Expert-recommended practices for fostering fun in learning: suggestion boxes, embracing failure, differentiated challenge, and open-ended questions¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

From the expert interview, teachers are advised to gather students' ideas for making lessons more fun, for example a classroom suggestion box where "every day they would throw in suggestions" discussed weekly; to set real challenges within and beyond students' abilities and "separate challenges from grades"; and to pose creative open-ended questions such as "Why does France have a capital?" with no right or wrong answer.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Teachers willing to shift from an authority role toward a supportive environment that acknowledges students' motivations

Constraints¶

• The expert notes what constitutes a challenge varies among students, so differentiated education is needed to avoid underchallenging any child

Target Learners¶

• primary school students

Target Learning Goals¶

• fostering fun, creativity, and engagement in formal lessons

Affordances¶

• Six Non Gamification Fun Elements Primary

Claims¶

• Primary school students aged 9–12 perceive a sense of agency—choice over content, personalization, self-directed performance, and task completion—as a core element of fun in learning [+W]
• Students perceive manageable challenge matched to their skills, with a sense of accomplishment, as an intrinsically rewarding element of fun in formal learning [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Embracing Errors as Learning
• Low Floor, High Ceiling Tasks
• Conduct focus groups to hear firsthand from multiple partners and build shared understanding beyond the numbers

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Kokarida, P., Markopoulos, P., & Tisza, G. (2026). Fun beyond gamification: Universal elements to enhance children's learning. Instructional Science (2026) 54:30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-026-09780-9