'Creating a Framework of Fun and Learning: Using Balloons to Build Consensus', paper presented by Rebecca Ferguson of the Rumpus Research Group at the European Conference on Games-Based Learning held virtually at the University of Brighton, UK, on 25 September 2020. With thanks to the Playful Learning Conference 2019 for their fabulous photographs.

1. Rebecca Ferguson, Mark Childs, Ale Okada, Kieron Sheehy,
Mimi Tatlow-Golden, Anna Childs –The Rumpus Group
Creating a Framework
of Fun and Learning:
Using Balloons
To Build Consensus
ECGBL 2020

3. ECGBL Fun
“Games thus should
make learning fun”
“loves being able to introduce
techniques and tools to make
learning more fun and engaging”
“provide more engaging and fun
learning experiences”
“Too much learning
tends to drain the fun,
and too much fun hides
the learning potential”
“engaging and fun learning
is not equivalent with
learning being autotelic”
“educational games
could be just as fun as
their mainstream titles”
“serious games also
attempt to make the
experience more
engaging and even fun“
“Learning activities
should be motivating
and fun”
“it was a fairly normal sort
of lesson, only that it was
quite fun and interactive”

4. H
Reflection moment
Name one thing that
is definitely fun.
If you can, Tweet
your answer.
#ECGBL20

6. Fun is…
Poris:
• Competitive
• Creative
• Empowering
• Family-orientated
• Friend-orientated
• Rebellious
• Relaxing
• Silly
• Sports-orientated
• Surprising/adventurous
McManus & Furnham (2010) Psychology 1(03): 159.
Poris (2006) Young Consumers 7(1): 14-22.
McManus and Furnham:
• Achievement
• Contentment
• Ecstatic
• Sensual
• Sociability

7. Fun is contextual
Poris: Kids scoring highest on relaxing fun were
quite ethnically diverse, with a strong
over-representation among African-Americans
and Hispanics. Relaxing fun also skewed higher
for only children, kids in single-parent households,
and kids in lower-income households
“
”McManus and Furnham: Younger, agreeable,
extraverted females associated fun most
with merry-making sociability, while older,
open males more with flow-type
achievement activities
McManus & Furnham (2010) Psychology 1(03): 159.
Poris (2006) Young Consumers 7(1): 14-22.
“
”

8. Fun is good for
learning
• Prompts learners to
engage
• Promotes the desire
to continue
• Opens learners to
new experiences
• Removes fears that
can block progress
• Learners feel safe to
take risks
• Increases emotional
and physical resilience
• Enhances problem-
solving abilities
• Increases optimistic
thinking
• Creates a bonding
experience.
• Prompts engagement
• Promotes the desire
to continue
• Opens learners to
new experiences
• Removes fears that
can block progress
• Learners feel safe to
take risks
• Increases resilience
• Enhances problem-
solving abilities
• Increases optimistic
thinking
• Creates a bonding
experience.

9. Fun is bad
for learning
• Distracts students
• Increases cognitive load
• Perceived as inappropriate
• Regarded as juvenile, artificial,
or contrived
• Replaces learning opportunities
• No clear link between fun
and learning gains
• Misleads students into
expecting an easy ride

10. Research questions
• What elements of fun do a group of educational
practitioners identify within a Consensus Workshop?
• How do these participants see these elements translating
to a learning scenario?
• Can a Consensus Workshop be used to collaboratively
create a taxonomy of fun?
• What practical and conceptual issues present barriers to
this being conducted effectively?

11. Consensus workshop
1. Focus Question
2. Rational Aim (what the group
needs to produce by the end
of the workshop)
3. Experiential Aim (how the
group needs to be by the end
of the workshop)
4. Context/Set the stage
5. Brainstorm/Generate new
ideas
6. Cluster/Form new
relationships
7. Name/Discern the consensus
8. Resolve/Confirm the resolve

12. Brainstorm /
generate new
ideas
• Individuals thought
of a time when they
had experienced fun
• Worked in pairs to
identify the
elements of that fun
• Wrote each
concept on a balloon

13. Cluster / form
relationships
• Pairs were brought together in groups.
• Groups compared words.
• If a word was duplicated or irrelevant,
burst one of those balloons in a fun way.
• New words/balloons could be added.

14. Name / discern consensus
Participants worked in two large
groups to classify their balloons
and label those classifications.

15. Name / discern
consensus
• Groups attached
balloons to ’Learning’ or
‘Non-learning’ trees.
• They could also
challenge the other
group’s decisions

16. Resolve / confirm resolve
Discuss concepts associated with fun
and their relationship to learning.

17. 30 elements of fun
25 were placed in
the taxonomy of
one of the two
groups
wordclouds.com

18. 30 elements of fun
Five remained
unclassified
wordclouds.com

19. Two taxonomies

20. Associated with learning

21. Not associated with learning

22. Discerning the consensus
Elements on the
learning tree were
linked by feelings of
safety and security.
Is fear fun?
Within limits, if
participants feel safe
Does fear have a part to
play in learning?

23. Fun is contextual
https://twitter.com/dotsandspaces/status/1149295391877337088
Workshop related to
‘ecstatic’ elements of fun
(playful, crazy, excited,
spontaneous)
Not the ‘sensual’
elements of fun (loving,
private, intimate, lustful)
Results reflected this.

24. Gaps
McManus & Furnham
Include sensual elements
Exclude the silly,
childish and transgressive
Poris
Excludes sensual
elements
Includes the silly,
childish and
transgressive
Everybody
Excludes making fun
and poking fun

25. Contradiction
Related to learning
Related to learning
Unrelated to learning

26. Takeaways
• Fun is multi-layered. Some types of fun support
learning better than others.
• Even playful practitioners don’t associate all aspects
of fun with learning.
• Educators have a role in making places safe for fun.
• Fun is contextual. We undertand it in different ways
at different times.
• The way in which fun is researched influences how it
is understood.
• ‘Inappropriate’ fun isn’t covered by existing research.

27. wels.open.ac.uk/rumpus
www.slideshare.net/R3beccaF