“Towards a Unified Model of Interest Development and Metacognitive Regulation”
– An invited talk by Dr Sonali Dasgupta presenting the program framework of STEMonsters Education, at the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction (IBSTPI).
Every child starts out curious. So why do some go on to build deep, lasting ability while others lose interest along the way?
In this talk, Dr. Sonali Dasgupta takes on one of the least understood questions in education: how curiosity actually becomes competency. Drawing on research in interest development, curiosity, and metacognition, alongside five years of working with students aged 8 to 18 at STEMonsters programs, she proposes a framework that connects three things usually studied separately. The kind of curiosity a child develops. How they learn to think about their own thinking. And the conditions that turn early interest into real capability. The talk closes with a set of research questions that practitioner experience has surfaced, and that the field is yet to answer.
The Thinking Behind Our Programs
This talk reflects how we work at STEMonsters Education. Our programs are built to hold a child’s curiosity open long enough for it to turn into real capability.