Jamie Jirout, assistant professor of education and researcher at CASTL, has spent the last few years holding a magnifying glass to curiosity. With a focus on curiosity's impact on STEM learning, her research follows the development and benefits of curiosity in young children.
On May 31, she will share this research at the 48th annual Jean Piaget Society Meeting in Amsterdam. This year, the meeting explores the dynamics of human psychological development -- its processes, interactions and complexities.
In a session dedicated to play, emotion, and perception, Jirout will present "Keeping Children Curious: A Study of Curiosity-Promoting Instructional Language."
Despite the lack of instructional goals around curiosity in education, Jirout underscores the value of cultivating curiosity in children. Her presentation will introduce a framework for curiosity promotion and results from an experiment using curiosity-promoting language on a question-asking task.