Humor as a Teaching Strategy

Abstract

I N THE PAST, the use of humor in the formal presentation of biology lessons was considered both inappropriate and counterproductive. Few serious scholars would stoop to using humor as a teaching strategy! The subject matter alone was supposed to keep students interested in what the instructor had to say. Fortunately, the social norms of schools have changed to recognize the value of an instructor who has a sense of humor. It is accepted that humor, if judiciously used, can enhance classroom learning. However, humor is like a stick of dynamite. In an expert's hands it can blast away obstructions between subject matterand student. But in a novice's grasp, it may destroy a lesson just as easily. The problem is to discover the types of humor which are most productive in the science classroom and then to apply them in the proper way. This is not an easy task. Much of the research on the use of humor has failed to produce unequivocal results (Bryant, Comisky, and Zillmann 1979). Recently, however, some powerful concepts about humor and its use in the classroom have begun to emerge. What follows is an attempt to systematize isolated concepts of humor so that the classroom teacher can use humor more effectively as an instructional strategy.