Tips for Stimulating Curiosity  (adapted from Small & Arnone, 2000)

• Give students an authentic task or real life problem and then let them explore ways to solve it.
• Increase value of the project for students by making sure they have direct involvement in defining the parameters of the problem, construct their own understanding of the problem, and create one or more solutions.
• Try framing assignments as problems that students may develop strategies for thinking through and solving. For example, in a study of the importance of Abraham Lincoln, have students create a museum exhibit rather than writing the same old written report. In this activity the potential for designing a compter-based virtual-reality exhibit becomes possible, as well as the opportunity to create floor-plans, take measurements, and write scripts for presentations.
• Create positive anticipation for learning by providing challenge and stimulating student interest such that students must think in a new and different way.
• Caution: Be careful not to provide challenges that are too difficult, as this may cause anxiety and frustration rather than stimulate desired creativity and curiosity. On the other hand, see that the task is not too easy. A task that is not challenging enough will lead to boredom and the students will be unable to consider any great value. Provide just the right level of difficulty, while still allowing students the freedom to be creative.
• Try using fantasy to fire up student imagination and set up a learning environment that epitomizes a state of heightened curiosity and intrinsic motivation. For example, rather than telling students what information they need to find when studying animals, give them a problem to solve that will generate their own interests in thinking about the problem and deciding exactly what to find. Perhaps students are artists employed by the city council to stage a presentation on animal survival. Have them create the display.
• Sponsor a "Student Researcher of the Month" award to stimulate curiosity for investigating information. Create a display in a prominent place so students, teachers, administrators, and visitors can not miss seeing it. For middle school, the display could include a picture of the student, the research topic, a synopsis of the project, and some interesting or surprising facts the student has discovered about his or her topic. In a more primary or intermediate setting, the display could also include a student picture, a poster displaying their discovery or new information they found about a given topic, and an illustration created by the student about their topic.