In the context of accelerating integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into education, rapidly assessing students' AI attitude is crucial for advancing digital transformation in education.The aim of this study is to develop and validate a new five-item version of the Artificial Intelligence Attitude Scale (AIAT-5). For examining the quality of the scale, a total sample of 1576 middle and high school students (study 1: 858; study 2: 614) from diverse regions in China completed the survey. Results: (1) Study1: AIAT-5 exhibited strong internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.923, McDonald's ω = 0.923, Guttman's λ6 = 0.911) and good discrimination (α = 3.201 ~ 4.513). Both EFA and EGA supported a robust unidimensional structure. (2) Study 2: CFA results indicated excellent model fit for unidimensional structure (CFI = 0.993, TLI = 0.976, and RMSEA = 0.028), and all factor loadings ranged from 0.879 to 0.953. Furthermore, AI attitude was positively correlated with knowledge of generative AI, life satisfaction, internet addiction, and epistemic curiosity. Overall, within the specific population of Chinese middle and high school students, the AIAT‑5 demonstrates initial validation as a reliable and practically efficient tool for large‑scale assessment of student AI attitude.

Mechanisms linking epistemic curiosity and learning performance: The multifaceted role of mind wandering from trait and state analysis

The impact of creative dance curriculum on epistemic curiosity in young children: A practice-based examination from the perspective of intrinsic needs

ABSTRACT Educators in higher education face persistent challenges in scaling AI literacy across disciplines and helping novice learners understand abstract AI concepts. Although research on game‐based learning (GBL) reports mixed outcomes, few studies have examined its large‐scale use in mandatory, asynchronous AI literacy courses for diverse undergraduate populations. Addressing this gap, this study investigates a scalable GBL‐based AI literacy course delivered to 4898 first‐year undergraduates across disciplines. Using a mixed‐methods design with 311 valid pre‐ and post‐survey responses and 20 interviews, the study evaluates students' cognitive, behavioural, affective, and ethical learning of AI. Quantitative results show significant improvements in overall AI literacy across cognitive, behavioural, and affective dimensions, while ethical learning gains were not statistically significant. Qualitative findings suggest that GBL stimulated students' epistemic curiosity and engagement with AI ethics while revealing pedagogical, technical, and learner‐centered challenges. The study provides large‐scale empirical evidence and proposes an instructional design framework for scalable AI literacy integration in higher education.

The relationship between epistemic curiosity and successful aging in older adults: the role of self-perceptions of aging and perceived social support.

This study examines how the visual presentation of culturally creative desserts (CCDs), modelled after Chinese museum artefacts, relates to potential visitors' visit-related behavioural intention under first-exposure, image-mediated conditions. Drawing on the AIDA model, this study develops a four-stage framework (VCVB: perceived Visual Attention, Curiosity, Visit Motivation, Behavioural Intention) to examine whether visual attention is directly associated with visit motivation in visually mediated museum contexts. A survey using image-based stimuli was conducted with 205 respondents and analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The results reveal an indirect-only pattern: perceived visual attention is positively related to curiosity, curiosity to visit motivation, and visit motivation to behavioural intention, whereas the direct association between visual attention and visit motivation is not significant. These findings indicate that the commonly assumed direct association between visual attention and motivational orientation does not hold under first-exposure, image-mediated conditions. Instead, visual attention operates indirectly through epistemic curiosity and visit motivation, suggesting that visually driven attention alone is insufficient to generate visit-related intention.

Curiosity is central to children's development, particularly in science learning. This longitudinal study examines how epistemic curiosity, overall and its subtypes I-type and D-type, predicts scientific reasoning and science (physics) knowledge at the start (Grade 1) and end (Grades 3-4) of primary school, beyond prior knowledge and cognitive abilities. Parents of 122 children (mean age 6.12 years) completed an 11-item curiosity questionnaire. Scientific reasoning and science knowledge were assessed with standardized inventories and a 25-item physics test. Overall curiosity predicted early reasoning, whereas I-type curiosity predicted later science knowledge. These findings highlight that curiosity has distinct faces and phases: I-type and D-type operate differently at different developmental time points. Fostering both types supports multiple aspects of science competence.

IntroductionThis research examines how different forms of personal interest are associated with critical thinking (CT). While interest is often assumed to enhance engagement and reasoning, its role may depend not only on its intensity but also on its underlying motivational quality.MethodsTwo studies investigated the relationship between personal interest and CT. In Study 1, 77 participants completed standardized CT measures and produced open-ended reasoning on two controversial issues: the death penalty (a universal topic) and the Strait of Messina Bridge (a local topic). Participants also rated their personal interest in each issue. In Study 2, 80 participants completed similar CT measures while distinguishing between different types of interest, including epistemic, ego-defensive, and identity-based interest.ResultsIn Study 1, a nonlinear (inverted U-shaped) relationship emerged for the local topic: both low and high levels of interest were associated with weaker CT performance, suggesting that interest intensity alone does not guarantee critical engagement. No comparable effect was found for the universal topic. Additionally, higher CT scores predicted a greater likelihood of revising one’s stance when exposed to contradictory evidence. Study 2 revealed that epistemic interest, rooted in curiosity, was positively associated with CT, whereas ego-defensive and identity-based interests showed negative associations.DiscussionOverall, these findings indicate that the quality rather than the magnitude of personal interest is more strongly linked to whether it facilitates or impairs reasoning. Interest may enhance CT when driven by epistemic curiosity, but may hinder it when tied to self-protection or identity concerns.

Science identity is the individual’s perception of them as a scientist and the perception of others as scientists. A strong science identity can foster epistemic curiosity related to the need to learn. Epistemic curiosity and the need for cognition may also be related to critical thinking. In this context, the study examined whether science identity relates to critical thinking and whether epistemic curiosity and the need for cognition mediate this connection. The study was conducted in a Turkish sample, and 828 primary school students participated (M age = 9.86; SD = 0.62). Structural equation modeling assessed the relationships between science identities, epistemic curiosity, need for cognition, and critical thinking. The results showed that science identity positively predicted critical thinking both directly and indirectly (through epistemic curiosity and the need for cognition). However, the need for cognition did not play a significant role alone; it was in combination with epistemic curiosity. This suggests that science identity and epistemic processes are effective in developing critical thinking.

This mixed-methods study was designed to investigate how engagement with modular arithmetic influences senior high school students’ beliefs about mathematical certainty, creativity, and reflective thinking. Grounded in constructivist learning theory and critical mathematics education, the study conceptualizes mathematical truth as context-dependent, rule-governed, and open to epistemic inquiry rather than as an absolute given. Conducted with 50 grade 12 learners from Stirling Schools in Erbil and Kirkuk during the 2024-2025 academic year, the study employed a convergent design integrating pre- and post-Likert-scale surveys with reflective journals. The intervention challenged the universal arithmetic statement “2 + 2 = 4” by introducing congruence modulo <i>n</i>, highlighting that mathematical outcomes depend on specific axiomatic rules. Quantitative data analysis revealed significant improvements in beliefs about mathematical certainty, creativity, and critical thinking (p < .001), with no gender-based differences noted. Thematic analysis of qualitative reflections identified six interconnected themes: recognition of context-dependent mathematical truth, awareness of underlying structures, epistemic curiosity from cognitive conflict, emergence of creativity in reasoning, understanding that rules shape meaning, and strengthened mathematical identity. The findings suggest that exposure to alternative mathematical systems fosters conceptual flexibility, metacognitive engagement, and a humanistic view of mathematics. The study has important implications for 21<sup>st</sup> century mathematics education, advocating for critical-pedagogical approaches that enrich classroom inquiry, promote creativity, and challenge absolutist notions of truth. Limitations and recommendations for future research, including longitudinal designs and cross-cultural comparisons, are also discussed.

This study proposed a structural model for examining the role of epistemic belief and epistemic curiosity in students’ online academic help-seeking. A total of 262 higher education students responded to three research instruments. Through partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), reliability was assessed, and validity evidence related to convergent and discriminant aspects was gathered to support the measurement model’s appropriateness in capturing the intended constructs. Structural model results revealed that students’ beliefs about knowing through academic help-seeking were associated with three types of online help-seeking behaviours: information searching, formal query and informal query. Further path analysis found that the students’ epistemic curiosity traits, including two types of interest (I-type) and deprivation (D-type), were the mediators in the relationships between epistemic belief and online academic help-seeking behaviours. While the I-type students who prefer to discover new information for inherent enjoyment tended to search for online information when encountering academic challenges, the D-type students who tend to seek information when they perceive informational deprivation preferred to send formal and informal queries for online help.

This study examined the effect of Socratic questioning on enhancing cognitive curiosity and historical empathy among university students in History education programs. The study involved 60 third-year male undergraduate students from Al-Azhar University, Faculty of Education in Tafahna Al-Ashraf, assigned to experimental (n=30) and control (n=30) groups using intact classes, with an additional validation sample of 297 students used for psychometric testing. A pretest-posttest control-group design was employed over 12 weeks, during which the experimental group received Socratic questioning instruction focused on Egyptian historical contexts. In contrast, the control group received traditional lecture-based instruction. Data were collected using the Historical Empathy Scale-Adult Form and the Epistemic Curiosity Scale, and analyzed using a repeated-measures ANOVA in SPSS 27 with post hoc pairwise comparisons and the Bonferroni adjustment. Results revealed significant improvements in the experimental group across all measures, with large effect sizes for total historical empathy (?²p = .426) and total epistemic curiosity (?²p = .361), while behavioral empathy showed the strongest improvement (?²p = .288). Benefits were maintained at follow-up assessment, indicating lasting effects of the intervention. The findings recommend that educational institutions integrate Socratic questioning techniques in history curricula and provide faculty development programs focusing on inquiry-based pedagogical approaches. Received: 28 October 2025 / Accepted: 18 December 2025 / Published: January 2026

This study investigates the impact of high school students' levels of epistemic curiosity (EC) and metacognitive awareness (MCA) on their learning approaches, aiming to address the achievement gap. The Approaches to Learning Scale, Metacognitive Awareness Inventory, and Epistemic Curiosity Scale were administered to 756 students in the 9th and 12th grades. Using an ex post facto research design, ordinal logistic regression analysis revealed that both interest-type and deprivation-type EC significantly predicted the deep learning approach at both grade levels. While MCA significantly predicted deep learning, the regulation of cognition was not a significant predictor at the 12th-grade level. At both grade levels, deprivation-type EC and cognitive control processes were significant predictors of the strategic learning approach. However, the analyses on the surface learning approach showed that neither EC nor MCA was a significant predictor at either grade level. These findings demonstrate that EC and MCA are critical variables in understanding high school students' learning approaches. The findings indicate that the cultivation of these competencies can facilitate deep and strategic learning while concomitantly reducing achievement gaps. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the necessity for additional research to be conducted on the interaction of these variables across various educational contexts.

This study investigates how principals’ transformational leadership practices influence teachers’ knowledge-sharing behaviors through the mediating roles of teacher epistemic curiosity and commitment. Although transformational leadership has been extensively studied, limited empirical research has examined the psychological mechanisms linking transformational leadership to knowledge-sharing practices in the Turkish educational context. To address this gap, survey data were collected from 502 teachers across primary, secondary, and upper-secondary schools in Türkiye and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results reveal that transformational leadership promotes knowledge sharing both directly and indirectly by fostering curiosity and commitment among teachers. These findings underscore the importance of leadership in shaping teacher capacities that facilitate professional knowledge exchange. Implications include the need to institutionalize structured opportunities for knowledge sharing, recognize teachers’ collaborative contributions, and support principals in fostering inquiry-oriented school cultures. Limitations of the study, including the cross-sectional design and reliance on self-reported data, suggest directions for future longitudinal and multi-source research.

In the school environment, students’ knowledge acquisition typically occurs within a limited-time context that includes external feedback. However, it remains unclear how such contexts influence students’ epistemic curiosity. This study examines the impact of external time limitation and different feedback methods on epistemic curiosity during the learning process through two studies. Study 1 compared epistemic curiosity between limited-time and no-time-limit conditions, finding that participants in the limited-time condition exhibited significantly higher epistemic curiosity. Study 2 investigated the effects of correctness feedback, score feedback, and ranking feedback on epistemic curiosity in a limited-time context, revealing that only correctness feedback significantly enhanced epistemic curiosity. This suggests that external time constraints in the knowledge learning process can stimulate epistemic curiosity, and correctness feedback can sustain this effect.

Epistemic curiosity is an affective state characterized by the desire for knowledge. This review paper suggests an integrative appraisal model of epistemic curiosity, which combines information-gap, emotion and reward-anticipation accounts of curiosity while proposing an appraisal theory-based explanation for why some knowledge gaps elicit curiosity. We discuss evidence for the involvement of brain circuits that support each step of curiosity-driven knowledge exploration. Overall, this integrative appraisal model of curiosity suggests that epistemic curiosity i) is an emotion which is triggered by appraised high relevance, valence, novelty and coping potential of knowledge-gaps; ii) confers a reward value to its epistemic object; iii) triggers a reward anticipation process; iv) and motivates a knowledge-seeking behavior (i.e., "wanting knowledge"). Once curiosity is satisfied, future knowledge-seeking expectations are updated according to affective prediction errors (i.e., "liking and learning"). If relevance is appraised as high but coping potential is appraised as low, the knowledge-gap rather creates anxiety and leads to information-avoidance. Future directions as to how this integrative model can be tested and extended are also discussed.

Abstract Many widely available search engines prioritise quick access to information, without acknowledging that knowledge is situated across different disciplines. EI Search is the first search engine to empower users’ curiosity about the nature of knowledge and boost epistemic insight into how disciplines work. Unlike conventional search tools that treat knowledge as a monolith, EI Search prompts users to explore complex questions through up to ten disciplines, each offering distinct perspectives. EI Search builds on previous work with the Epistemic Insight Discipline Wheel (DW), an educational graphic that visualises disciplines as interconnected yet distinct fields. Displaying the Discipline Wheel in schools and universities has been shown to empower staff and students to wonder how different disciplines approach a complex topic. However, the DW’s static format limits its capacity to teach epistemic insight and help students to engage with the architecture of knowledge itself. Motivated by the opportunity presented by Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), we reconceptualised the DW into an interactive tool—EI Search—whereby entering a question and selecting disciplines by clicking on them means that users receive pen portraits by GenAI about the approach that each discipline takes. In Phase 1, we developed multifaceted prompts for GenAI to model scholarly knowledge and discipline-specific norms. Phase 2 involved co-creative refinement with educators, technologists, and students, leading to a prototype tailored for educational contexts. In Phase 3, we adapted the tool for secondary schools, gathering data on student interactions. Our findings demonstrate that EI Search effectively ignites epistemic curiosity, fosters agentic learning, and builds disciplinary and interdisciplinary epistemic insight. The research takes place at a pivotal point in the evolution of search engines. We make recommendations about how and why the next generation of search tools should respond to the arrival of GenAI. We also make recommendations for education based on what this research reveals about the power of EI Search to boost knowledge literacy and open users’ minds to the value of taking different perspectives.

The influence of ambiguity tolerance on psychological well-being: The roles of interest-type epistemic curiosity and wisdom.

This study investigated the effects of object-based strategy on Senior Secondary two students’ epistemic curiosity and performance in Biology in Abuja, Nigeria. The study adopted the quasi-experimental research design particularly the non-randomized pre-test, post-test control group design. The population for the study comprised of 3,117 SSII students offering Biology in the fifteen public senior secondary schools in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). The sample of the study was 196 senior secondary two students offering Biology from four public secondary schools in AMAC. Simple random sampling technique was used in selecting the sample for the study. Four research questions and four hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Two instruments were used for data collection, namely, Biology Students Epistemic Curiosity Questionnaire (BSECQ) and Biology Performance Test (BPT) with a reliability coefficient of 0.86 and 0.93 respectively. The research questions were analysed using mean and standard deviation, while the hypotheses were tested using ANCOVA. The findings of the study revealed that students taught using object-based strategy had higher epistemic curiosity mean scores and gained higher performance mean scores than their counterpart taught using conventional method. The result also indicated that the epistemic curiosity and performance mean scores of male students did not differ from that of the female students. The findings further revealed that object-based strategy was effective in increasing Biology students’ curiosity across school location in favour of urban school students. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Biology teachers should be encouraged to integrate object-based strategy into their lesson delivery.

Willful ignorance-the deliberate avoidance of information-plays a pivotal role in shaping how individuals assess and respond to risk. This paper explores how willful ignorance contributes to both active and passive risk-taking, with particular emphasis on the latter, where lack of action can lead to significant harm. We examine the potential of epistemic curiosity to counteract this avoidance by promoting instrumental information-seeking, while also acknowledging its potential to increase active risk-taking through heightened sensation-seeking. We present a dual-pathway model in which curiosity has opposing effects on different types of risk behavior, mediated by information preferences. This framework highlights willful ignorance as a key mechanism in risk-related decisions and offers insights into how curiosity can both mitigate and amplify risk.