Sparking Middle School Students? Curiosity to Explain Scientific Phenomena: The Impact of Curiosity-Driven Question Asking on Visual Information Seeking and Mental Imagery

Emily Peterson

Curiosity is a powerful motivator of learning and scientific discovery. Yet, prior studies have focused more on whether curiosity increases learning rather than how and for whom curiosity increases learning. Moreover, prior studies of curiosity have tended to define learning in terms of memory-based recall, rather than examining curiosity’s role in the development of scientific practices such as constructing explanations of scientific phenomena. Drawing on cognitive neuroscience research to refine theories of curiosity, this study aims to answer the following question: does curiosity support learning about scientific phenomena because it changes visual processes? Using a between-subjects experimental design to test the effect of promoting curiosity through a question asking intervention, middle school students will have their eye movements recorded while they study visuals to construct explanations of scientific phenomena. Data from eye movements will be used to examine two processes implicated in curiosity (i.e. visual information seeking and mental imagery), and visual processes will be tested as possible mediators explaining the effect of promoting curiosity on the quality of students’ scientific explanations. Sub-group analysis will be used to investigate whether promoting curiosity through a question-generation intervention has the potential to broaden participation among students traditionally underrepresented in science.

About Emily Peterson

Emily Grossnickle Peterson is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at American University, Washington, DC and an affiliate faculty member in AU?s Behavior, Cognition, and Neuroscience program. In her research, Dr. Peterson applies methods from educational psychology and cognitive neuroscience to deepen our understanding of how students engage with science with the aim of providing insights into cognitive and motivational processes that may drive educational disparities. She is especially interested in how students develop their capacity for curiosity and spatial thinking. In current and future work she is examining how motivation and motor processes impact student cognition in science, including questions such as: can students? hand gestures during problem solving reduce cognitive load, and does feeling curious during learning change how students form mental images? Her work has been published in journals including Educational Psychology Review and Learning and Instruction, and has been supported by Division 15 (Educational Psychology) of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Peterson competed a Ph.D. in Human Development and Quantitative Methodology from the University of Maryland, College Park.