The relationship between student perceptions of instructor humor and students’ reports of learning

TLDR

The use of humor in the classroom has been investigated with mixed results across various operationalizations and methodologies. The study examined how teachers’ humor orientation, rather than specific humorous behaviors, relates to students’ perceived learning, including the interaction with students’ own humor orientation. The authors assessed perceived teacher humor orientation alongside nonverbal immediacy and socio‑communicative style, and investigated its interaction with student humor orientation. Students reported greater learning when both teacher and student had high humor orientation, and overall high teacher humor orientation was linked to increased perceived learning.

Abstract

The use of humor in the classroom has been investigated using a variety of humor operationalizations and methodologies with mixed results. In the present study we examine the role of teacher humor orientation rather than specific humorous behaviors. The relationship between perceived teacher humor orientation and learning was the focus of this study. Results indicated that a high humor orientation (HO) was associated with increased student perceptions of learning. Perceived teacher humor orientation was also examined in relation to nonverbal immediacy and socio‐communicative style. Additionally, we examined the interaction between teacher humor orientation and student humor orientation on learning. It was found that high HO students reported learning more with a high HO teacher.