The neurobiology of curiosity as a lesson for teachers

Abstract

The central idea of the present text is to show that in the formation of the students of tomorrow's world, a fundamental role belongs to the idea of curiosity. Scientific knowledge has recently become, thanks to technological development and the increasingly computerized era, a way of life in which the skills to understand and handle the applications and software increasingly present in everyday life have become inherent requirements of a life quality. Therefore, there is a need for education based on scientific knowledge to be much more present in the school curriculum of the students who will form tomorrow's society. Perhaps one of the most effective means by which students benefit from a science education is the systematic stimulation of native curiosity. We show some ethological and neurological foundations of curiosity that we consider sufficient for a reformulation of standard pedagogy.