Do individual differences in children’s curiosity relate to their inquiry-based learning? |
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| Authors: | Tessa J P van Schijndel Brenda R J Jansen Maartje E J Raijmakers |
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| Institution: | 1. Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;2. Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching (ICLON), Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands;3. Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;4. Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;5. Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;6. Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;7. Education Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | This study investigates how individual differences in 7- to 9-year-olds' curiosity relate to the inquiry-learning process and outcomes in environments differing in structure. The focus on curiosity as individual differences variable was motivated by the importance of curiosity in science education, and uncertainty being central to both the definition of curiosity and the inquiry-learning environment. Curiosity was assessed with the Underwater Exploration game (Jirout, J., & Klahr, D. (2012). Children's scientific curiosity: In search of an operational definition of an elusive concept. Developmental Review, 32, 125–160. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2012.04.002), and inquiry-based learning with the newly developed Scientific Discovery task, which focuses on the principle of designing informative experiments. Structure of the inquiry-learning environment was manipulated by explaining this principle or not. As intelligence relates to learning and possibly curiosity, it was taken into account. Results showed that children's curiosity was positively related to their knowledge acquisition, but not to their quality of exploration. For low intelligent children, environment structure positively affected their quality of exploration, but not their knowledge acquisition. There was no interaction between curiosity and environment structure. These results support the existence of two distinct inquiry-based learning processes – the designing of experiments, on the one hand, and the reflection on performed experiments, on the other – and link children's curiosity to the latter process. |
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| Keywords: | Inquiry-based learning elementary/primary school learning outcomes curiosity individual differences intelligence science education |
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