Curiosity and interest: what should educators know and consider?

Curiosity and interest describe two types of information search. As such, the two constructs serve different but overlapping educational purposes. Research addressing the practical implications of each, together with case materials, suggests that curiosity may be a particular type of trigger for interest. Such a link would benefit efforts to promote curiosity because interest development has been shown to enhance continued information search, improve performance and the coordinated development of self-efficacy and self-regulation. We suggest that future studies should address how the relation between individuals' level of curiosity and interest development can be best supported.