Investigating the impact of playful learning on curiosity and divergent thinking

Abstract

The current study examined the impact of experiencing either a guided play or direct instruction learning environment on causal learning, curiosity, and divergent thinking. Forty-three children (age 4- to 6-years) participated in an online experiment in which they completed a causal learning task in either guided play or direct instruction condition. Children also completed measures of curiosity and divergent thinking and a second causal learning free exploration task after which they were tested on their causal learning. It was predicted that children in the guided play condition would perform better than children in the direct instruction condition on a test of causal learning because guided play provides a balance of child agency and adult guidance that is optimal for supporting learning. Contrary to the hypothesis, children in the direct instruction condition performed better on the test of causal learning. This finding is likely due to the cognitive demands placed on children in the guided play condition. These demands were likely the result of completing the task in an online environment, and the current study has implications for learning and conducting research online. Based on prior research, it was also predicted that children in the guided play condition would outperform children in the direct instruction condition on measures of curiosity and divergent thinking, and that curiosity would also predict children’s causal learning. There were no effects of condition on either curiosity or divergent thinking, but curiosity did predict children’s scores on the test of causal learning. This finding suggests that curiosity is a powerful driver of children’s learning and deserves further investigation.