This document discusses the use of humor in instructional settings. It covers several theories of humor, including incongruity theory and benign violation theory. Some benefits of using humor discussed include engaging students, increasing memory and approachability. However, drawbacks can include being perceived as unprofessional or offensive. The document provides suggestions for implementing humor, such as starting small and outsourcing pre-existing funny content. Types of humor to avoid like belittling or distracting jokes are also outlined.

5. Craig and Graesser, 2004

7. Podsen, 2013.

9.  Intentionally incongruous behavior

10.  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

11.  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

13.  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

14.  Ameliorates “Library Anxiety”
 Reduces avoidance behaviors
 Generates positive feelings that transfer to
the material

15.  Builds rapport
 Increase approachability
 Increases perceived competence and
credibility

16. 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

18. 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

20. 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

21.  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?

22.  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

23.  Let the students be funny too

24.  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

25.  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