Perceptions of Curiosity in School and Their Relation With Academic Performance (Poster 17)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Wednesday 4:20 p.m.
  In Poster Session: Motivation, Emotion, and Engagement Across Contexts

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between Chinese middle school students’ subjective experiences and attitudes toward curiosity and their academic performance. Surveys with five open-ended questions as well as school achievement records were collected from 337 adolescents (ages 12 to 15). Utilizing text and epistemic network analysis, the study categorized students’ curiosity perceptions and tested the network differences between lower, medium, and higher achievers. Findings reveal that definitions and subjective experiences of curiosity expressed by students with varying academic performance showed differently, whereas there was no significant correlation between students' attitudes towards curiosity and academic performance. The findings highlight the important role of curiosity perceptions.  

Authors

• Huier Zheng, University College London - IOE

• Linwei Yu, University of California - Berkeley

• Xingshuo Zhou, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

• Xin Tang, Shanghai Jiao Tong University