Humorous Clips Research Articles

A Compromise! Using Star Trek: Lower Decks to Help Negotiators Move Beyond Splitting the Difference

In this article, we use three humorous clips from Star Trek: Lower Decks to introduce common misperceptions about the role of compromise in negotiation. These clips help illustrate the difference between compromise and collaborative strategies and allow students to analyze the clips to identify appropriate strategies to employ in different situations. They can also complement traditional negotiation simulations and exercises. The humor in these clips can lower the apprehension novice negotiators often express at the start of their first negotiation simulation in a class and help illustrate the value of considering underlying interests instead of focusing only on initial positions.

USING HUMOROUS VIDEO CLIPS TO ENHANCE STUDENTS' UNDERSTANDING, ENGAGEMENT AND CRITICAL THINKING

This essay examines the results of my attempt to use humorous video clips in a ‘Philosophy of Humor and Laughter’ course taught in the Fall of 2010 and 2011. The regular display of these clips was designed to enhance my students' understanding of the central concepts of the course, participation in class discussions and to encourage them to think more critically and creatively. The results of a survey I administered at the end of the semester suggest that there is a positive correlation between the use of the humorous clips and my students' understanding of the content, engagement in the lessons and ability to think critically. Both the quantitative and qualitative results of the survey as well as other methods of data collection indicate that watching and analyzing the humorous clips provided the students with a very valuable perspective that illuminated the ideas that we read. The results of this study also suggest that a course on the philosophy of humor and laughter can be very effective in getting students to think philosophically and appreciate the value of philosophy for their lives.