“A day without laughter is a day wasted.” Charlie Chaplin

Humor has been proven to improve health, reduce stress and build relationships but can laughter help your students learn?  A recent study published in the journal Humor: International Journal of Human Research, states that yes, humor can have a positive cognitive effect on learning and remembering lecture details.  So can you just crack jokes during a whole lecture?  Unfortunately, what this study has proven, is that in order for humorous lecture materials to be effective, they must be relevant to the topic being presented.

How do you make algebra, business law or even the library funny?  Being funny is hard enough, especially when given some of the materials you have to cover in class. Well, there’s are few rules about humor that I try to follow but don’t always hit the mark.
1. You have to be sincere, honest and personal.
2. Misery is a funny and shared human experience especially when learning a difficult subject.
3. Humor is smart and clever.
4.  You can’t force funny.  Bad day? Don’t even try it!

Now go find some funny! Of course the Internet abounds with humor.  Collegehumor.com. Funnyordie.com  Reddit.com.  Life is funny too.  Give it a try. Your students, their grades and your health will thank you.

Suzuki, Hideo, and Linda Heath. “Impacts of Humor and Relevance on the Remembering of Lecture   Details.” Humor: International Journal of Humor Research 27.1 (2014): 87-101.Academic Search Elite. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.