So, The Darker Side Of Science is a Facebook group that’s actually a part of IFLScience, a UK-based science news website. And that is a part of the LabX Media Group.
Anywho, besides news, the group features memes and posts that are in some shape or form related to science, leaving everyone having learned something in the end.
The group currently boasts around 787,500 members.
It also boasts smart, witty, and clever memes in conjunction with any manifestation of the concept of funny. And you’d be surprised just how effective learning is through fun content. But more on that a bit later.
For example, the meme that took me a while to understand is the one that needed to be done, according to the caption. And the meme features a direct and detailed comparison between apples and oranges. You’re welcome.
But there are memes that are less taxing on the brain, like the different physical states of cats, what the perfect angle looks like, the likelihood of dinosaurs having hair.
So, what was that bit about learning being fun? American English points out that making learning fun gives students meaningful opportunities to apply their newly-acquired knowledge all the while lowering what’s called the affective filter.
The affective filter is essentially an attitude (or a set of them) that affects the success of second language learning in people.
Anyway, when using learning activities that are engaging and fun, students often become more willing to participate in them and take risks. By introducing the element of fun, the human mind has an easier job at retaining information because of how enjoyable the process is.
American English also provides examples of fun activities to try out: listening tasks can become more fun if they are turned into a team-based game show; speaking tasks can be turned into a twenty questions type of game; reading can be a relay race of reading a set length of text; and writing can become a game where students pick out writing prompts from grab bags. That definitely beats sitting down and listening, though.
