Humor in the Classroom: An Introvert’s Perspective and Implementation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33423/jaf.v25i1.7508Keywords:
accounting, finance, humor, introvertAbstract
Being humorous in the classroom seems particularly challenging to an introvert who needs time alone and is usually not perceived as outgoing. We offer the experience of an introverted finance faculty member on using humor in the classroom over the past two decades. We emphasize the weaknesses and strengths of an introvert, and how they shape the humor strategies and attempts of the faculty member. We provide examples of “educational” jokes that the faculty member used in his attempts to make it more interesting in the classroom and to engage students. Student feedback on the attempted humor is overwhelmingly positive.
References
Alatalo, S., & Poutiainen, A. (2016). Use of humor in multicultural classroom. Israeli Journal of Humor Research, 5(1), 65–79.
Bakar, F. (2019). Appropriate and relevant humour in the university classroom: Insights from teachers and students. European Journal of Humour Research, 7(4), 137–152.
Banas, J.A., Dunbar, N., Rodriguez, D., & Liu, S. (2011). A review of humor in educational settings: Four decades of research. Communication Education, 60(1), 115–144.
Bell, N.D., & Pomerantz, A. (2016). Humor in the classroom: A guide for language teachers and educational researchers. New York: Routledge.
Berk, R.A. (1996). Student ratings of 10 strategies for using humor in college teaching. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 7(3), 71–92.
Bernstein, E. (2015, August 24). Why introverts make great entrepreneurs. The Wall Street Journal, R1.
Bolkan, S., & Goodboy, A.K. (2015). Exploratory theoretical tests of the instructor humor-student learning link. Communication Education, 64(1), 45–64.
Bolkan, S., Griffin, D.J., & Goodboy, A.K. (2018). Humor in the classroom: The effects of integrated humor on student learning. Communication Education, 67(2), 144–164.
Deiter, R. (2000). The use of humor as a teaching tool in the college classroom. NACTA Journal, 44(2), 20–28.
Garner, R.L. (2006). Humor in pedagogy: How ha-ha can lead to aha! College Teaching, 54(1), 177–180.
Goodboy, A.K., Booth-Butterfield, M., Bolkan, S., & Griffin, D.J. (2015). The role of instructor humor and students’ educational orientations in student learning, extra effort, participation, and out-of-class communication. Communication Quarterly, 63(1), 44–61.
Hackathorn, J., Garczynski, A.M., Blankmeyer, K., Tennial, R.D., & Solomon, E.D. (2011). All kidding aside: Humor increases learning at knowledge and comprehension levels. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 11(4), 116–123.
Hellman, S.V. (2007). Humor in the classroom: Stu’s seven simple steps to success. College Teaching, 55(1), 37–39.
Lei, S.A., Cohen, J.L., & Russler, K.M. (2010). Humor on learning in the college classroom: Evaluating benefits and drawbacks from instructors’ perspectives. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 37(4), 326–331.
Merriam-Webster. (2023). Humor. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humor
Meyer, J.C. (2000). Humor as a double-edged sword: Four functions of humor in communication. Communication Theory, 10(3), 310–331.
Nguyen, P. (2023). Vietnam EV maker VinFast sees sales boom, path to breakeven. Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/vietnam-ev-maker-vinfast-expects-break-even-by-end-2024-founder-2023-05-17/
Smith, V.D., & Wortley, A. (2017). “Everyone’s a comedian.” No really, they are: Using humor in the online and traditional classroom. Journal of Instructional Research, 6, 18–23.
Suzuki, H., & Heath, L. (2014). Impacts of humor and relevance on the remembering of lecture details. Humor, 27(1), 87–101.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2023). Prohibited employment policies/practices. Retrieved from https://www.eeoc.gov/prohibited-employment-policiespractices
Wanzer, M.B., Booth-Butterfield, M., & Booth-Butterfield, S. (1996). Are funny people popular? An examination of humor orientation, loneliness, and social attraction. Communication Quarterly, 44(1), 42–52.
Wanzer, M.B., Frymier, A.B., & Irwin, J. (2010). An explanation of the relationship between instructor humor and student learning: Instructional humor processing theory. Communication Education, 59(1), 1–18.
Wanzer, M.B., Frymier, A.B., Wojtaszczyk, A.M., & Smith, T. (2006). Appropriate and inappropriate uses of humor by teachers. Communication Education, 55(2), 178–196.
WebMD. (2023). Introvert personality. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/balance/introvert-personality-overview
Ziv, A. (1984). Personality and sense of humor. New York: Springer.
