicas are not always identical to the original!! This fun exercise exposes students to the importance of documenting their work and not wait until the end of the project to make their work reproducible.

Original post on The UCSB Current website:

https://news.ucsb.edu/2025/021746/lego-bricks-teach-replication-skills-fun-way