Cultivating the Curious Mind: The
Importance of Intellectual Curiosity in
Higher Education
by Marni Finkelstein, Ph.D.
What is Curiosity?
Curiosity is a powerful motivator of certain behaviors. It
is a basic instinct that allows intelligent beings to learn
and master new things in their environment. It is
important for survival, learning, and technological
advancements (Arnone, Small , Chauncey, & McKenna,
2011).
Intellectual Curiosity
“The need for cognition, epistemic curiosity, and
TIE are exemplary representatives of a group of
investment trait constructs that describe
tendencies to seek out, engage in, enjoy, and
pursue opportunities for effortful cognitive
activity – in short intellectual curiosity” (von
Stromm, Hell, & Chomorro-Premuzic, 2011:
577).
Intellectual Curiosity
Intellectual curiosity is comprised of three interrelated
concepts:
1. Epistemic Curiosity – seeking out opportunities for
intellectual engagement, seeking out facts and
knowledge. In other words, the drive to know things
(Berlyne, 1954).
2. Cognition – The tendency to engage in and enjoy
thinking (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982)
3. Typical Intellectual Engagement (TIE) – Measures
people’s typical expression of engaging with and
understanding their environment, and their desire to
solve complex, intellectual problems (Goff & Ackerman,
1992)
Motivations for Attending College
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
To Get a Better Job
To Make More Money
To Earn an Education
and Gain an
Appreciation of Ideas
Source: Adapted from The American Freshman National Norms 2012. (p. 4) by Pryor, J.H., Eagan, K., Blake, L.P., Hurtado, S,
Burdan, J. & Case, M.H. 2012. UCLA Higher Education Research Institute.
Intellectual Curiosity as a Motivator for Learning
Intrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic Motivation
 Motivation that comes from
internal forces
 Motivation that comes from
external forces.
 Intrinsically motivated
students are motivated
because they enjoy the
process of increasing their
knowledge in regards to a
particular academic
assignment.
 Extrinsically motivated
students are motivated by
attaining or avoiding
something outside the self.
 Intrinsically motivated
students have more of a
desire to learn, perform and
succeed to satisfy
themselves and their
intellectual curiosity.
 Extrinsically motivated
students will strive to earn a
good grade, or some other
type of external reward
such as money, job
promotion, or awards.
Intellectual Curiosity And Academic Success
Intelligence and effort are the main predictors for
academic achievement. However, these predictors are
often driven by a third factor – intellectual curiosity.
Therefore, these three factors work together as the
main pillars of academic success.
Cognitive
Ability
Effort
Intellectual
Curiosity
Academic
Achievement
Intellectual Curiosity Begins with Us.
“What
faculty members exhibit themselves they also desire to instill in their
students” (Maki, 2002: 2)
In order to cultivate intellectual curiosity in
our students, we first must cultivate it in
ourselves. We need to remind ourselves
what we found fascinating about our fields in
the first place. What attracted us to pursue
further explanation or drive us to discover
new information. What motivates us as
educators to take an interest in contributing
new knowledge to our fields.
We also need to remind ourselves why we
wanted to teach in the first place. Was it only to
train students in the skills they need to gain
employment? Or will our teaching goals be
better fulfilled by educating students to be
critical thinkers and problem solvers, who ask
tough question, research the evidence, and
come to logical conclusions. Are we satisfied
with simply having our students memorize
course materials, or do we want to instill within
our students a desire to seek additional
information, and challenge or question existing
theories and practices.
Intellectual Curiosity and the Active Learner
Source: (Petriss, 2008)
Active Learning
Passive Learning
Actively ask questions to
clarify concepts,
examples, logic, etc.
These questions
stimulate further
learning.
Challenge ideas,
procedures, content
relationships, and
priorities to allow for
intellectual dialogue.
Exhibits a diminished
motivation and
intellectual curiosity that
inhibits spontaneous
learning.
Minimal transference of
what is learned due to
low intellectual curiosity
and low enthusiasm for
learning.
Active Learning
Passive Learning
Extends their intellectual
curiosity outside of the
classroom by following
up with additional
readings, and
discussions to validate
their interest in what they
have learned.
Maintain an enthusiastic
attitude about learning.
Exchange viewpoints,
share what they learned
in class, and debate
topics with others.
Low retention of what is
learned beyond what they
need to pass the class.
Fails to make
connections between
what they learn in class
and how it applies to their
lives.
Does not ask probing,
challenging, or logical
questions due to lack of
curiosity, retention and
attention.
Methods to Cultivating the Curious Mind
Socratic Questioning
A teaching strategy used to encourage critical
thinking. Intellectual curiosity is stimulated by
asking probing questions. Students are
encouraged to respond to discussion
questions that require evaluation, critical
thinking, the consideration of different
perspectives, and the application of
knowledge. Follow-up student responses with
more probing questions (Paul & Elder, 2008).
Experiential Learning
A teaching strategy that incorporates participatory
learning opportunities. Its goal is to take the student
from a passive listener to an active participant in the
class. It rouses intellectual curiosity by engaging the
student’s desire to connect what they are learning in
class to their own personal goals. Students don’t often
retain much of what they have heard or read in class.
However, they will better retain what they actively
have done in class. The main goal of experiential
learning is personal involvement of the student by
having them apply concepts to real-life situations.
Learning occurs when students apply concepts to
different situations, and experience the issues
firsthand (Hawtry, 2007).
Role Playing
Collaboration
“The willingness to take intellectual risks can be rare among students because
they may be disengaged or they are fearful of taking a controversial stand
and earning a bad grade” (Berret, 2012: 3)
As educators, it should be part of our goal to strive to stimulate
and renew intellectual curiosity in our students. We need to
encourage our students to tackle challenging work, and not to
only reward them for their application of intelligence and effort.
We need to find ways to also provide our students with
opportunities to cultivate curiosity and reward creativity, critical
thinking, and novel ideas. We should inspire students to be lifelong learners.
References
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Berrett, D. (2012). Habits of the mind: Lessons for the long term. Chronicle of Higher Education, 59(7), A1-A6.
Cacioppo, J.T., & Petty, R.E. (1982). The need for cognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 116-131.
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