“Fun” as a Social Practice: Reframing Learning Through the Eyes of Multilingual Students

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Constructing New Understandings of Learning in Mathematics and Science Education

Abstract

Despite increased recognition of affect in science learning, terms like “fun” remain tied to informal contexts, reinforcing binaries that separate joy from seriousness and emotion from intellect. Using sociocultural theory—especially Vygotsky’s concept of perezhivanie and critical response-ability—this study explores how multilingual students' understandings of “fun” in a STE(A)M summer academy challenge these divides. Drawing on six years of interview data, we show that students often described “fun” as emerging from engaging in meaningful, intellectually demanding work that fostered epistemic agency. Our study contributes to science education research by positioning affective engagement not as peripheral, but as central to identifying moments of rigorous, equitable, and agentive learning for multilingual and marginalized students.

Authors

• resmiye elif uzun, University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth

• Shakhnoza Kayumova, University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth