Curiouser and curiouser!
A reader posed this question, and I am confident she’s not alone:
"What are (non-pandering) ways to measure curiosity? Our broad goal is to inspire curiosity, but we're struggling with how to measure such an abstract thing. Do we look at the length of lists of questions they have pre- and post-program? Complexity of word choice when asking questions? Help!"
Curiosity runs rampant in our institutions’ goals. And maybe your first impulse is to head to Google Scholar and borrow a measure from the academics. Curiosity has been studied deeply, and in fascinating ways.
But, in my experience, you won't find an off-the-shelf evaluation tool that matches what you are trying to achieve. Here are a few statements I cherry-picked from curiosity surveys:
- I am the type of person who really enjoys the uncertainty of everyday life.
- If I read something that puzzles me, I keep reading until I understand.
- Thinking about solutions to difficult conceptual problems can keep me awake at night.
- I mix things together to see what happens.
All are valid. But they are all measuring very different things. And probably none are what your program is actually trying to do. (I mean, I really hope curiosity insomnia isn’t your goal.)
Here are a few guideposts to figure out what curiosity means at your institution.
Define it for yourself.
I’m pretty sure I have the smartest, coolest readers, because this question hit on the fundamental problem:
“We’re struggling with how to measure such an abstract thing.”
Exactly. Curiosity is an abstract concept. You have zero hope of measuring it until you and your team get way more specific about what you mean by curiosity.
One of the reasons it feels so abstract is that often curiosity is a mission-level outcome that you are trying to evaluate at the individual program level.
Your mission is the sum of all of your parts over all of your time. That gives outcome language more latitude to be big-picture, broad, and abstract.
But when you’re evaluating at the program level, you need to center that experience on its own. Think about that experience you are creating. How does that specific program or exhibit contribute to Big-C Curiosity? That’s the grain size you need to be operating at in order to figure out how to measure it.
Which curiosity do you mean?
When I think of someone who is curious, a whole bunch of synonyms come to mind. If they were the Seven Dwarves of Curiosity, I'd call them: Nerdy, Nosy, Chatty, Dreamy, Tinkery, Cheeky, Skeptic.
Curiosity could mean:
- Seeking knowledge for the love of learning
- Being nosy (or nebby, if you’re from Pittsburgh)
- Being a good conversationalist
- Wondering
- Seeking knowledge to fill a gap or solve a problem
- Seeking novelty
- Pushing boundaries (remember the adage about the cat?)
- Questioning or problem-finding
The point is that if you imagine the people who embody each of these types of curiosity, they are not all the same human beings.
The “Love of Learning” curious person might be the one watching documentaries for fun, because these experts tell them such interesting things! (See: my household. We are such nerds.)
The “Fill a Gap” curious person might be the one who rips the television apart because they just had to figure out how it works.
The “Nosy” curious person is very interested in the lives of other people. For example: your friend whose “Find My” privileges had to be revoked because they constantly keep tabs on your location just because they are... curious.
Alice (of Wonderland fame) is defined by both “Seeking Novelty” and “Pushing Boundaries” – depending on the moment in her story.
Think about which type of curiosity you mean to help you get concrete to guide measurement.
Is curiosity a behavior or a trait?
Another thing that will radically change how you approach measurement of curiosity as an outcome is whether you intend it to be a behavior or a trait.
Curiosity as a Behavior: This approach is looking for situational curiosity, where you are aiming for your learners to display curiosity about this thing in this moment. If you aim to pique curiosity – getting them curious about something that they weren’t before – this is your target. Your evaluation will likely be looking for actions or feelings of that reaction about a specific topic or setting.
Curiosity as a Trait: This approach treats curiosity as a durable mindset that someone builds and can apply in life. A trait is not a momentary thing; it is more like a skill, getting stronger or weaker with practice. But, at its core, it thinks about curiosity as something a person fundamentally “owns.”
Sidebar: A cohort of children’s museums has been digging into building character; a key trait that many institutions are exploring is, in fact, curiosity.
If that still feels too abstract, think about if any of these speaks to you:
- A feeling they are having?
- The catalyst for an action or behavior?
- A lifelong skill they are practicing and building?
- A lifelong skill they are aware of and value?
Those are all different things that require different measures.
Once you can spell out the type of curiosity and whether it's situational or skill-based, you are better able to answer the magic question: What would it look like if participants in your program were the type of curious you mean?
Is question-asking a measurement proxy for curiosity?
Let's not ignore our reader's ideas for measuring curiosity:
"Length of lists of questions they have pre- and post-program? Complexity of word choice when asking questions?"
Let's look at each idea.
Pre/Post number of questions posed: This is rooted in an assumption that once they know about Topic X, they will be curious, which manifests as having many more questions about X. This is squarely a measure of situational curiosity.
As a pre/post measure, it takes time to collect. And if this is in a short-duration program, I have some reservations.
Complexity of word choice in questions: This tends to be an indicator of what they learned, not curiosity. No form of curiosity requires vocabulary.
Instead, consider looking at language for the types of questions: Word choice could be useful, perhaps if you are trying to look at breadth of curiosity. Categorizing questions might show if it is simply fact-seeking or if curiosity has broadened to other areas.
But, as always, just because it is possible to measure something doesn't mean that's the right measurement for your goals.
Real World Examples:
Situational Curiosity
In a history-based exhibit evaluation, we defined curiosity as “wanting to learn more.” This is incredibly common (and realistic) as a goal within traditional, interpretive exhibitions.
To measure this form of curiosity, we took two approaches:
First: When given a choice between the stories of two historical figures, which did they choose? And why?
The act of choosing told us what piqued that curiosity, and follow-up questioning helped us understand what drove that initial reaction. Familiarity vs. Novelty? Like-me vs. Not-like-me? The picture vs. the label? And more.
Second: How deep into a story do they go? How curious are they to keep learning more about one person?
We were hoping that the exhibits told compelling stories that made people reading think: “I MUST know more!” So, that was the indicator of curiosity we looked for.
Curiosity as a Trait
In another project, there is a system for assigning “curiosity points.” In the activity, learners who complete the activity have the choice to "get a little more information" or move on to the next game or task.
Those who choose “get a little more information” earn curiosity points – along with fun facts.
Once again, museums gravitate to information-seeking as the framework for curiosity. But, in this case, the measure focuses only on the practice of being curious, not the content. It only cares that they chose to give more time to seek information, instead of jumping to the next game. The points assign a value, and by making that known, it is both a measure and an instructional strategy.
So, Reader, what fuzzy-sounding outcome is your team stuck on? Hit reply and tell me which abstract word we should try to unpack next.