Grants confesses that he "believed that we learn more when we're having fun," but also cited research that "convinced me that I was wrong" (191). He then shares a story about "my favorite physics teacher, who got stellar reviews for letting us play Ping-Pong in class, but didn't quite make the coefficient of friction stick" (191).
Do you think those who believe that we "learn more when we're having fun" might be affected by "desirability bias"?
Many educators endorse the following view once expressed by Carl W. Buehner:"They may forget what you said--but they will never forget how you made them feel."
Do you think this way of thinking about education could be a problem if it encourages educators to focus on creating emotional experiences instead of developing skills or grasping complex concepts?
I believe that involving emotion and fun into a class go hand in hand with developing skills and understanding concepts. The classes that I have personally taken always combine the two in one way or another and these are the classes that I have taken the most away from whether it be emotional memories or concepts. There needs to be a happy medium between the two or else there will be too many emotional experiences and too little ideas and concepts grasped or many students may become bored with the class and not get anything out of the class. School is a place to learn so understanding of concepts are crucial but these are people going to school and many people often get bored and find it difficult to focus on a subject when it is taught in a very two-dimensional format. With all of this being said, balance is what I believe is the most important when it comes to this subject as just one or the other can be counterintuitive.
ReplyDeleteIt is possible that those who insist that we learn better while having fun are affected by the desirability bias. Not everything can be taught in a way that promotes fun and learning, but I think that having fun in the classroom is important, especially in upper elementary and junior high. Interactive and engaging lessons are the type of thing that helps students to find what they want to study further in life. I’m sure we all have stories about lessons we found fun in our degree field that helped us choose our majors. Then again, if we focus too much on creating a fun learning environment we run the risk of not being able to cover everything with as much depth as needed. That’s why I think there is a balance that needs to be struck between engaging and learning-centered classes, one cannot work without the other.
ReplyDeleteI think people want to believe that having fun makes the knowledge stick better, because its ultimately what everyone wants. I don’t think it would be a bad thing if teachers tried to focus more on emotional experiences. Most of the teachers I had taught from the book and that was it, they didn’t care about what we thought and only taught what they had to. In response I didn’t care about the class and I only learned what I had to for however long I had to learn it. Junior year we got a new chemistry teacher, he was easygoing and willing to talk and joke with us. I loved his class and paid more attention to what he was teaching. I liked how he would teach us chemistry but would also roast his students and could get roasted himself without getting all mad and sending us to the office. Teaching shouldn’t be all about good memories and emotional experiences, because then the students don’t learn anything. It also shouldn’t all be from the book and formulas and complex concepts, because then the students don’t remember anything longer than they have to.
ReplyDeleteLuke West
I think that having fun can help in many ways when it comes to learning. This is not necessarily because I think that having fun will help students to remember what they learned but more because I think when students are bored out of their mind they tend to not retain any information. I do not think that learning will always be fun and games, sometimes students are going to have to put their heads down and grit their teeth, but I do think that sometimes it is okay and even beneficial to have fun while learning.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don not think it is a "negative" or a problem in a teachers education methods, if they choose to do so of course. I think if the students are learning and associating positive emotions with what they are learning they are more likely to retain the information present to them. I think the way a student is presented information has a lot to say about how they retain it. If someone is "having fun" working out long algebra problems, they are more likely to retain the steps they are being taught to get the answers. Now this isn't for true for all subjects. Some complex concepts can't be taught by "having fun," it just has to be presented and retained by the student respectfully. Now not to say that it would be the best thing for every student, but I really think bring fun into the classroom is more of a positive than a negative.
ReplyDeleteEngagement is just as important as the information you are teaching them isn't it? This isn't really a yes or no question, I think the teacher I have learned the most from was a History teacher I had junior year of high school, and surprisingly he was a textbook teacher! He would present each chapter through the class, elaborating personal knowledge when he felt necessary, and was constantly questioning the class and making sure everyone was paying attention. More importantly, he was charismatic when presenting throwing in humor by poking fun at some of the absurdity of history and people genuinely listened. Was it the most fun class I've ever been? No, absolutely not, not by a long shot. However, I learned the most from his class simply because he wasn't trying to entertain us, he was trying to engage us.
ReplyDeleteHello Mickeal!
DeleteI love how you described how your teacher wasn’t trying to necessarily “entertain”, but engage. I too think it is very important to become engaged instead of entertained when learning, but that led me to a question: what about younger children? I have taught children of all ages— from high school seniors to itty-bitty preschoolers. Does age have any influence on this question?
Like the teacher you described, I have had many professors here at ECU who taught like that and I absolutely loved the learning experience they provided. Do you happen to remember any teachers that had taught you in elementary? Usually the entertainment provided is actually necessary because of the children’s attention spans. One of my favorite teachers that taught me to love learning was my Pre-K teacher because of how she made learning entertaining to my 4 year-old self.
What do you think about age influencing this question?
Malorie Larman
Hi Malorie,
DeleteI definitely did take the question in a direction more towards high schoolers and college students. Age definitely is a factor involved in a situation like this, and I have an example from my own life. My mother was an immigrant from Venezuela and throughout my childhood she had consistently tried to teach me Spanish, as well as English. But I never learned, I was too focused on having fun, with my friends, on games, whatever it may be. Had I, at that young age, had a more entertaining way of learning Spanish I may be fluent today. You are absolutely right Malorie!
I do not believe that those who think we “learn more when we’re having fun” are influenced by desirability bias. I believe this because desirability bias is a bias towards what we want to be true, and not a belief that we already hold. When we are having fun, rather, I believe that we are simply more receptive to new information. I also believe that creating an environment where students are having fun is crucial to the ability of developing skills and grasping complex problems. Some students want, and are able to, learn in environments where fun is not a priority, but a lot of students also aren’t. If teachers and professors create a learning environment that is fun, students feel more at ease and are more receptive to new ideas and complex information.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Grant that playing ping pong in class benefits no one educationally, but I believe kids do learn better in a fun environment that has not lost its educational purpose. I think people learn more in a class with a teacher who is excited about teaching and who has interactive activities that relate to the material than in a class with a boring teacher who reads straight from the book. So I disagree with Grant about when kids learn better, I believe kids do "learn better when they are having fun" as long as the fun is centered around learning. I do not think anyone would agree that kids learn better when they are bored.
ReplyDeleteI think when a teacher can make an emotional connection with his/her students, the students will have more fun. Even though it sounds like students learn more when they have fun, it’s just a logical fallacy. For example, I had a history teacher in high school who I made an emotional connection with. He would always go out of his way to ask about my day before class. Him taking the time to truly meet me was something I hadn’t seen much of, but I’m happy to say that I was able to stay focused during class, which inevitably helped me learn substantially more than other classes.
ReplyDeleteI think that engagement with students is very beneficial in helping students. Creating an engaging in fun environment, especially with younger children, can definitely help students learn and retain information. I do think that age also plays a role in this. Younger children tend to learn more actively if they are building connections with other students and/or the teacher. Older students typically have reached the point where they can engage in learning regardless if it is "fun" or not. However, younger students may not have a desire to learn if they are not being engaging with the material they are learning.
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