Fostering adolescent curiosity through a question brainstorming intervention

Abstract

IntroductionHigh adolescent curiosity is associated with several positive outcomes, yet questioning, a common behavioral manifestation of curiosity, declines once children enter formal schooling. The present quasi-experimental study empirically investigated whether directly teaching students to question helps to foster students’ more enduring, dispositional tendency towards curiosity. MethodThe study explored the impact of a direct-instruction student-brainstorming intervention, the Question Formulation Technique (QFT), on adolescents' curiosity. The study's sample included adolescents (N = 3173) in four public high schools in the United States nested within 43 educators' English/Language Arts classrooms. Teachers (N = 43) were randomly assigned to two groups, one of which received professional development in the QFT in fall 2015 and the other in the winter of 2016. The study utilized student self-report questionnaires and teacher fidelity checks at three time points (fall, winter, and spring) to consider the impact of the QFT on participating adolescents' curiosity. ResultsMultilevel modeling results indicated a positive treatment effect of the QFT on adolescents' curiosity, a positive adherence effect on adolescents' curiosity growth, and a positive dosage effect on adolescents’ curiosity growth. ConclusionsThe study suggests that adolescent dispositional curiosity can be significantly increased by directly teaching students to question.