Curiosity

Curiosity is a huge motivator to learn. Students who are curious are actively seeking out answers to their questions and genuinely want to learn about whichever topic has caught their interest. The study I was reading about, which I have linked below, goes into the scientific reasoning on how exactly curiosity motivates learning. One point the study found was that when someone is curious about something, their brain goes into a state that allows them to learn better and retain information. Another point that the study found was that once someone becomes curious, there is increased activity in their hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that creates memories and is part of the process related to pleasure. This means that dopamine can be released and make the learning process pleasurable. So in order to have the most success in a classroom, a teacher has to find a way to stimulate their student’s curiosity.

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/why-curiosity-enhances-learning-marianne-stenger