This paper explores the notion of “curiosity” from an educational point of view.
Jirout und Klahr (2012, S. 127) point out: „Given that a central goal of just about every early science education program is to increase children's curiosity about the natural world, it would be of obvious importance if there were a widely agreed upon definition of curiosity. But there is no such definition, and (..) the operational measures for any particular definition vary widely from one study to another.” Nevertheless, curiosity is widely used as a folk-psychological didactical concept.
If one looks at the psychological literature specifically devoted to curiosity, one finds an entire complex of different phenomena, which are subsumed under curiosity (e.g. interest in the unknown like opening a closed box, and sensation seeking), and which clearly address different aspects of experiencing the world. In general books on psychology, curiosity (if occurring at all) is mentioned in conjunction with intrinsic motivation (also by Deci and Ryan’s Self Determination Theory), although there are actions (like practicing basketball shots) which are intrinsically motivated without raising curiosity and vice versa (e.g. wanting to see what is around the corner).
For teaching and learning purposes, I am particularly interested in epistemic curiosity, not only its onset, but also its termination – something which is not explicitly theorized in most of the present accounts. In the classroom, we want to know what motivates students to engage conceptually, but also why students stop to be curious at particular phases in their conceptual explorations.
Thus, the present research question is twofold: How can we theoretically capture “curiosity” and how does this conception of curiosity explain the end of curiosity-driven behavior.
This paper will present the different conceptions curiosity found in the psychological literature as well as the theoretical constructs (curiosity as drive, as arousal state and as mastery motive).
Going back to White (1959) (who also was the starting point for Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory), I will then propose a theoretical account for (conceptual) curiosity which integrates Litman’s conception of I- and D-type curiosity. I see curiosity as driven by the wish to master one’s environment, that is to be able to avoid or control frightening experiences (places, events), and to recreate pleasurable situation and events. Depending on personal experiences, the need for safety and the general disposition for risk-taking, may lead people to explore a phenomena till their need is satisfied. Students may experience more mastery through a deeper understanding (but this is a learnt disposition), and may be driven by a heightened need for security to better understand their environment. Others may be satisfied, by a purely instrumental mastery, i.e. their epistemic exploration stops once they can recreate (or avoid) the target situation.