Testimonials

  • "That they see more of the person and also when they say why they want to interview that person. And yeah, that to me is really beautiful. Like listening to them say like, I want to learn more, I want to see more, I want to know more, I want to get closer. Little things like that... I was so happy to have the experience in the classroom again."

    Teacher

  • “It helped me realize how important listening was which helped me discover how if you listen you can make connections.”

    - 7th-grade Student

  • “This whole project showed that by slowing things down, going a little deeper on the personal level, people can connect in ways that a Snapchat or Instagram relationship just cannot do. We'd love to have you back!”

    -Middle School Principal

  • “Yes, [the Listening Project] helped teach me about looking closely at little details, Want to know more about people, and become curious about memories and details."

    - 7th-grade Student

  • “I would recommend the listening project to other students. It has impacted my life for the better and I will use what I learn later in life. (thank you so much)"

    - 7th-grade Student

  • "The thing I liked most about the project was getting to learn about others. I liked this part because I was able to know different info about my mother and be informed in a quick and easy fashion because while interviewing, you get to ask many different questions and you get different stories that could reflect the person's personality."

    7th-grade Student

  • "It didn’t really change my connection with my peers because I already knew a lot of things/information about her but I still learned something about her. But the friendship changed. We became better friends than before. Before the interview I still asked questions but i couldn’t think of a good question now when i ask a question, she gave me more information about herself. "

    6th-grade Student

  • "It made me wonder more about how everyone else's life was. It made me more curious about myself."

    6th-grade Student

  • "It changed the way I see people by making me see the different sides of people. I am able to understand more about people and their lives. It’s important because knowing different people’s stories can change the way I see them."

    6th-grade Student

  • "Interviewing my mom got me to understand how hard life in [country] was. I got to connect with her more because I never ask these questions."

    6th-grade Student

  • "Knowing my peer’s stories, even if it was supposed to be comedy, was really fun and interesting, especially when I didn’t know much of what my peers think and lastly, it was different in a way, since everybody had different stories and not everyone was alike."

    6th-grade Student

  • "I see others in the classroom as people I’m able to relate to, and people that I can somewhat feel close to, especially if they show similarities to myself and my family, and even if they don’t, I can still see them as people who are different in many beneficial ways."

    6th-grade Student

  • "I now see myself as a curious and open person, asking questions and wanting to know about what people think, what their family is like, and wondering about all of the endless possibilities. I also now don’t see myself as shy, since I WANT to ask questions, and I’m not afraid to do so."

    6th-grade Student

  • "And so I really loved, um, see… watching kids learn about their parents, learn about their sisters, their brothers, little stories, things they didn't know."

    Teacher

The Listening with Curiosity Project was a mixed-method pre-post observational study, using self-report student surveys and a behavioral measure involving a short recorded interview. Our team of researchers developed novel instruments to examine the core constructs of the project (i.e., common humanity, interpersonal curiosity, and behavioral listening).

Evaluating The Listening with Curiosity Project

Findings

After participating in the LCP, students reported significant improvements in listening skills, perceptions of social support, common humanity, interpersonal curiosity, and empathy. Both students and teachers also noted a more positive classroom climate and greater academic engagement. The transformative interviewing task used in the program provides a valid behavioral measure of active listening skills among early adolescents—an innovative approach in the field. Additionally, adolescents' interpersonal curiosity was found to have multiple dimensions, each of which was differentially related to social-emotional skills like empathy and active listening, as well as the quality of their friendships.

Interpersonal curiosity was associated with greater levels of perceived common humanity, empathy, listening skills, and social support from friends.

Improved listening skills was associated with high levels of empathy.

Students and teachers reported improved classroom climate and academic engagement as a result of the Listening with Curiosity Project. 

For more information on the research methods of The Listening with Curiosity Project, please reach out to the Project Coordinator, Nathania B. Zhong at nathaniazhong@nyu.edu and check out the Science of Human Connection Lab.