The Effect of Humor on Learning

Numerous studies looked at the effect of humor on learning and found that humor has many benefits when used appropriately in the classroom. According to Sousa (2006) humor has psychological, sociological and educational benefits such as getting students’ attention, creating a positive climate, increasing retention and recall, improving mental health and providing an effective discipline tool (p. 63).

Here are some humor strategies by Ronald A. Berk you can try in your classroom:

• Humorous material on syllabus: funny descriptors under course title or prerequisites, fictional instructor credentials, unusual teaching methods;
• Descriptors, cautions, warnings on the cover of handouts;
• Humorous problems/Assignments: funny real or made up situations in assignments both in-class and out-of-class, individual and in small groups;
• Humorous material on tests: unexpected descriptions, funny directions, notes, test items, content-relevant and content-irrelevant strategies;
• Opening jokes: stand-up jokes, quotations, proverbs, questions, cartoons, anecdotes.

Berk, R.A. (2005). Laughterpiece theatre: Humor as a systematic teaching tool. Teaching Excellence, 17(2).

Sousa, D. A. (2006). How the brain learns (3rd ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.