3. Activities that are interesting and challenging, but which also create opportunities for students to have fun, can enhance the learning experience.
In a Student Survey at a large university, the five key words most commonly used by students to characterise good teaching were “interesting,” “challenging,” “enthusiastic,” “fun,” and “relevant.”
“Learning should be pleasurable. There is no rule against hard work being fun.” Ramsden, P. 1992, Learning to Teach in Higher Education, Routledge, London, p. 102.
One study of student boredom suggested that almost 60% of students find at least half their lectures boring, with about 30% claiming to find most or all of their lectures boring.
Online Resources
Refuse to Be a Boring Teacher: 15 Ways to Have More Fun, Saga Briggs link
Having fun with statistics. Gary Ramseyer. Illinois State University. Unfortunately Gary passed away but this website is being maintained by his daughter in his honour. link
Group Engineering Projects, Learning and Fun — ECE 191. Pankaj Das University of California. San Diego. link
Making learning fun, social and engaging: Introducing the Reading Game. Robert Parker Macquarie University. link
Soapbox: Making Learning Fun. Clarke Quinn. Gamasutra. link