Have you heard of the "flow" theory? It was developed by a guy named Mihaly Csikszentmihayli (chick-sent-me-high). In breif it says that we learn better when the motivation to take part in an activity comes from inside (inner-motivation) AND when the activity fulfills the following requirments:
1) clear and realistic goals
2) few distractions
3) feedback (not always verbal)
4) understandable rules
and the most important: a balance between the persons abilities and the activities demands, which is to say "is it possible for me, with some extra effort, to accomplish this project"
If you get the chance, read the book called "Flow" it was very inspiring.