Workshops

Rationale/Background: The importance of curiosity to learning and discovery has been discussed throughout history. Albert Einstein and Voltaire credit curiosity as the key to their many successes. Moreover, psychologists such as Jean Piaget, Daniel Berlyne and George Lowenstein have described curiosity as a driving force for learning as it fosters cognitive, social, emotional, spiritual, and physical development. As a result, curiosity has been linked positively to motivation, identity formation, mindfulness and critical thinking. Even in medicine, the founding father of modern medical education, Abraham Flexner, described the ‘good doctor’ as a thoughtful and curiosity-driven scientist. Despite the interest in the role of curiosity in child development and educational psychology, Albert Einstein suggests that formal education has largely suppressed curiosity when he wrote, ‘It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.’ The role of curiosity in medical education and professionalism is also a topic that has received relatively little attention. By employing lessons learnt from the psychology, medical education and medical ethics literature, this workshop intends to stimulate participants’ curiosity about curiosity and provide strategies to promote curiosity amongst their trainees and colleagues. Learning Objectives: By the completion of this workshop, participants will be able to: (i) Describe different types of curiosity and their application to medical education; (ii) Identify the factors within their own institutions that may lead to the promotion and suppression of curiosity; (iii) Implement strategies to promote curiosity in teaching and learning. Instructional Methods: During this workshop, participants will engage in guided small-group discussions to explore their understanding of curiosity, the risks and benefits of fostering curiosity in learners and ways in which curiosity may be promoted or suppressed. Each of these discussions will be preceded and followed by a brief interactive presentation focusing on the current educational theories and evidence related to the discussion questions. Participants will also be exposed to validated tools to evaluate curiosity and be given the opportunity to perform a self-assessment using these tools. Finally, participants will use the strategies provided in this workshop to develop an action plan to cultivate curiosity amongst trainees and colleagues at their home institutions. CCME-WA-2 Est-ce qu’aller trop vite finit par vous ralentir ? Les promesses d ecevantes du ‘multi-tâche’ Fr ed eric Bernier, Universit e de Sherbrooke; Daniel Gladu, Universit e de Sherbrooke