It is interesting that curiosity, from a biological point of view, is a concept that has never been pinpointed, even though a widely accepted definition is ‘the motivation that stimulates us to seek new information’. Curiosity is the basic essential ingredient of scientific and general development. It is curiosity that stimulates research and innovation carried out by prestigious scientific organisations or ‘gifted’ individuals. Many great inventions of late, from nano-motors to water purifying systems have been produced by individuals who had no experience in the field other than a driving curiosity.
It is essential to promote and stimulate curiosity in our students so as they can achieve a joy of exploration of whatever they are attempting to learn. Curiosity is not only to be promoted at college but also needs to be supported and encouraged at home. Teaching students to be sceptical, encouraging them to think, offering open-ended exercises without a pre-determined result, teaching them to ask probing and relevant questions and rewarding and encouraging inquisitive behaviour are all excellent strategies to promote curiosity.
Curiosity can go a long way to explaining success in any endeavour. Srinivasa Ramanujan, one of greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, always claimed that he was not smarter than anybody else, just more curious.
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