In educational environments, there are Facts, Frustration and Fun. Many times teachers, administrators, parents and students have different emphasis on one or the other.

One way of thinking about the learning environment is: What are the fewest number of Facts that a learner needs to master so he or she can have the least amount of Frustration and the most amount of Fun while learning? If people are having a good time learning, they will naturally seek out more information (Facts) so that they can live through a moderate amount of Frustration and get to the advanced concepts and be able to have even more Fun.

Here is some more on this idea: http://fussingwithstuff.com/2008/08/facts-frustration-and-fun.html