Appleby, Drew C. “Using Humor in the College Classroom: The Pros and the Cons.” Psych Learning Curve, 23 Mar. 2018, psychlearningcurve.org/using-humor-college-classroom-pros-cons/.​

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This APA published article complies the findings of numerous related studies as well as giving the responses of real students regarding how a teachers use of humor effected their learning, opinions about the class and teacher, as well as their attitude and behavior toward that teacher. The results listed in this article provide both quantitative and qualitative data regarding the effect that humor has on students. It provides a solid understanding of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to humor in the classroom. Not only this but the author includes specific answers to some of the questions used to evaluate the effectiveness of humor so it gives first hand information with respect to what to avoid and when humor was useful. The article works as a means of showing what is appropriate and what isn’t and essentially provides guidelines for how to effectively use humor in school.

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Bolkan, San, et al. “Humor in the Classroom: The Effects of Integrated Humor on Student Learning.” Communication Education, vol. 67, no. 2, 2018, pp. 144–164.

 

This peer-reviewed study seeks to better understand the impact that humor has on the learning of students from educational lessons. The journal describes two studies that were conducted to better understand how humor influences retention and information transfer. In the first experiment, students were either presented with information containing humorous or standard examples. After the lesson they were made to take a multiple choice test and the results showed that those who had learned through humorous means actually performed worse than those who were presented with standard examples. In the following experiment similar conditions were established only this time the examination at the end of the lesson included an open-ended test format. Despite this, the students who were exposed to humorous examples still did not perform as well as those who were taught using standard examples.  It was concluded that humor actually degrades academic performance.

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Cooper, Katelyn M., et al. “To Be Funny or Not to Be Funny: Gender Differences in Student Perceptions of Instructor Humor in College Science Courses.” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, 15 Aug. 2018, journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0201258.

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This study examined the how student perception regarding the use of humor varys between males and females in science related courses. It surveyed students of both genders across 25 different colleges about their instructors use of humor, producing 1637 student responses. The researchers determined from the data that 99% of students appreciate instructor humor and that it increased student attention to course content and enhance the student- instructor relationship. It also found that offensive humor was detrimental to instructor relatability and a students sense of belonging. Finally with respect to gender difference it was found that females are more likely to take offense than males when an instructors jokes are targeted at them. This study has implications in better understanding what it is okay to joke about and with who.

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Linsin, Michael. “Why Your Humor Isn't Working In Your Classroom.” Smart Classroom Management, 17 Feb. 2018, www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2018/02/17/humor-in-your-classroom

 

This article provides teachers with a number of potential reasons for why their use of humor is failing in the classroom. It begins by listing the potential benefits that humor has when used correctly and then goes on to explain in detail why it might not be working. In addition to including the factors that contribute to ineffective humor, the author includes ways to improve the use of humor. He offers suggestions on how to fix the potential errors that some teachers might be making. This article effectively educates teachers on the proper way to integrate humor into their teaching style and stresses the potential reasons for why it could fall short. This article could be useful for educators looking for a way to improve the quality of their lessons as well as being beneficial to people hoping to better understand the topic of humor in the classroom by enumerating a number of important considerations. 

 

Sudol, David. “Dangers of Classroom Humor.” The English Journal, vol. 70, no. 6, 1981, pp. 26–28. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/817146.

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In his article, Sudol uses his personal experiences as an educator to enumerate the many ways in which the use of numerous different types of humor can go awry. While he lists the potential benefits that these methods present he explains in detail what unintended outcomes are possible and why they occur. His article acts as a warning to teachers regarding these undesirable consequences and for some it provides a great many reasons why humor should be avoided in the classroom. However, he does ultimately advocate for the benefits of using humor in education and his articles main purpose is to provide an understanding that there is a need to be careful not a need to refrain.

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Weimer, Maryellen. “Humor in the Classroom: 40 Years of Research.” Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning, 1 Feb. 2013, www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/humor-in-the-classroom-40-years-of-research/.

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This article summarizes the findings of a review of 40 years worth of research into the subject of humor in education. It complies the most relevant findings with regard to most effectively use humor in the classroom. It goes over the various types of humor that may be present in school and which ones are appropriate versus which ones aren’t. It also explores more untouched and not as commonly considered angles such as including humorous elements on exams themselves. It looks into how humor benefits both the instructor as well as the student. Most importantly it gives considerable detail into the effect that humor has on student learning explaining in what ways and when it can improve it versus when it can impede it. Overall this article provides many ways in which humor can be useful while also considering the ways in which it can be harmful.

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