What makes learning fun?
There is a inherent reward in learning something new. Making a previous unknown connection between ideas gives us that fantastic “Ohhhhh!” moment. It genuinely feels good to understand a concept that was previously unknown or unexplored.
There needs to be some underlying desire to obtain this new knowledge. Being forced to learn things is no fun at all, you have to want understand it! Curiosity may have killed the cat, but I’m sure if it had lives left, it wouldn’t do it again (bad example, I know). By being curious about the topic, you are far more engadged and actively looking for answers, as opposed to simply being a receptacle.
There has to be some amount of challenge to the learning process. If it is too simplistic, the results seem far too obvious. Being simply told the facts doesn’t necessary make the act of learning enjoyable – it should be a personal exploration and feel as though the lesson has occurred within, rather than externally. I feel there is a huge difference between learning something, and remembering a fact. A good example of this comes from maths; you can easily memorise a formula, but until you derive it, you don’t necessarily understand it.
There also needs to be some level of discourse; room to ask questions from the teacher. When we discuss an idea, it helps to solidify it in our minds. We then move this idea from our working memory to our long term memory and gain the understanding. By being involved with the discussion we are made to feel apart of the lesson, and hence, more involved.
It also helps if you can experiment or play with the thing being learned. In maths we do practice examples, when programming we create test programs and when gaming we try out different strategies. Being able to experiment helps us gain a further understanding of the idea while enjoying ourselves.
Can you remember any teachers who really made learning ‘come alive’ for you? What did they do to make this happen?
Chemistry was a great learning experience for me. Reading about the reactions and actively participating in them was a large attraction. The enjoyment associated with this experimentation urged me to learn more. My teacher, Mr Brooks, loved chemistry as much as we did. The first lesson he filled detergent with gas and lit the bubbles on fire – creating a mushroom cloud of fire. It was awesome. Since then, our interests were sparked and we wanted to be involved.
What about things you have learnt outside of school?
- How to play golf
- Acting (to some degree)
- Certain aspects of programming
- Using your finger to test how hot a frying pan/oven/hot plate/boiling water is, is not a good idea.
- The joy of food
- When enough beer is enough
Check out Raph Koster’s Theory of Fun
Posted on 18/09/2010
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