USING HUMOR TO BRIDGE FEAR AND ANXIETY OF BUSINESS STATISTICS WITH UNDERSTANDING AND PERFORMANCE

Humor can be use to alleviate anxiety and fear of learning Statistics. The objective of this study is to access the effectiveness of humor incorporated in the teaching of Business Statistics. The case of the study will be conducted on Year 1 Business and Accounting and Finance students and access if humor was effective in reducing the negative perception levels towards the subject and ultimately lead to better understanding and performance of the subject. Students come from various backgrounds and carry with them different baggage in relation to the approach to this subject. The study explores the change in the students’ initial perception of this subject after attending fourteen weeks learning in the subject, where various humorous examples of Statistical concepts were used in class (i.e. lectures, labs, tutorials, consultation, etc… ). Students grades at the end of the course were then analyzed to see if there was a relationship between their grades and their change of perception towards the subject matter. Results were then compared with the results from last semester to see the effectiveness of the new teaching method of incorporating humor into the classes. It was concluded that students’ negative perception levels were reduced as a result of interesting and humorous examples introduced to help them better understand the subject of Business Statistics which ultimately showed in their grades.