Selinda Research Associates: What Makes Learning Fun?

What Makes Learning Fun?

Deborah Perry's research has identified six important components that help institutions make learning fun, satisfying, and successful for visitors:

Curiosity: Surprise and intrigue the visitor.
Confidence: Help visitors feel safe and smart.
Challenge: Encourage visitors to do or learn something new.
Control: Help visitors feel "in charge."
Play: Encourage playfulness and sensory exploration.
Communication: Stimulate meaningful conversations.

Selinda Research Associates is committed to developing experiences that incorporate these six components.

For more information about Deborah's model of intrinsically motivating museum experiences, you can:

Go here to download the handout from Deborah's "What Makes Learning Fun?" presentation at the American Association of Museums (AAM) Conference in May 2007. (This is an MS Word file.)

Go here to download a PDF version of the PowerPoint for "What Makes Learning Fun?" at AAM 2007

Go here to download the original PowerPoint for "What Makes Learning Fun?" at AAM 2007.

You can also consult the following publications:

Perry, D. L. (1993). Beyond cognition and affect: The anatomy of a museum visit. Visitor studies: Theory, research and practice: Collected papers from the 1993 Visitor Studies Conference, 6, 43-47.

Perry, D. L. (1993). The creation and verification of a development model for the design of a museum exhibit. Current Trends in Audience Research, 7, 52-56.

Perry, D. L. (1992). Designing exhibits that motivate. ASTC Newsletter, 20(2), 9-10, 12. Go here to view a pdf version of this paper.

Perry, D. L. (1989). The creation and verification of a development model for the design of a museum exhibit. Dissertation Abstracts International, 50, 12A. (UMI No. 9012186).

Please send reprint requests to Info@SelindaResearch.com.

Deborah's model is based on research conducted by Mark Lepper and Thomas Malone at Stanford University in the 1980s about what makes things fun to learn:

Malone, T. W. (1980). What Makes Things Fun to Learn? A Study of Intrinsically Motivating Computer Games. Palo Alto, CA: Xerox Research Center.

Malone, T. W. (1981). Toward a theory of intrinsically motivating instruction. Cognitive Science, 4, 333-369.

Malone, T. W., & Lepper, M. R. (1987). Making learning fun: A taxonomy of intrinsic motivations for learning. In R. E. Snow & M. J. Farr (Eds.), Aptitude, Learning, and Instruction; vol. 3: Conative and Affective Process Analyses (pp. 223-253). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

The model has been refined through discussions with museum colleagues (special thanks to Paul Martin for the "safe and smart" mantra).

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