Curiosity (Forms)

Intellectual
Character
Curiosity:
Ask questions!
Curiosity: Ask Questions
1. Thinking about Curiosity...

Your ideas
Choose the image that you feel best represents or captures the essence of curiosity.
1.
5.
2.
6.
3.
4.
7.
8.
1. Whats going on in the picture?

4
2. Why do you say this picture best represents or captures the essence of curiosity?
Curiosity pertains to the mind, as such it is the essence of curiosity.
REFLECT: Are we curious?

Visit kahoot.it and enter the Game PIN on the screen. After completing the quiz, answer the
following:
1. What do you think prevents you from being more curious?
Fear, lack of interest.
2. How do you think curiosity can be developed?
Looking into things, finding different perspectives on things.
VIDEO: The ecstasy of Curiosity

wonder
I see:
That is really interesting
I think:
How that would be possible.
I wonder:
https://goo.gl/Ne01kF
2. Understanding curiosity...
Definition: Curiosity
2
Curiosity is a disposition to wonder, ponder and ask why. It involves a thirst for
understanding and a desire to explore.
Stimulus: Arthur Miles from the search by c.P.

Snow
The Search is a novel about the
downs of the career of Arthur
scientist at the University of
Cambridge in England. The book
with a description of some of
first
scientific
thoughts
and
He is 11 at the time:
A childs wonder and curiosity

pertaining to the stars and their
lumionescent beauty.
When I was a child of about eleven, a

new excitement suddenly flared up in my life
This particular Sunday night was warm

and twilit, and I fancy summer was nearly
over. As we came to the end of the town, the
sun had just gone down behind the river, and
I remember
it as though it were yesterday
1.
in the yellow sunset sky there was a sickle of
new moon, and high over our heads a
sprinkling of stars just coming dimly out. We
stopped and looked.
ups and
Miles, a
begins
Arthurs
feelings.
What
happens
in
this
story?
My father said:
2. Describe the thoughts and

of the characters in the story.
I wonder if theyre what we think

they are? Stars! Stars like this! He waved
vaguely. People think we know about them. I
The child is fascinated, and the father
wonder if we do.
has a deeper view on the matter
3.
I gazed
up at him.
pondering how much we really know

I wonder if we can, he added.
about the stars
Emotions can dictate the extent of a
I didnt know what he was thinking. All
persons curiosity.
of a sudden I felt that all the things around
me were toys to handle and control, that I
had the power in a tiny, easy world.
curiosity?
I wonder if they are what we think

they are, my father was saying again.
feelings
In
what
way,
if
any,
do
you think
emotions
are
related to
Lets find out, I said. And then: Im

going to find out.
My father looked puzzled. Well, he
said.
Research: Richard
Feynman as an
exemplar of
curiosity
The night had taken hold of me. I

wanted to do something with those stars. I
did not quite know what, but I was elated.
Their beauty stirred me, but it was not only
that. If I had been older, I should have said I
wanted to know, to understand, to alter. I
wanted to rush out and have them for my
own. I laughed:
Im going to find out all about them.
(Baehr,
Research Richard Feynman and how he demonstrated the virtue of intellectual curiosity.
Here are a few resources to help get you started:
Intellectual Character
Article - http://goo.gl/nDgGc6
Speech - http://goo.gl/h4z01u (delivered when awarded the Nobel Prize in 1965)
Video -https://goo.gl/7BtVAf (10 mins)
Video - https://goo.gl/psz8VN (2 mins)
1. Who was Richard Feynman?
Click here to insert answer.
2. What did he achieve in his career and life?
3. What did Feynmans interaction with his father at age 11 teach him about knowledge?

4. How did his view of knowledge affect the way he pursued it?
5. In what ways did Feynmans life and career provide examples of curiosity?

Fall in love with some activity, and do it!... Explore the world. Nearly everything is
really interesting if you go into it deeply enough. Work as hard and as much as you
want to on the things you like to do the best. Dont think about what you want to
be, but what you want to do.
6. What part of this quote stands out to you as personally significant?

7. How could you benefit from following this advice in your studies and life?
3. Valuing Curiosity
Article: Cats, take notice: Brain study uses trivia to look
at how curiosity works
Why are you reading this story? Probably no one is paying you or forcing you to read it against
your will. Chances are, you are curious.
Curiosity, that thirst for information, is largely a scientific mystery. How and why it gets
triggered is not entirely understood, but a study has discovered similarities in brain activation
between a state of curiosity and the anticipation of rewards such as food or money.
In addition, it appears that being on a curiosity high can facilitate learning.
Things that youre interested in, you learn better, which is not very surprising, said study
author and psychologist Matthias Gruber of the University of California at Davis. But if
somebody remains curious for a specific time, would he learn better in general?
The answer may be yes, according to his findings, which could have important implications for
better teaching methods and understanding neurological disorders that affect learning and
memory. The study was published online Thursday in the journal Neuron.
Participants were asked to rate trivia questions covering a variety of topics (including science,
TV shows and politics) based on how curious they were to know the answers. Each individual
then went into an MRI scanner where the questions appeared on screen. For example, Who
was the president of the U.S. when Uncle Sam first got a beard?
There was an anticipation period of 14 seconds before the answer was given (Abraham
Lincoln). While the subject waited for the answer, a photo of an unrelated face popped up.
Gruber and his colleagues wanted to see whether being in a state of curiosity could help
participants remember any material, such as the faces, not just the topics of interest.
Immediately afterward, participants were given pop quizzes. The first asked them to recall the
answers to the trivia questions they had just seen as expected, they did better on the high curiosity questions. Next, participants were given a memoryrecognition test in which a face
was shown and the subjects were asked whether they had seen it during the experiment.
Faces that were presented during a highly curious state those faces were remembered
better, said study author and neuroscientist Charan Ranganath at UCDavis. That was really
the most surprising part.
Followup tests on trivia and faces the next day replicated this same trend. The observed
memory benefits were supported by brain activity in the hippocampus, an area of the brain
important for forming new memories.
Curiosity seems to place a stamp of importance on certain pieces of information that fly by,
and the brain stores them away for safekeeping. But this link between curiosity and memory
5
may even extend beyond the topics that people find fascinating, to any material processed
while in a curious state of mind.
The MRI results also showed that the 14secondlong anticipatory period but not the answer
itself caused a spike of activity in brain areas linked to motivation, reward and dopamine
release.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is released by neurons in the midbrain in response to
unexpected rewards. For rats, it might be a drop of sweet fruit juice. For humans, it could be
money or a drug of choice. It has been called the pleasure chemical, but in reality dopamine is
much more complex.
Dopamine is released whenever you get news that youre going to get a reward, said
Columbia University neuroscientist Jacqueline Gottlieb, who was not involved in the study. Its
not actually getting the reward, but its the information that youre going to get it theres a
little burst of dopamine.
During states of high curiosity, the researchers saw brain activation patterns that appear
consistent with the release of dopamine.
Curiosity is sort of like a cognitive reward, and these results seem to suggest that cognitive
reward also activates dopamine, said Gottlieb, whose work focuses on the origin of curiosity
and what factors trigger it.
Gottlieb applauds the researchers for choosing to investigate such an everyday but little
understood phenomenon.
Curiosity is sort of a mysterious thing for us neuroscientists, and there havent been many
studies on it, she said.
Gottliebs main criticism was about the results of the facerecognition test, which struck her as
a weaker aspect of the study. She speculates the memory boost could be explained by where
the subjects happened to be looking at the time, not by a curious state of mind.
Im directing my attention to the center of the screen to see the answer, and then I see the
face, she said. Even though the face is irrelevant, it appears in the locus of attention.
Because many disorders such as drug addiction, Parkinsons disease, depression and
schizophrenia affect both memory and the reward circuit, these new findings represent a
first step in better understanding their complex relationship. Ranganaths future work will
involve using electrical stimulation in the key brain regions to see whether it is possible to
artificially create a curious state of mind.
For patients with these conditions, it might be possible to improve memory through the
development of medications or behavioral therapies to stimulate motivation and curiosity, he
said.
(Kim, 2014)
1. What do you think is the main point of the article?

2. What was the major finding of the study conducted by Matthias Gruber?

3. Why did Jacqueline Gottlieb criticise some aspects of the research?
6

4. According to the article, why is curiosity valuable?
You have to say, Wait a second. Why are we doing it this way? Could it be better? Could it
be different? That kind of curiosity, that explorers mind, that childlike wonder thats
what makes an inventor.
Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon
Article: Want To Think Like A Genius? Embrace Curiosity

And Wonder
If we think back to our childhoods, we all started off with curiosity and wonder, with the ability
to invent new things and extend the use of already-invented things with new functions in new
arenas remember how easily the sofa, with a little rearranging of cushions, became a pirate
ship? This wonder, however, disappears quickly after the early years of life. Why is this?
Perhaps we begin to prioritize other values over wonder. Maybe we learn how the world really
works. Or maybe we are simply told to not wonder.
Amazons Jeff Bezos attributes his extraordinary performance, in part, to the continual
exploration of new ideas and new territories through a mindset of childlike wonder. What
modern CEO wouldnt love to follow his lead to take a company to similar heights?
In a recent article in Cognition, Christopher Lucas and colleagues from the University of
Edinburgh and the University of California, Berkeley offer one possibility for what changes our
relationship with wonder: experience. Our knowledge and our expertise in navigating the
world are determined by our experience, and as they point out, this is a double-edged sword.
While our immense prior experience as adults allows us to more efficiently maneuver both
familiar and novel situations, it can also be a detriment when a situation could benefit from a
little childlike wonder. As we all know, many great ideas never leave the gate because
someone says, Weve tried that before. That will never work.
In an experiment, Lucas and colleagues had two sets of participants come into the lab:
college-aged adults and 5-year-old children. Already, some ideas come to mind about the
types of tasks that children or adults are better at. Children, for example, are better at
learning languages, learning to ski, and making friends. Adults, on the other hand, are better
at things like math and reasoning. Right? Well, maybe.
Lucas and colleagues experiment tested the child and adult participants ability to recognize
two different types of patterns: conjunctive causal relationships and disjunctive causal
relationships. In conjunctive causal relationships two (or more) events must take place to
cause a resulting event. For example, in order to turn on a computer you must both plug in
the computer and press the on button. In disjunctive causal relationships, either one of two
events must take place to cause the resulting event. For example, in order to shut down a
7
computer, you can either click the physical off button or go through a series of menus to
shut the computer down.
A natural inclination might be to think that the adults would perform better at recognizing and
applying complex patterns a reasoning task at its core. However, children did better. Adults,
who most frequently come across disjunctive relationships outside of the lab, were biased to
interpret both disjunctive and conjunctive relationships as being disjunctive. That is, adults
approached most of the relationships with a solution resembling push the off button OR find
the shut down command, even though half of the items required an approach more similar
to plug in the computer AND press the on button. Children, on the other hand, were able to
see the two types of relationships as distinct.
In other words, the adults had an expectation about the way something should work, while
the children did not have experience telling them how to solve the problem. The result is that
children are far more inquisitive in their study of possible solutions. You could say kids are
actually problem-solving while adults are solution-retrieving.
Executives today face this challenge constantly. They want their businesses to grow and be
known as truly innovative, but they are leading people who are informed and inhibited by
their typically very useful brain patterns.
This study is just one piece of evidence supporting the idea that prior experience does not
always serve you. In fact, there are many case studies where childlike wonder, the innocence
to reconsider the already-known world, is what ultimately led to extraordinary outcomes.
Consider the way that we now consume media. It was unthinkable twenty years ago that we
would want to read books on an electronic device, such as Amazons Kindle. As of January of
this year approximately 28% of Americans alone use e-readers. To create this new reality,
Bezos and his team needed to move into a completely new territory. They faced the absence
of prior experience with this new product and possibly the history of other, failed innovations.
Bezos has aptly noted that innovation requires experimentation, and with more
experimentation comes more failure. The Genius of Bezos, however, is that he views failure as
a productive part of the innovation process, rather than a detriment to the process. This
relationship to failure may be the key to Bezos fostering the spirit of childlike wonder in his
organization; perhaps in the world of wonder, failure as we define it doesnt even exist.
There is no denying the importance of balance when considering new ideas in this case,
using prior knowledge to inform decisions while not allowing this knowledge to limit future
opportunities.
However, for the most part, producing new results requires thinking in new ways. And new
thinking comes when we suspend the experience that hampers our ability to be creative.
Maintaining childlike wonder, and choosing to evaluate a new product, a new person, or a new
venue with the curiosity befitting a child opens up the possibility for a break from the norm,
and in turn, great innovation.
You may be wondering how to foster a sense of childlike wonder in yourself and your
organization. Perhaps as you read this, you imagined yourself bringing together some great
minds from across your organization to look at an old issue or intractable challenge with a
renewed sense of imagination, suspending any nay-saying or preconceived solutions. But who
has the time? What about the resources necessary to deliver?
We must consider that the companies we admire most for their innovative cultures and
competitive edge are the ones that invest in their own childlike wonder. The question then
becomes: How can you afford not to?
(Gamache, 2014)
1. What do you think is the main point of the article?
2. What was the major finding of the study conducted by Christopher Lucas?

3. How do you think experience can dull curiosity?

4. According to the article, why is curiosity valuable?
research article: The Hungry mind

Over the past century, academic performance has become the gatekeeper to institutions of
higher education, shaping career paths and individual life trajectories. Accordingly, much
psychological research has focused on identifying predictors of academic performance, with
intelligence and effort emerging as core determinants. In this article, we propose expanding
on the traditional set of predictors by adding a third agency: intellectual curiosity Our results
highlight that a hungry mind is a core determinant of individual differences in academic
achievement.
(von Stumm et al., 2011)
1. What is the major finding of this research?
Reflect: The Value of curiosity

1. Provide two reasons why curiosity is valuable to society.
9

2. Why is curiosity valuable to you?

3. How would being more curious help you as a student?
10
4. Developing curiosity...
Article: Seven ways to develop your curiosity

1. Dont label something as boring. 2. Expect things to be fun.
This is the first thing you should do.
Whenever youre about to label something
as boring, stop yourself. Why? Because doing
that will close one more door of
opportunities. What might seem boring at
the surface may actually be interesting if
you just dig a little bit deeper.
Rather than expecting things to be boring,

expect them to be fun. This small change in
your mindset can make a big difference.
Once you do it, it will be much easier for you
to find the fun side of practically anything.
3. Absorb other peoples

enthusiasm.
4. Question relentlessly.
Often something seems boring because its

delivered poorly. Thats perhaps one thing
that makes great teachers great: they can
connect their students to the fun side of
what theyre teaching. So one way to
develop your curiosity is to watch the talks
of those who are enthusiastic about their
fields. Dont just absorb their knowledge;
absorb their energy too. One good place to
start is TED.
5. Create a challenge.
By creating a challenge, you will want to
prove to yourself (and perhaps to others)
that you can make it. One good way to do
that is by creating a project: build something
real out of what you learn. Another way is to
create a contest with your friends to find out
who can do something faster or better.
Whenever you deal with a topic, have

questions in your mind. Find their answers
and raise new questions. Questions keep
your mind engaged. They can change your
learning process from something dull to a
treasure hunt.
6. Connect to what you already

know.
Things will be more exciting if you can
connect what youre learning to what you
already know. Why? Because that improves
your understanding of the world and allows
you to see new possibilities youve never
realized before.
7. Diversify.
8. Your own strategy.
Avoid boredom and find new possibilities by

exploring new topics. Read books in new
genres.
Meet
people
with
different
professions. Add variety to your life.
Click to insert answer.
(Gladwell, 2008)
1. Choose two strategies and explain why you chose these two strategies in particular?
11

2. What are some practical ways that you can implement these strategies?
5. Practising Curiosity...
ACTIVITY 1: Curiosity in class
Choose an activity/lesson that you typically dislike or find boring. The next time you are
involved in this activity, do the following:
1. Name the activity/lesson:

2. Approach the activity with a positive attitude, expecting it to be fun and interesting. It may
help to remember instances when it has been fun or interesting before. Record one such
instance below:

3. It may also be helpful to have a catch phrase or trigger word to help you refocus when
you start losing focus (e.g. FOCUS!).Your chosen word/phrase is:

4. Listen attentively throughout the activity/lesson so that you can ask TWO questions.
Record the two questions below:
a.
b.
5. List TWO things that interest you during the lesson.

a.
b.
6. After the lesson, indicate your level of agreement with the following statements by circling
one number. Also enter this data into the Google form available at: https://goo.gl/gyyeCD.
Statement
I found the activity/lesson more interesting than
usual.
I found the activity/lesson more enjoyable than
usual.
I was able to concentrate more than I usually am
able.
12
Strongl
y
disagre
e
Neutral
/
undeci
ded
Strongl
y agree

I feel that I learned more than I expected during
the activity/lesson.
The answers to my questions helped me better
understand.
I now have further questions to explore after this
activity/lesson.
ACTIVITY 2: Curiosity and questions

Practise active curiosity and explore your current environment, paying attention to anything
that you may often ignore or take for granted, before proposing questions. To achieve this,
follow the steps below:
a. Pick an everyday object or topic.
b. Brainstorm a list of questions about the object or topic using Padlet. Your teacher
will set up one Padlet for the entire class to use and display it on the interactive
white board. Create one post and write you topic/object as the heading and your
questions underneath the heading (you can insert a relevant picture if you so
desire).
c. Pick your two most interesting questions and research them. As you are researching,
try and develop further questions. Record your questions, answers and further
questions below:
1.Question:
2.Question:
Answer:
Answer:
Further questions:
Further questions:
d. Finally, using your initial questions from Part (b) above, look over the list and
transform some of the questions into questions that challenge the imagination. You
can record these questions in your original Padlet post. Do this by transforming
questions along the lines of:
i. What would it be like if
ii. How would it be different if
iii. Suppose that...
13
iv. What would change if...

v. How would it look differently if
ACTIVITY 3: Curiosity in life

Be curious in your everyday life. For one whole week, record everything you do not know the
answer to and some questions you have in the space provided below. Once this is completed,
research some of your most interesting ideas to find answers during Home Group.
Things I do not know: Questions I have:

Answers I found:
Click to insert answer. Click to insert answer. Click to insert answer.
Having completed this activity, indicate your level of agreement with the following
statements. Also complete the Google Form available at: https://goo.gl/JklVeD.
Statement
I was more attentive to everyday occurrences this
week.
I learned more this week than normal.
It was difficult to think of questions.
I knew everything I encountered this week.
I found answers to my questions
I now have further questions to explore.
14
Strongl
y
disagre
e
Neutral /
undecide
d
Strongl
y agree
6. Connecting
Connect: Curiosity and the Christian worldview

Those who are intellectually curious earnestly want to know the truth, so they are always
asking why. They are not satisfied with the easy and simplistic answers, but have a desire to
understand what makes it all workat the foundational level. For them, learning is not
simply a necessary evil (the means of getting a job and buying a house) but a lifelong quest
full of mystery and joy. (Intellectual indifference is the corresponding vice.) (Dow, 2013)
1.
Create a list of various examples of curiosity. Then

discuss whether each is an example of virtuous
intellectual curiosity, the unhealthy sort of curiosity
or could be in either category depending on the
circumstances.
between
the
What
are
positive
the
and
key
negative
differences
types
of
curiosity?
2.
Read Proverbs 2:1-15 and Acts 17:11, 16-34. In

point
form,
summarize
the
lessons
of
these
passages concerning intellectual curiosity. Discuss

your summaries as a group. How can we apply
these lessons to our lives?
7. Evaluating
Proverbs 2:1-15
1
My son, if you accept my words

and store up my commands within you,
2
listening closely[a] to wisdom
and directing your heart to
understanding;
3
furthermore, if you call out to insight
and lift your voice to understanding,
4
if you seek it like silver
and search for it like hidden treasure,
5
then you will understand the fear of the
Lord
and discover the knowledge of God.
6
For the Lord gives wisdom;
from His mouth come knowledge and
understanding.
7
He stores up success[b] for the upright;
He is a shield for those who live with
integrity
8
so that He may guard the paths of
justice
and protect the way of His loyal
followers.
9
Then you will understand
righteousness, justice,
and integrityevery good path.
10
For wisdom will enter your mind,
and knowledge will delight your heart.
11
Discretion will watch over you,
and understanding will guard you,
12
rescuing you from the way of evil
from the one who says perverse things,
13
from those who abandon the right
paths
to walk in ways of darkness,
14
from those who enjoy doing evil
and celebrate perversion,
15
whose paths are crooked,
and whose ways are devious.
15
Evaluate: Curiosity module

https://goo.gl/cm1kv6
Statement
Neutral
/
undecid
ed
Strongly
disagre
e
Strongly
agree
I want to be more curious.
I recognise the importance of being curious.
I have attempted to be more curious over the past few

weeks.
I believe I have become more curious.
I enjoyed this module on curiosity.
I understand what curiosity is.
How have you demonstrated curiosity over the past few weeks at school?

2
What are some things youve found challenging or you want to change as a result of this
module?

3
What were the strengths of this module on curiosity?

4
How could the module on curiosity be improved for next year?
References:
16
BAEHR, J. 2015. Educating for Intellectual Virtues: An Introductory guide for college and
university
instructors.
Available
from:
https://jasonbaehr.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/e4iv_baehr.pdf .
DOW, P. E. 2013. Virtuous Minds: Intellectual Character Development, Illinois, InterVarsity
Press.
GAMACHE, J. 2014. Want To Think Like A Genius? Embrace Curiosity and Wonder [Online].
Available:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gapinternational/2014/12/03/want-to-think-like-agenius-embrace-curiosity-and-wonder/ [Accessed 8 December.
GLADWELL,
M.
2008.
In
the
Air.
The
New
Yorker
[Online].
Available:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/05/12/in-the-air [Accessed 8 December 2015].
IVA.
2015.
Intellectual
Virtues
Academy
[Online].
Long
Beach.
Available:
http://www.ivalongbeach.org/ [Accessed 06/08/2015.
KIM, M. 2014. Cats, take notice: Brain study uses trivia to look at how curiosity works. The
Washington Post, October 5, 2014.
VON STUMM, S., HELL, B. & CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC, T. 2011. The Hungry Mind. Perspectives
on Psychological Science, 6, 574-588.
17

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Intellectual

Curiosity: Ask Questions

1. Thinking about Curiosity...

1. Whats going on in the picture?

Curiosity pertains to the mind, as such it is the essence of curiosity.

REFLECT: Are we curious?

Fear, lack of interest.

2. How do you think curiosity can be developed?

Looking into things, finding different perspectives on things.

VIDEO: The ecstasy of Curiosity

That is really interesting

How that would be possible.

Curiosity: Ask Questions

Stimulus: Arthur Miles from the search by c.P.

A childs wonder and curiosity

When I was a child of about eleven, a

This particular Sunday night was warm

2. Describe the thoughts and

I wonder if theyre what we think

pondering how much we really know

I wonder if they are what we think

Lets find out, I said. And then: Im

The night had taken hold of me. I

1. Who was Richard Feynman?

Click here to insert answer.

2. What did he achieve in his career and life?

Click here to insert answer.

Click here to insert answer.

Click here to insert answer.

Click here to insert answer.

Click here to insert answer.

Curiosity: Ask Questions

Click here to insert answer.

1. What do you think is the main point of the article?

Click here to insert answer.

Click here to insert answer.

Curiosity: Ask Questions

Click here to insert answer.

Click here to insert answer.

Article: Want To Think Like A Genius? Embrace Curiosity

Curiosity: Ask Questions

1. What do you think is the main point of the article?

Click here to insert answer.

Click here to insert answer.

Click here to insert answer.

Click here to insert answer.

research article: The Hungry mind

(von Stumm et al., 2011)

1. What is the major finding of this research?

Click here to insert answer.

Reflect: The Value of curiosity

Click here to insert answer.

Click here to insert answer.

Click here to insert answer.

Curiosity: Ask Questions

Article: Seven ways to develop your curiosity

Rather than expecting things to be boring,

3. Absorb other peoples

Often something seems boring because its

Whenever you deal with a topic, have

6. Connect to what you already

8. Your own strategy.

Avoid boredom and find new possibilities by