Design to Spark Curiosity

This month’s field note includes ideas for sparking curiosity.

📓 Field Note: Cultivating Curiosity in Adult Learners
📍 Sparked by: The Curiosity Effect with Tony Vincent (and more!)
💡 Big idea: Curiosity is integral to the learning process, for kids and adults.

A Year of Curiosity

Curiosity isn’t my “official” word of the year, but it keeps showing up.

Earlier this year, I joined a remarkable learning community called the Curiosity Collective, part of the lead-up to Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s book launch for Tiny Experiments. This newsletter is one of many ripple effects from that experience. (See my note at the bottom of this page!)

Since then, curiosity has kept me company:

• I gave my first keynote on “sparking curiosity,” weaving together ideas from Tiny Experiments and even a little Mr. Rogers magic.

• I hosted a community book club for Tiny Experiments, and several of us are still talking about our own experiments and how we’re building our “curiosity muscles.”

• At ISTE this summer, I heard Scott Shigeoka speak about inward and outward curiosity, drawn from his book Seek. He offers this framing that’s stayed with me:

I attend as many of Tony Vincent’s learning experiences as possible, and he recently led a FigJam webinar called The Curiosity Effect, filled with ideas for cultivating curiosity. (I’d seen a shorter version at ISTE, but the full session gave me time to truly reflect, explore, and engage.)

Ted Lasso quoting Walt Whitman (“Be curious, not judgmental.”) and Michael Bungay Stanier’s coaching reminder (“How can you stay curious a little bit longer?”) are in my head and heart this year, so this month’s newsletter explores a few ideas related to curiosity…and a nudge to design learning that sparks a little more wonder.

Champions of Curiosity

In Atlas of the Heart, Brené Brown shares George Loewenstein’s idea that curiosity is created when there’s a gap between what we know and what we want to know. When that gap emerges, our minds and hearts want to close it.

So what does that mean for professional learning? How can we intentionally create that “curiosity gap” in our sessions?

In Experiments in Reflection, Leticia Britos Cavagnaro introduces the “Insight-o-meter,” a reflection tool with three stages: Meh, Hmmm…, and Aha!

While she offers this framework for personal reflections, I think it’s a brilliant way to think about the participant experience, too. I want learners to at least land in the Hmmm… zone and be curious enough to lean in.

In When You Wonder, You’re Learning, authors explore how Mr. Rogers intentionally nurtured curiosity in his viewers. They remind us: “When children are captivated, they start asking questions, and the more questions they ask, the more they’re likely to learn. For adults, the key is to keep encouraging such wonder.”

One UK study found that four-year-old girls ask more than 300 questions a day! Pure, unfiltered curiosity.

So here’s a reflective pause for us:
How many questions have you asked today?
And how many were driven by genuine curiosity, not just logistics?

If we want educators to be curious learners, we must design experiences that invite even the smallest bits of wonder.

💡 Facilitation Moves: Creating a Spark

For those of us who have been teaching a long time (🙋🏻‍♀️) you may remember Madeline Hunter’s lesson plan framework, which begins with the “anticipatory set.” This element of the model is to hook learners into the learning. Later frameworks actually renamed it the “hook” or “engage,” but the goal remains: cultivate curiosity and create a reason to care about the learning.

Lately, I’ve realized I’ve fallen out of the habit of intentionally designing these moments. So I’ve been experimenting with a few curiosity-boosting strategies:

Start with a jolt
At a session on the Choreography of Presenting, Kendall Zoller encourages beginning with an impact statement, which is a quote, statistic, or moment that provokes. Inspired by that, I now often open with Katie Martin’s TEDx title: “Teachers create what they experience.”

It’s a small move that invites deeper reflection right from the start.

Create mystery
A little intrigue goes a long way. I’ve used AI tools to shape more engaging session titles and descriptions (leaning into the idea of “revealing design secrets”), and even told participants “no peeking!” in a shared doc until a certain part of the session.

At one session, I created an AI-generated “commercial” that played as the room filled. It sparked buzz and set the tone for exploration.

Add a layer of play
In The Curiosity Effect, Tony Vincent shared ideas like blurred image reveals, mad libs, and prediction polls. (One of his “photo reveals” was actually a picture of Madeline Hunter!) These playful strategies for classrooms are ideas I’d love to adapt for adult learners.

Years ago, a friend shared how she hid “Easter eggs” (little inside jokes or bonuses) in presentations. I’ve done it only twice, but I’m inspired to try again.

Another favorite: I’ve used the Fast and Curious EduProtocol, which starts sessions with a “pop quiz” to introduce content and check for prior knowledge. It’s energizing, lighthearted, and instantly activates curiosity.

Those are a few ways I’m exploring to build curiosity into the design of a session itself. But sometimes, the simplest strategy is to invite participants to bring their own curiosity to the surface.

Try This in Your Next Session: Turn Curiosity Inward

Julie Dirksen, in Design for How People Learn, reminds us:

One way to get there? Prompt them to reflect from the start.

Try beginning a session with a variation of one of these questions:

• What do you hope to gain from our time together?

• Why did you choose this session?

• Why is this topic important to you? (Julie Dirksen shared this question in a podcast interview with MBS.)

• Which learning goal is most meaningful to you today?

These simple questions turn curiosity inward, and the reflection time often leads to deeper engagement.

I still love the power of hooks and priming, but I’m also learning that curiosity can emerge when learners get to name their own purpose.

I’d Love to Hear

What are your go-to strategies to spark curiosity, either before or during a session?

Do you start with a question, an activity, or an insight?

Have you found a particular moment that reliably captures attention?

Hit reply and let me know what works for you. Or share your take on social media and tag me. I’d love to see how you’re cultivating curiosity in your world of professional learning.

Noting, reflecting, connecting,
Kathryn

PS: If something here sparked an idea, please forward this post to an EduFriend who’s also designing professional learning. ✨

☕️ This month’s DFW CoffeeEDU will be virtual, and all educators are welcome!
Learn more here and RSVP here.

Reflecting • Connecting • Refining

📓 Why Field Notes?

This newsletter is inspired by the idea of self-anthropology from Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff. Just like field notes help researchers make sense of what they observe, these monthly reflections help me capture ideas, tools, and questions from my own work designing professional learning. I share them here in the spirit of experimentation, connection, and ongoing refinement.

🤖 AI helped polish this post, but the ideas, intention, curation, and care are all mine.