Abstract
This chapter expresses the views of a teacher-researcher who advocates and argues for the use of humor in the classroom setting, especially in the mathematics classroom. While existing research based literature has shown the use of humor to be promising and encouraging effecting teaching and learning tool, very little instructional humor or classroom humor–an appropriate type of humor often related to the content materials being discussed–has been used in the classroom setting–especially in the mathematics classrooms. The chapter explores, surveys and highlights ways in which the existing-related literature about the effective and appropriate use of humor in the classroom setting can be implemented in practice, especially in the teaching and learning of mathematics, in this challenging era of the increasingly rapid technological advancements referred to as 21th century technological revolution or the re-engineering of industrial education 5.0 relative to STEM subjects study areas. The use of humor as teaching and learning tool in the classroom setting has been shown to have so many associated benefits ranging from but not limited to a conducive-relaxed learning environment, enhanced students’ learning experience, motivating and inspiring the students to learn more and even the improvement of student-teacher classroom rapport, just to mention a few. Hence, the literature recommends that classroom teachers should make more use of humor as an effective teaching and learning tool, especially the contextualized-appropriate humor types that are related to the content materials being discussed.
Highlights
Introduction and backgroundWith the increasingly rapid technological advancements such as the birth of the industrial technology based education 5.0, sometimes popularly described as the looming 5G or 6G and its successive generation technologies or the 21th century technological revolution, there are suggestions, demands and even requirements that the traditional-classroom education needs to be re-engineered, that is, the traditional roles of classroom teachers should as well be re-examined and change along the way to adjust
In the era of the 21th century technological advances in the forms of continuously improving World Wide Web, Internet connection or Google search engine, one does not need to be a knowledge container or walking library with a head fully loaded with facts, unnecessary details and teachers’ lectures, since such facts and details can be Google searched in blink of an eye in nanoseconds and openly accessed with just a click of mouse away
Mathematics classrooms are often regarded as stressful learning environments by many learners, and humor use as teaching and learning tool has a potential to make such dreadful environments conducive for learning [7]
Summary
With the increasingly rapid technological advancements such as the birth of the industrial technology based education 5.0, sometimes popularly described as the looming 5G or 6G and its successive generation technologies or the 21th century technological revolution, there are suggestions, demands and even requirements that the traditional-classroom education needs to be re-engineered, that is, the traditional roles of classroom teachers should as well be re-examined and change along the way to adjust . Addition to transforming, adjusting and adapting to the continuous emerging demands and requirements of 21th century technological advancements, classroom teachers and practitioners are already embracing and utilizing interdisciplinary collegial cooperation and collaboration with each other [2], while at the time encouraging individual creative-innovative explorations in their own unique ways, which they deem to be suitable for the teachers’ various individual styles of teaching and learning in different classroom settings. Not everything or all is lost for classroom practitioners as the consequence of the 21th century technology advancements as classroom teachers as well as researchers are exploring in the form of action research new ways of teaching and learning, such as the classroom teachers’ creative-innovative teaching techniques and strategies that emphasize, for example, understanding, enjoyment and connection to everyday real world life experiences. Mathematics classrooms are often regarded as stressful learning environments by many learners, and humor use as teaching and learning tool has a potential to make such dreadful environments conducive for learning [7]
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