Using humor as a teaching strategy in library instruction. Presented at Washington Library Association 2016.

1. ALTERNATIVE TEACHING
OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH
LOW TECH, HUMOR, AND
COGNITIVE DISRUPTION:
HUMOR

2. LIBRARY INSTRUCTION IS BORING.

3. FOR EVERYONE.

4. BOREDOM KILLS RETENTION.
Craig and Graesser, 2004

5. BOREDOM KILLS ENGAGEMENT.

6. BOREDOM KILLS INNOVATION.
Podsen, 2013.

7. WHAT IS HUMOR?

8. Intentionally incongruous behavior
WHAT IS HUMOR?

9. Superiority Theory
 Plato and Aristotle
 Laughing at the misfortune of others
(schadenfreude)
 Laughing at the ignorant, infoerior and ugly
because of our joy in feeling superior -Scruton
THEORETICALLY FUNNY

10. Benign Violation Theory
 One’s concept of how things ought to be is
threatened
 The threat is perceived as benign
 Violates some but not all norms
 Psychological distance from norm being
violated – Warren and McGraw
THEORHETICALLY FUNNY

11. BENEFITS OF HUMOR IN THE
CLASSROOM?

12. Humor forces the listener to identify and
resolve the incongruity
Forces engagement
 Studies have shown more areas of the brain
get used
 Attention is directly related to memory
Rewards engagement
WHY DOES HUMOR WORK IN THE
CLASSROOM?

13. Ameliorates “Library Anxiety”
Reduces avoidance behaviors
Generates positive feelings that transfer to
the material
BENEFITS OF HUMOR

14. Builds rapport
Increase approachability
Increases perceived competence and
credibility
BENEFITS OF HUMOR

15. “DRAWBACKS” TO HUMOR
Drawback Response %
Off-putting/Offensive 20 39%
Perceived to be out of touch 16 31%
Credibility undermined 11 22%
Not professional behavior 11 22%
No drawbacks 7 14%
May cause confusion 3 6%
Cause inappropriate behavior 3 6%
Perret, RUSQ 2016

16. GOOD HUMOR?

17. GOOD HUMOR, MAN
Humor Type Response %
Relevant 11 24
Puns 9 20
Self-deprecating 9 20
Funny sources/topics 9 20
Silly 7 15
Anecdotes 6 13
G-rated/Politically Correct 5 11
Pop Culture 5 11
Memes 4 9
Sarcasm 4 9
Witticisms 3 7
Jokes 3 7
Topical 2 4
Absurdist 1 2
Accents 1 2
Impersonations 1 2
Physical 1 2

18. BAD HUMOR?

19. IN A BAD HUMOR
Humor Type Response %
Belittling of an individual 17 36
Belittling of a group 16 34
Offensive 12 26
Racy/Bawdy 7 15
Distracting/Too Much 7 15
Too sarcastic/dark 7 15
Slapstick 2 4
Gross out 2 4
Most humor 2 4
Lame puns 1 2
Nothing 1 2
Perret, RUSQ, 2016

20. Start small
 add one or two moments of humor per class
 Grow your patter over time
Script your known hiccups
 Database always takes forever to load?
 Hold process clunky/cumbersome?
 Lights have a mind of their own?
SO YOU WANT TO BE THE “FUNNY”
LIBRARIAN

21. Outsource the funny
 Colbert Report, Sesame Street, IT Crowd,
Monty Python
 The Information Cycle, Why Citation is
Important, Study Like A Scholar
 The Onion
Funny canned topics
 Roswell, Cats – Humor, Elvis is alive
SO YOU WANT TO BE THE “FUNNY”
LIBRARIAN

22. Let the students be funny too
SO YOU WANT TO BE THE “FUNNY”
LIBRARIAN

23. Get into a game of one-upmanship with
your audience
Belabor a joke at the expense of teaching
the material
Continue to be “funny” if it is confusing or
aggravating your audience
Be too dated OR too trendy
SO YOU WANT TO BE THE “FUNNY”
LIBRARIAN DON’TS

24. It’s not you, it’s them
 Or the weather, or the time of day, or the
regular instructor, or the traffic
Get back on the horse as soon as possible
Try material at least twice before you
abandon it
Even in classes I perceived as bombing I
got many positive comments, incl. humor
HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING
AND LOVE THE BOMB