A funny thing happened

on the way to the lectern

Dr. Colin Kestell

The School of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Adelaide
colin.kestell@adelaide.edu.au

Dorothy Missingham
The School of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Adelaide
dorothy.missingham@adelaide.edu.au

Abstract: Engineering is a very serious discipline in which professional

incompetence may at worst cause the loss of life on a very grand scale. To design
functional, marketable products with inherent safety and reliability requires a
thorough comprehension of design, communication, mathematics and the applied
sciences along with an up to date familiarity of rapidly evolving technological
advancements. All of these attributes must combine towards producing
knowledgeable practically minded engineers who can confidently apply
themselves in a serious and credible manner. Towards this, engineering curricula
now bulge at the seams while more material is added to keep abreast of what
genuinely needs to be taught. Throughout this, students in increasing class sizes
must continually demonstrate their theoretical understanding. It is therefore
completely unsurprising that engineering pedagogy is an intense and sometimes
stressful experience for both students and lecturers alike. However, a stressful
lecture is not conducive to efficient learning and consideration must therefore be
given towards making such lectures more engaging and enjoyable. One such
method is the use of humour, but while "laughter is the shortest distance between
two people" (Victor Borge), care must be taken in its use. While humour can be an
extremely constructive teaching tool, it can also be destructive by alienating
students if used inappropriately. This paper reviews the existing research
regarding methods of maintaining students’ interest in lectures and addresses the
role of humour towards achieving this goal. The findings of this research were
then compared to the result of a student survey which was conducted to establish
the student perception of what makes their learning experience a pleasant one.

Keywords: Lecture, humour, interest, students.

Introduction

Background
Many engineering courses have extremely densely packed curricula and so the ‘lecture’ is an
obvious and common method for conveying information to large numbers of students.
However, while a lecturer may stand behind the lectern of a theatre facing hundreds of
students and transmit information, the reception of this information, the students’ level of
understanding and their ability to retain this information as acquired knowledge is an entirely
different matter. Because of this, it is widely recognised that in order to achieve the learning
outcomes of a course and to assist in the students’ cognitive development, there must be a
focus on what is being learnt rather than what is being taught (Scott et al 2003). Teaching
must extend beyond the systematic preaching of the course content and focus more on
student-centred learning. Information should flow back and forth between the teacher and the
student in a collaborative and cooperative environment rather than the teacher consider the
student as a passive information receptacle. (Smith et al 2005). Interactive teaching
environments, small group tutorials, examples with a practical focus and problem based
learning projects are all recognised to be excellent methods for complimenting and
reinforcing the lessons of engineering. However, with a growing student population from a
multitude of backgrounds, the necessity to present large quantities of theoretical information
effectively to large classes of students, within the limited timeframe of a semester, is likely to
remain and regardless of what we call them, there will be always be lectures. Consequently,
lecturers (or teachers of large student groups) must still aim to fully engage students to
achieve the learning objectives of the course. Maintaining the interest of a student during a
lecture is likely to encourage interaction and such interaction between students and teachers
improves the students’ overall satisfaction with a course and assists in their personal
development (Astin 1993). However, lectures can be perceived to be an extremely formal
affair in which student engagement and interaction is may be hard to achieve and in some
cases (wrongly) discouraged. The overall quality and delivery of a lecture and the
environment that it creates must therefore be designed to be appealing to the student. Good
organisation with a clear structure, a roadmap, a logical flow that is easy to follow, the use of
application examples and a variation in delivery format will help to maintain the students’
interest (Cannon and Newble, 2000). All of these are recognised ingredients for a good
presentation and can be applied with equally successful results in lectures and seminars alike.
One extra ingredient that seems to be accepted as having value in terms of creating a more
pleasant environment is the use of humour since the amount of humour used in a class has
been shown to correlate with how positively students’ perceive their lecturer. Students’ like
lecturers who use humour more than those who do not (Torok et al 2004).

The use of humour in education

The appropriate use of humour not only creates a well behaved and positive classroom
environment, but in doing so it also retains student attention, promotes cognitive development
and generally improves the quality of the whole experience for both students and teachers
alike (Powell et al 1985). Recent research in neuroscience suggests that there are also
biological reasons for why humour helps learning: The limbic system is an area of the brain
responsible for transferring our new found knowledge into our long term memory thus
enabling us to really learn what has been taught. This same area (or system) is also
responsible for our emotions and our sense of reason. The dual role of this system therefore
has two benefits: Data that we associate with an emotion (such as enjoyment) has a higher
processing priority than the data that we simply associate with our education. Our response to
such an emotion also releases hormones that strengthen our long-term memory (Tucker, 2004;
Mobbs et al 2003; Karli et al 2006). The use of appropriate humour in a learning environment
therefore improves the students’ ability to retain and recollect important information.

While humour helps, lecturers are not expected to become stand up comedians, but there are
certainly lessons that the lecturer can learn from the effective use of comedy. Successful
comedians generally bond with their audience since they have a fine sense of empathy and
can see the world from the audience point of view (Jewel, 2005). Audiences enjoy this
rapport as students enjoy a rapport with an amiable lecturer. Reciprocal humour also has
merit since students who obviously appreciate humour and actively participate in class
humour are not necessarily the class clowns. Effective student use of humour requires a clear
stratagem in order to be effective and this demonstrates higher order cognitive abilities
(Powell et al 1985). Never-the-less, lectures can be daunting and a sometimes a weary
experience for the lecturer and so the incorporation of humour may be the furthest thing from
their mind (Torok et al 2004). Humour will however improve the experience for the lecturer
as well as the students. Humour helps to create an environment in which both students enjoy
learning and teachers enjoy teaching (Powell et al 1985). Check (1979) states that college
students regard the use of humour as an essential part of teaching and a survey that was
conducted across a diverse range of student cohorts (Check 1986) demonstrated that students’
appreciation of humour went hand in hand with their appreciation of teachers that they could
relate well to and that demonstrated both compassion and empathy. By contrast, students
were alienated by teachers who were dull, sarcastic, condescending or they perceived to be
simply uncaring. The use of humour humanised teachers. Clearly, teachers’ personalities are
revealed through the way that they teach and so a good balance of appropriate humour with a
strong lecture structure will appeal to a variety of students and a variety of students’ learning
styles (Fatt, 2000). The appropriate delivery of acceptable humour is a non-trivial exercise
since there are severe risks if it is practiced badly. Inappropriate humour can (unintentionally)
alienate the class from the teacher, where students may perceive (rightly or wrongly) an
element of sarcasm, condescension, racism, sexism or general bigotry.Like all ingredients in a
dish that works well, the correct quantity of humour is also extremely important since too
much may well undermine the seriousness of the subject matter (Powell et al 1985). Even
though spontaneous humour can often have the most impact, to ensure that the reaction is a
positive one what is said must be thought through and the possible consequences considered.
This can be even more difficult when students from different cultural backgrounds
(International students) are part of the class.

International students
International students from non-English speaking backgrounds are not only faced with
communication difficulties, but their cultural differences and their adjustment to an Australian
culture may also present problems for them in the classroom or lecture theatre (Jones et al
1999). Teachers and lecturers must be aware of these differences or risk appearing insensitive.
As previously mentioned, effective humour can either depend upon or demonstrate empathy
with the class especially if it relates to a particular life experience. A funny remark may draw
comparison with prominent public figures, historical events or it may even use colloquial
expressions or slang. All of these elements might be lost on a student from a different cultural
background (Mulligan and Kirkpatrick 2000). That is not to say that a lecturer must avoid the
use of humour in such classes, quite the opposite. When humour is well planned (as teaching
should be) and the teacher remains sensitive to the interpretation from the whole class (the
key issue here), a caring, less intimidating environment that is more relaxed is created which
promotes listening, improves memory and helps international students feel far more
comfortable (Chiasson 2002; Garner 2005). Students from all walks of life and cultural
backgrounds learn far more in a stress free environment, such as that in which appropriate
humour is effectively used, than they would in a negative environment or one in which they
feel uncomfortable (Sousa 1998).

Humour in Engineering
However, what about the serious nature of engineering in which bridges can fall, cars can
crash and aeroplanes can plummet if they are not designed correctly? Is there a place for
humour? This is rather like the engineers response to the old adage that the glass is neither
half full nor half empty but designed wrongly in the first place. While this paper had to have
at least one imbedded joke, there is relevancy: In this case engineers have no place to think
differently and if humour is an accepted ingredient in education, then it must have real value
in engineering education. In fact, the more serious a message is, then the more important it is
that the message is not simply transmitted, but that it is also well received.

Student survey

In order to directly assess how engineering students perceived the value of using humour in
lecturing, a class of 3rd year engineering students were surveyed to establish what made
lectures both effective and a pleasant experience for them. Third year students were chosen
because they were more likely to have well established perceptions of what worked and what
didn’t work in terms of lecture delivery compared to students at more junior levels. However,
future, more comprehensive research will involve conducting a survey on a much larger scale
to incorporate responses from students at all year levels and assess how their expectations and
experiences might vary from one level to the next.

While the survey had a number of questions relating to humour, it also covered a broad range
of questions regarding the general experience and expectations of the students and what they
believed to be important characteristics of a lecture and a lecturer. There were two reasons
for this: The first was that humour is clearly only part of a solution towards engaging the
students and creating a pleasant environment that is conducive to their learning. It was
therefore of interest to determine how many other factors were important to them so that the
significance of humour could be better understood. The second reason was in the belief that if
a survey focused purely on humour, then it might attract far more immature and hence
inaccurate responses from the students. Table 1 shows the results of a survey in which 68
third year engineering students (of mixed gender and ethnic background) were provided the
opportunity to either agree or disagree with a list of provocative statements such as ‘I am only
interested in doing what I need to do to get good grades’. The survey was taken at the
commencement of a lecture and so all those in attendance responded and participated. None
of the responses shown in Table 1 have been filtered or censored in any way and so the
resulting statistics are the results of the raw survey data.

The following paragraphs present a discussion of the key issues that were raised as a result of
this survey. As previously mentioned, humour is only a part of the overall solution towards
maintaining interest and so the results were grouped into the subject categories of:
• Maintaining interest;
• Organisation, structure and communication;
• Discipline during a lecture;
• Empathy and
• Humour and enjoyment.
Table 1: Level Three Student Survey
Question Agree Disagree
1. Maintaining interest in a lecture is important in order to grasp concepts. 63 5
2. Easy subjects can be boring. 45 23
3. Difficult subjects can be boring. 56 12
4. It is easier to concentrate in an interesting lecture. 67 1
5. I loose interest if I can not see the lecture material. 57 11
6. I loose interest in a boring lecture. 63 5
7. My attention in a lecture is proportional to my preconceived interest. 43 25
8. Difficult subjects are stimulating. 33 35
9. Difficult subjects are stimulating, regardless of a lecturer’s teaching skills. 9 59
10. I sometimes tune out in a difficult lecture. 52 16
11. Boredom in a lecture is irrelevant since my interest in the subject matter alone will keep me concentrating. 15 53
12. I am interested in what I NEED to do, to get good grades. 50 18
13. I am ONLY interested in what I NEED to do, to get good grades. 16 52
14. It is difficult to learn (even easy subjects) in a boring lecture. 53 15
15. I learn less in late lectures (commencing after 5pm) 58 10
16. Most lecturers aim a lecture at our level of understanding. 47 21
17. Lecturers often assume we know more than we do. 41 27
18. I believe simpler explanations would help me to understand. 57 11
19. If lectures commenced at a more basic level towards the complex issues, there would not be enough time. 42 26
20. Lecturers need to relate to the students perspective (empathise) more so. 54 14
21. I loose interest in a disruptive class. 59 9
22. Some lecturer controlled discipline and established rules are necessary. 60 8
23. Being too strict can make it unpleasant. 59 9
24. I am more likely to enjoy a lecturer who controls the attention of the whole class. 60 8
25. I loose interest if I can not hear the lecturer. 65 3
26. I loose interest if the lecturer can not speak clear English. 63 5
27. I loose interest with a boring lecturer. 65 3
28. I loose interest with an unorganised lecturer. 53 15
29. A lecture on a boring subject can be made interesting by a good lecturer. 67 1
30. If a lecture is made to be enjoyable it will help to keep my interest. 67 1
31. A well organised lecture is easier to follow 68 0
32. Lecturers who are experts must spend more time considering the divide between their knowledge and the students. 64 4
33. Hand written overheads are worse than PowerPoint 51 17
34. I am more likely to enjoy a lecturer who enjoys teaching. 67 1
35. Lecturers should lighten up and enjoy their teaching more so. 66 2
36. Engineering is serious and the subjects are too difficult to include humour 9 59
37. A bit of humour is enjoyable, so if I enjoy my lecture I’m more likely to remain attentive. 65 3
38. Humour must be relevant. 40 28
39. Too much humour is distractive. 29 39
40. A good balance of humour helps. 66 2
41. Humour helps to establish rapport with the lecturer. 65 3
42. If a lecture enjoys the lecture, I’m more likely to as well 66 2
43. Appropriate use of humour can improve my experience of the lecture 66 2
44. Humour must be politically correct 26 42
45. No one should be the focus of a joke 45 23
47. I have left a lecture that has been too difficult 17 51
48. I have left a lecture that has been too easy 29 39
49. I have left a boring lecture 41 27
50. I have left a lecture because it was too much fun 8 60
51. Initial (maybe irrelevant) humour (a joke, a video, a cartoon etc ) is a good way to grab attention. 63 5
52. I have left a lecture where the humour has been inappropriate 10 58

Maintaining Interest
The title of the survey was ‘Maintaining Interest in Lectures’ and nearly all of the students
that responded (93%) agreed that it is important for them to remain interested in a lecture if
they are to grasp the concepts that are being presented and that it is far easier to concentrate in
an interesting lecture (99%). More than half (66%) admitted to coming to a lecture with
preconceived ideas that affected their level of interest, which simply demonstrates that
students expect a lecturer to carry on performing in the same manner as always. It was also
clear that they perceive the responsibility of maintaining their interest to be that of the
lecturers, since the majority (78%) disagreed with the statement that “their own interest in the
subject matter alone was sufficient for them to remain attentive”. There was also general
agreement on the negative effect of boredom in a lecture. Nearly all of the students (93%)
admitted to losing interest in a boring lecture and that it was difficult to learn (even easy
subjects) in a boring lecture (78%). Boring lectures generally correlated with a boring
lecturer and 60% of students admitted to leaving lectures that they thought were boring.
However, almost all (99%) of the respondents agreed to the statement that ‘a boring subject
can be made interesting by a good lecturer’. The level of difficulty also has an effect on the
students’ ability to remain interested with 76% ‘tuning out’ once lost and, once lost; they find
the remainder of the subject boring. However, difficulty does correlate with importance
because only 25% have left a subject that they perceived to be too difficult (compared to 60%
leaving due to boredom alone).

Organisation, structure and communication

The organisational skills of a lecturer are very apparent to students and the majority of the
survey’s respondents (78%) have lost interest with unorganised lecturers. Every respondent
agreed that a well organised lecture is far easier to follow than a badly organised one. Clear
communication is also important, since nearly all lose interest if they can not hear the lecturer,
see the material clearly (96% and 84% respectively) or understand the lecturer’s use of
English (93%).

Discipline during a lecture

Class discipline was also found to be an issue in which there was general agreement. The vast
majority of the class (87%) lose interest in disruptive classes and enjoy lectures in which the
lecturer manages to control the behaviour of the class (88%). However it was also generally
agreed (87%) that when a lecturer is too strict regarding the class discipline, the environment
can become unpleasant and uncomfortable and, as mentioned previously, uncomfortable
environments are not conducive to a productive learning experience. This would suggest that
while discipline is important, they way in which it is administered is crucial when a
productive learning environment is the fundamental goal. However, if all of the students
become engrossed in the lecture, perhaps with the help of humour, then the issue of discipline
becomes less significant.

Empathy
The ability of teachers and lectures to relate (or empathise) with students is extremely
important since it demonstrates a caring attitude and a concern for the student’s perspective.
Most of the survey respondents however believe that lecturers need to improve their ability to
relate to students and must empathise more so (79%). While many (69%) believe that
lecturers do try and pitch the material at an appropriate level, they think that lecturers often
assume students know far more than they actually do (60%). In particular, lecturers who are
quite obviously experts in their particular discipline need to spend more time in considering
the divide between their knowledge and that of the students (94%). However, while simpler
explanations (84%) would be appreciated, there is a realisation amongst the student body that
if lectures did commence at a more basic level then there might not be enough time to cover
the entire syllabus (62%). “Dumbing it down” is obviously therefore not the solution, but
making the environment more enjoyable and conducive to effective learning is.

Humour and Enjoyment

The terms interest and enjoyment have strong correlations (as they should) with those
students surveyed. Almost all believe that enjoyable lectures help maintain interest (99%)
and that they are more likely to enjoy a lecture from a lecturer who apparently enjoys teaching
(99%). The general feeling was that ‘lecturers should lighten up and start enjoying teaching’
(97%). A good balance of humour helps. There was also a strong correlation between
enjoyment and the use of humour with 96% of the respondents agreeing that the use of
humour would make the lecture more enjoyable, improve their overall experience and that
this in turn would retain their interest (97%). Most (96%) also believe that the use of humour
in a lecture helps students to establish rapport with the lecturer while most disagreed (87%)
that engineering is a too serious domain for the use of humour. It is generally accepted that
the first segment and the last segment of a teaching period are most conducive to learning
(primacy-recency effect) implying that humour (and the necessity for segmentation) is
perhaps most appropriate in the middle section (Tucker 2004; Sousa 2001). However, nearly
all (93%) of those surveyed believed that initial (possibly irrelevant) humour (a joke, a video,
a cartoon etc.) is a good way to grab attention and take the initial control of the class without
an overt application of discipline.

Agreement on the appropriate use of humour however was not as well defined. While the
majority agreed that no one should be the focus of a joke (66%), only slightly more than half
of the respondents believe that humour must be relevant (59%), meaning that slightly less
than half are happy for it to be inappropriate. More than half (57%) also believe than there is
no such thing as too much humour and that too much humour is not at all distractive. The
most concerning observation (with respect to appropriate humour) was that the majority
(62%) also believe that it is alright for humour to be politically incorrect. Here lie examples
of where statistical results must be considered carefully. This is clearly not an instance of
where the majority are correct. The real issue here is that a significant section of the class
could be alienated by either too much, too irrelevant, or potentially offensive humour.
Consider the following response: 15% of students claimed to have left a lecture where the
humour has been inappropriate. It does seem strange though that such a high percentage of the
class is apparently insensitive to the feelings of others and yet there may be an explanation.
Engineering attracts students with high intellects and students with high intellects can be more
emotionally immature (Landau 1998). Everybody likes to laugh and some people may well
laugh at anything, especially those less mature. However, there is a necessity to be vigilant
regarding the sensitivities of minorities in the class, because the ultimate goal of incorporating
humour in a lecture is to make it an enjoyable experience for everyone.

Conclusion

Engineering is a very serious discipline that has a densely packed curriculum which
constantly struggles to keep abreast with the advancement of technology. Student numbers
increase from year to year and the variety of their backgrounds also broadens. This means
that all who lecture must increase their efforts to ensure that student interest is maintained,
without causing anxiety or stress. The previous sections have highlighted that lecturers need
to create an environment that is conducive to learning and does not bore, alienate nor
encourage students to ‘tune out’ from what is being lectured. There are many considerations
and necessary skills towards achieving these goals but students are generally more interested
in a lecture when lecturers demonstrate superior organisational abilities and are able to
produce well structured lectures in which they communicate effectively and have control of
the class. The use of humour also helps enormously towards achieving these goals, both in
terms of how it can biologically influence the function of the brain and how it can create a
positive learning environment. Having fun at the commencement of a lecture can initially
captivate a class and bring the students towards a common focal point, thus avoiding the
necessity to establish a strict disciplinary regime in order to maintain control. Overly strict
lectures can be very unpleasant for students, whereas some appropriate comedy can help to
control the class in a much friendlier way, to create a far more pleasant environment.
Students believe lecturers that use humour are good-natured people that are able to relate to
them. They also believe that lecturers who are too serious should lighten up a little and that if
the lecturer enjoys the class, then the class is more likely to enjoy the lecturer. However,
humour can also be destructive and so the most important aspect of using fun and laughter in
any class environment is the necessity to remain conscious of the sensitivities of absolutely
everybody and act accordingly. Fun, gags, humorous analogies and anecdotes must appeal to
all and must leave no one out. It can not be offensive to any gender, race or minority group,
regardless of the fact that many may still find it funny. When used well, humour will create
an extremely positive learning atmosphere for both the class and the lecturer.
Therefore, if there is an epidemic of terminal boredom in room full of students who exhibit
alternating symptoms of restlessness, snoring and bad manners, there might be a long term
prognosis of severe learning deficiencies unless the best medicine of all is immediately
prescribed and administered in the correct dosage: laughter!

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