Mayo’s Clinic: Strategies for Encouraging Curiosity in Students, Part II
Following up on last month’s inspiration to teach curiosity by capitalizing on the five “W”s, this month Dr. Mayo reveals three additional strategies.
By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT
This month is the second installment of suggestions for encouraging curiosity in students. Last month, we talked about inviting them to lead critiques of food, asking them to ask questions about what they are doing in class, and inviting them to consider what could be done differently each time they do something. These strategies keep their minds active and promote both curiosity and creativity along with critical thinking.
This month, we will discuss three other strategies that are part of good teaching, but can be particularly useful in promoting curiosity.
Controversy
One very effective way to encourage curiosity is to create some discrepancy about something that is being taught or discussed. Since you want different perspectives, give students various roles to play in the discussion of some concept. They will investigate it and think about it more profoundly since they know that there will be several points of view. The benefit is that they will consider more aspects of the topic knowing that they have to debate it.