Humour as a pedagogical tool can be like walking on a tightrope. If done well, it could enhance learning or at the very least make learning more fun. However, if not done well, it could have disastrous consequences. I remember a few years ago attending a webinar on use of humour and I found it to be so ineffective and boring that it was funny. Fun is 1 of the 5 primary human needs along with survival, belonging, power, and freedom.
There are various positive ways to incorporate humour into the classroom. Humour can include funny stories and comments; jokes (especially self-deprecating ones); professional humour, such as linking content to mnemonic devices; cartoons; puns; riddles; top 10 lists; and comic verses. Humour can be used as an icebreaker, such as having students share their experience about a comical moment in a classroom. Humour can be used effectively to deal with classroom management issues such as instructor’s top 10 peeves. Humour can also be used to deal with sensitive topics to help students feel comfortable discussing those topics in the class. Humour can be useful for tedious and difficult subject matter. These positive ways can hit the target.
Appropriate use of humour can enhance retention, increase learning, improve problem solving, relieve stress, reduce test anxiety, and increase perceptions of faculty credibility. It also enhances students’ attitudes toward the faculty member and can make the faculty member more likeable. There are gender differences in student perceptions of effective use of humour. Use of humour by women tends to be less frequently appreciated.
Today’s generation of students expect learning to be enjoyable. At one time, there was no place for humour in the classroom. But now, the time for a stern professor as the “sage on the stage” is no longer acceptable. Humour creates a relaxed, engaging, and safe environment. It has been suggested that using humour as a pyromaniac can fuel the fires of curiosity in our students. Even if there is a paucity of scientific data proving the benefits of humour in pharmacy education, should we not want to make learning fun? As Thomas Edison said: “I never did a day’s work in my life – it was all fun.”
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3965135/
