Abstract:

Humour has been regarded as a characteristic of many successful teachers. Yet not every teacher is naturally humorous, and not every humorous teacher can increase student engagement consistently. To overcome these challenges, we incorporated a planned humour pedagogical approach into teaching and learning and investigated the effect of such planned humour on student engagement and learning. Underpinned by the classical cognitivism learning theory, our study standardised the types of humour, incorporation methods and incorporation frequency into lectures/lessons to consistently generate positive outcomes that are predictable and replicable. Specifically, we conducted a pilot study by systematically incorporating humour contents into the PowerPoint lectures of six undergraduate biomedical courses in one of the flagship universities in Hong Kong, and evaluated student-perceived levels of engagement, learning and stress relief via questionnaires and interviews. Our study found that the planned humour approach promoted student engagement, enhanced learning, and relieved stress. Our findings also indicate that the planned humour pedagogical approach can consistently improve in-class behaviors such as participation, and may enhance students’ motivation and understanding of the course materials in a sustainable manner.

Keywords:

Humour, cognitivism, higher education.