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College Teaching Volume 52, 2004 - Issue 1
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Original Article

IS HUMOR AN APPRECIATED TEACHING TOOL? PERCEPTIONS OF PROFESSORS' TEACHING STYLES AND USE OF HUMOR

Sarah E. Torok University of Georgia Department of Child and Family Development Suny-Albany
,
Robert F. McMorris University of Georgia Department of Child and Family Development Suny-Albany
&
Wen-Chi Lin University of Georgia Department of Child and Family Development Suny-Albany
Pages 14-20 | Published online: 07 Aug 2010
 
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Abstract

In this study, we investigated the use of humor in college classrooms. We examined how students perceived professors' uses of various types of humor during class and the types of humor that students and faculty recommend for use in class. We also correlated the way professors incorporated humor into their class lectures with their perceived competence and effectiveness, and we investigated whether students felt their learning experience improved when their teachers used humor. We also discussed topics such as ''scarcasm,'' professor gender, student and faculty support of humor, and humor in classrooms, tests, and the rest of life. Humor appropriately used has the potential to humanize, illustrate, defuse, encourage, reduce anxiety, and keep people thinking.

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