[jcgrillo]

> I know a lot of students hated it

That's a good thing. I don't know whether your assertion about the breakdown between "real nerds" and the other camp is accurate or not, but I think this point stands on its own regardless--learning is hard. It's uncomfortable. It's unpleasant. If it isn't, you're not being pushed hard enough. So what's the point of asking students how they feel about it? Why make strategic decisions based on those data?

I'm genuinely curious, not trolling or anything. It seems completely baffling to me that educators behave this way, and I'd really love to understand why.

[hitekker]

My take: if a given task is not fun, then it is work. People on average do not enjoy work. They do not like doing work, let alone doing it well. Training kids to do work well, without any pleasure, necessitates heavy accountability enforced by management, which brings a slew of its own requirements and complexities.

Schools already handle many cross-competing concerns across stakeholders (PTA, Taxpayers, Town Government, State Government), so I suspect they would want to reduce their enforcement & oversight load. They'll choose a teaching style that makes everyone happy or at least complacent, even if they know "fun is not learning".

[robrenaud]

My best learning was difficult, whole mind encompassing, and incredibly fun.

If you can get college students idle brains curiously contemplating the how and why of the subject, that's when the tuition is really worth it.

[jcgrillo]

I completely agree. The only things I consider fun are also "hard", "uncomfortable", and "unpleasant". Otherwise it's just boring.

Another way to say it is "rewarding".