Capturing Sustaining and Transferring Curiosity Deb Rosenfeld Education

Capturing, Sustaining, and Transferring Curiosity Deb Rosenfeld Education Development Center © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Goals • To understand what makes students curious • To understand how curiosity drives learning and understanding – Student learning requires both cognitive and emotional-motivational engagement – Curiosity is an emotional-motivational engagement that can enhance cognitive engagement • To understand how to ignite and sustain curiosity © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Agenda 1. What is curiosity? 2. Curiosity as a self-scaffold: Connection between curiosity and student achievement • Curiosity in the context of development 3. How is curiosity captured? 4. Curiosity-based instruction 5. Stump the presenter © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

What is Curiosity? Curiosity is the “desire to know, to see, or to experience” leading to “exploratory behavior directed towards the acquisition of new information. ” (Litman) © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

What is Scaffolding? Scaffolding is the support offered by the joint participation of a more expert person and a student in a task that has a level of complexity just beyond the level that the student could perform independently. © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

What is Self-Scaffolding? A scaffold builds on students’ prior knowledge with the goal of later independent performance of the task. When the support that a scaffold provides is given by the student herself, the support is called a self-scaffold. © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Curiosity as a Self-Scaffold Curiosity allows students to maintain their cognitive effort by providing the motivation for knowing and understanding the material being learned. In this way, curiosity acts as a self-scaffold in the learning process. © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Curiosity in the Context of Development • Piaget: Learning is the result of active construction through assimilation and accommodation – Curiosity triggered when new info doesn’t easily fit with existing ideas and concepts, and motivates resolving this dissonance • Fischer: Importance of context (cognitive, emotional, and motivational support) in constructive process – Learning is the result of frequent opportunities to perform at an optimal level (requiring support structures) until it becomes part of one’s functional repertoire – Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Inducing Curiosity • Lack of desired information (uncertainty) • Conceptual conflict, incongruity, surprise • Meaningful situation (utility to students) All of these make the individual feel compelled to explore and acquire knowledge to resolve the problem. © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Current Elementary Math Curricula • Some fail to induce curiosity because any conceptual conflict or surprise is solved for students, not by students. • Engaging stories are often tangentially related to content, making transfer of curiosity unlikely. © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Curiosity-Based Instruction • Entry points using stories and puzzles involving numbers, words, and pictures • Problem left unresolved • Students predict solution © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

An Example: Introducing the Kindertectives Jane, Arjun, and Monica present a mystery and then ask for students’ help in solving it. The confusion and interest that the Kindertectives demonstrate acknowledges students’ feelings around learning math, promoting intrinsic motivation. © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Portion of Entry Point to Chapter 1 At Jane’s house, her parents were talking about her bedtime. So that Jane wouldn’t know the options and beg for the latest bedtime, they talked in a code. “What do you think about drawing an S and closing the gate, then around a tree and around a tree, and a ball? ” asked Jane’s dad. Do you know when Jane’s bedtime was? We need your help to figure this out! © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Think Math! More examples of Curiosity-Based Instruction • • • Entry Points Few instructions (puzzle-like) Other Number Puzzles Number “Tricks” Headline Stories Explore Pages © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Grade 3 Entry Point: Student Letter © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Grade 4 Entry Point: Student Letter © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Kindergarten Few Instructions © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Grade 1: Few Instructions © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Grade 5 Number Puzzle © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Grade 4 Number ‘Trick’ © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Grade 5 Number ‘Trick’ © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Headline Stories: An Example Jane bought a birthday card. She gave the cashier $1 and received 3 coins as change. • • • What can you say? What questions can you ask? What do you want to figure out? What can you predict? What else do you need to know? © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Features of Headline Stories • Puzzling • Doesn’t ask a particular question • Allows finding math in everyday situations • Open-ended so there are multiple approaches and solutions • Leads to further questions © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Grade 4 Explore Page © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Educational Implications “Before anything else, a teacher’s first job is to pique curiosity. ” (O’Malley, 1998, p. 16) Engagement is necessary for learning, and curiosity is an important means of engaging students in learning. Teachers should not do all of the explaining, but instead should present examples, counter-examples, and conceptual conflicts for students to explore and explain. (Carey) © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Stump the Presenter • • • Questions? Comments? Concerns? Money back requests? Money giving requests? © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

Thank You! Please contact me with questions, concerns, ideas, or just to discuss this topic further! Drosenfeld@edc. org Education Development Center Division of Mathematics, Learning, and Teaching 55 Chapel Street Newton, MA 02458 © EDC, Inc. , Think. Math! 2007

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