Abstract

Research suggests a link between active, intrinsically-motivated learning and subject-specific curiosity that might be leveraged by teachers to support academic performance. This study investigates relationships between self-reported curiosity in animal science and the perceived impact of seven learning activities. A questionnaire was administered to 238 students in an introduction to animal science course (93.2% response rate; n=222). Likert-scale questions prompted students to rate pre- and post-course levels of curiosity in animal sciences, and to rate the impact of each of the following learning activities on their interest in studying animal science: case studies, think-pair-share, exam review sessions, laboratory stations, laboratory handouts, iClicker questions, and laboratory critical reflections. The majority of the students indicated their pre- and post-course levels of curiosity in animal sciences as very high or extreme (67.1% and 65.3%, respectively). Paired t-tests indicated no change in curiosity in animal sciences over the course of the semester. Pearson correlation coefficients showed a weak positive relationship between end-of-semester curiosity level and the perceived impact of each of the learning activities on student interest. Of the learning activities, case studies and laboratory stations were most related to end-of-semester student curiosity (r=0.373, 0.377). These results indicate that active learning strategies stimulated more interest in students with higher levels of curiosity in animal sciences and suggest that interactive, group-based instructional methods like case studies and laboratory stations are beneficial for this group of students.