Professor Walks into a Bar: Using Humor and Q-Score to Determine Instructor and Department Appeal

Abstract

Building on existing research on humor in the classroom, the authors propose a research design that examines the effect of humor on a professor's effectiveness in the classroom. The concept of Q-Score is applied to academia, which is a popular rating used by advertisers to measure source attractiveness and determine celebrity appeal. Several factors leading to teaching effectiveness and “favorite prof” status are explored in addition to overall effects of humor in the classroom. This study combines evaluations from popular student-viewed websites, student evaluations, and a Humor Orientation scale. An awareness and application of this metric can assist professors in marketing themselves, the discipline, and the major.