Curiosity is more than just a way to describe your interest in something. It's actually a complex emotion that primes the learning centers in your brain. But not just your learning centers...your reward centers too! When your curiosity is satisfied, your brain rewards the result, encouraging you to continue exploring that emotion. Understanding this concept and how it works can greatly impact how you approach learning design.

This session will explore the power of curiosity and how it can be applied in our learning design. We'll first look at what happens in the brain when curiosity is piqued. We'll also explore some common marketing tactics and how they intentionally target "curiosity gaps" to get and hold our attention. The rest of the session will focus on practical strategies that learning designers can leverage to take their solutions to the next level. We can use curiosity to prime a hunger for learning, just like a visual or olfactory stimulus can prime a hunger for food. And, of course, we'll answer the question posed in the title. 

In this session, you will:

• Learn the brain science of curiosity.  

• How marketers leverage "curiosity gaps".

• Why curiosity is critical to learning.  

• Ways to cultivate and activate curiosity in your learners.