Abstract:

In university courses preparing future physicists and physics teachers, it is increasingly important not only to develop professional knowledge but also to strengthen communication, creativity, and conceptual understanding of physics phenomena. Elective courses provide greater flexibility for experimenting with non-formal and informal education methods, and allow the learning process to be enriched with elements with motivational or illustrative potential. In the presented course implementation, we deliberately introduced humorous illustrations, memes, short video clips, and popular culture references (including scenes from Star Wars, The Simpsons, or other popular movies and TV series) to initiate discussions, introduce new physics concepts, and model physical phenomena in an accessible form. These materials often created a relaxed classroom atmosphere, supported curiosity, and encouraged students to participate actively - especially those who are usually hesitant to engage in scientific discussions. Over time, selected multimedia elements became tools for scaffolding understanding, illustrating abstract concepts, and strengthening students’ confidence in expressing their own interpretations of physical phenomena. Our course was conducted continuously, and after guided examples, students were also encouraged to use humorous pictures or clips to illustrate selected physics topics. In this way, a wide range of students’ competencies was developed - not only digital and content-related but also pedagogical, communication, and creative skills. The paper will also reflect on how humorous multimedia can contribute to conceptual change, deepen interest in modeling physics phenomena, and support pre-service teachers’ development. Can humorous and entertaining elements remain didactically meaningful without losing academic rigor? Which forms of creative modeling can be integrated into university-level physics education without reducing its professional quality? We will discuss these and other questions in our paper.

Keywords:

Humorous multimedia, non-formal education, physics teaching, digital competencies, conceptual models.