IDENTIFYING VARIABLES - STATISTICS

January 2003, Vol. 42, No. 1 35

Guidelines for Developing and Implementing Humor in Nursing Classrooms Joan Kay Ulloth, PhD, RN

T hrough the ages, teachers have sought instructional strategies that help students learn and retain

information. A number of theories have been generated to help teachers meet stu- dents’ needs, but no one specific theory or instructional strategy has proved all encompassing. Teachers tend to acquire an eclectic combination of strategies to fit their individual styles and classroom envi- ronments.

Humor is a teaching strategy that may enhance student learning. However, Prosser’s (1997) study of more than 250 college teachers’ beliefs about classroom humor and their use of it found there was a large gap between how teachers wanted to use humor and how it actually was implemented. According to Berk (1998), the following are reasons why humor is not used frequently as a teaching tool:

• Teachers are not trained to use humor in classrooms.

• Many teachers believe they need the skills of a professional comic.

• People believe teaching is a serious business and humor will make it frivolous and undignified.

In a qualitative case study, the author observed three successful nurse educators who intentionally used humor in their undergraduate classrooms (Ulloth, 1998). This article discusses the recommenda- tions made by the teachers, Cheryl,

Karen, and Martha, and their students about how to successfully incorporate humor into classroom instruction.

Recommendations Develop Your Sense of Humor

According to McGhee (1997), teachers who want to add humor to their classroom presentations first need to develop or strengthen their sense of humor. The fol- lowing are suggestions.

Surround Yourself With Humor. Find sources such as humorous video or audio recordings or cartoons, and analyze what you like about particular types of humor. A variety of resources are available, including humorous health care journals, humor organizations, and catalogs. Nursing students also can be sources of health care humor. When they are com- fortable with humor in the classroom, they often contribute humorous items to share in class and occasionally create humor through inadvertent faux pas. Nonmedical sources of humor include the newspaper, Reader’s Digest, and popular comedians, such as Bill Cosby, David Letterman, and Loretta LaRoche.

The three teachers observed by the author kept their expanding humor collec- tions in easily accessible files or boxes. None of them used the same material repeatedly but constantly sought new humorous ways to present nursing con- tent. Cheryl even wrote her own rap songs for unit reviews. A humorous perspective keeps students open to the incongruities of daily life. Anyone can develop this per- spective and cultivate an attitude promot- ing a sense of humor.

Laugh More Often and Tell Jokes and Funny Stories. Learn a new joke or story

and practice it with a few friends. As you gain confidence, add one or two jokes at a time until you have built up your reper- toire. Karen suggested telling a new joke in front of a mirror first.

Play With Language. Create puns and other verbal humor. Look for double meanings in words and incongruities in everyday situations. For example, if you see the newspaper headline, “Drunk Gets 9 Months in Violin Case,” imagine an ine- briated man imprisoned in a violin case.

Observe Humor in Everyday Life. Improving one’s sense of humor requires active participation. Develop a humorous perspective as you experience daily events. Ask yourself what is funny about a routine task. Look for the unusual, incon- gruous, bizarre, absurd, or unexpected, and then share the humor you observe with others. Gross (1994) shared his observations about an affliction he called “overheaditis,” which is the experience of being victimized by speakers using stacks of overhead projector transparencies at conferences.

Take Yourself Lightly and Laugh at Yourself. Share your blunders and embar- rassing experiences. You still can take your work seriously while poking fun at yourself. For example, Karen joked about her difficulties with audiovisual equip- ment, and Martha told stories about her clinical experiences.

Develop Your Presentation Style After developing their sense of humor,

teachers should develop their presenta- tion style. Effective delivery of humor is enhanced by applying the following rec- ommendations.

Memorize the Material. If you are buried in your notes or stumble over the

Received: July 11, 2000 Accepted: November 9, 2000 Dr. Ulloth is Professor of Nursing, Kettering

College of Medical Arts, Kettering, Ohio. Address correspondence to Joan Kay Ulloth,

PhD, RN, Professor of Nursing, Kettering College of Medical Arts, 3737 Southern Boulevard, Kettering, OH 45429-3527; e-mail: Joan.ulloth @kcma.edu.

E D U C A T I O N A L I N N O V A T I O N S

36 Journal of Nursing Education

punch line, you may lose your audience’s attention.

Practice Timing. Pauses allow the audience to picture the events and possi- ble results of your joke or story before the punch line is delivered. Karen effectively used a long pause in the following joke:

I was late today because there was a

terrible accident. There was a bank rob-

bery, and the getaway vehicle was an old

van with a broken antenna sticking out

the side. As they went racing around a

corner, it hit a pedestrian and sliced off

his head. (Long pause) He died of van-

aerial disease.

Involve the Audience. Active participa- tion increases student attention. For example, Cheryl’s students sang a rap song with her; Karen drew her students into role playing situations; and Martha conducted a quiz show-style test review. Each group of students enjoyed being involved and highly recommended that teachers increase student participation.

Speak Clearly and Vary Your Voice. Students dread presentations by teachers who mumble or monotonously read their notes to the class. Volume and tone can emphasize humor. Martha effectively used fake accents and different voice pitches to perk up her students. But, even a fantas- tic joke can lose effect if people cannot hear or understand it.

Use Your Body to Supplement Your Words. Facial expressions, gestures, and walking around the room can emphasize your point and keep students’ attention. A moment of eye contact with a student as you begin a humorous event also will make the humor more personal. Move away from the podium and into the audi- ence if this is permitted by the room arrangement. Movement is contingent on knowing the content well enough to leave your notes.

Use Audiovisual Aids. Overhead pro- jector transparencies, slides, audiotapes, computer projections, and other props are effective in presentations. Cartoons on overhead transparencies is a simple way to add humor.

Critique Your Presentation Style. Analyze your presentation to learn what was successful, what was not, and how you can improve it.

Recover Gracefully. Some humor will fall flat. When this occurs, a humorous quip such as, “I told it to my dog, and he

laughed” or “I guess I won’t use that one again,” can produce a laugh, break the tension, and ease the embarrassment stu- dents feel for you.

Rules to Remember Be Yourself. The most common sugges-

tion from the three teachers and their stu- dents was to find a talent and type of humor that comfortably fits your person- ality and develop them. The flair with which Cheryl performed a rap song and dance routines produced great enjoyment among her students and lingered in the memories of recent graduates. However, this type of humor would not have been a good “fit” for either Karen or Martha. Let your sense of humor operate but do not force humor. The students said they rec- ognized forced humor in teachers and did not respect them because they appeared “fake.”

Use Humor Regularly. Add humor to class presentations routinely but not at consistent, preset intervals because stu- dents will only wake up for the jokes. All three teachers suggested using humor 3 to 4 times per hour, based on the average attention span of adults.

Avoid Offensive Humor. Humor that is disparaging, stereotypical, sarcastic, or demeaning can offend students and make your educational message less effective. When negative humor is used, students may tighten up, withdraw, or become resentful, angry, tense, or anxious. Negative humor also can cause students to turn off and tune the teacher out (Berk, 2002). Students from each school described a teacher outside the nursing department whose use of disparaging humor was offensive to them.

Be Sensitive to Emotional Students. Cheryl’s students described how she effec- tively used humor to handle potentially emotional topics, such as AIDS and sexu- ally transmitted diseases. The negative effects of insensitivity are similar to those for other forms of offensive humor. Students may tune you out or harbor resentment, losing the educational mes- sage in the process.

Be Spontaneous. Encourage students to engage in humor also. All three teach- ers in the study found that students responded to teacher-generated humor by creating their own humor. You can stimu- late more interest and involvement

through playful use of spontaneous humor.

Remember that Humor is a Tool to Convey Information, Not the Primary Purpose of the Class. Develop your course outline and main concepts first, then add humor to bring it to life. All three teachers reported that class preparation took longer as they sought humor to fit the class content. Nonetheless, they believed the extra time was well spent because it strengthened their points.

Use Relevant Humor to Emphasize the Educational Point. Students are very focused on what they need to learn from class. If humorous material is not related to course content, they can become impa- tient to return to the class topic. When Martha combined funny voices and fake accents while teaching complicated con- tent, her students would roar with laugh- ter. The incongruity of teaching cardiac content with stories of tractor trailers and a fairy tale became an effective learning tool when the students realized how the analogy fit.

Add Humorous Material to Course Syllabi, Tests, and Handouts. Using com- mon descriptors from food items, such as “fat free” or “microwaveable,” on printed course items can relieve student anxiety when they recognize the incongruity. Cheryl used cartoons on her handouts. She did not read them to the students, but laughter would ripple through the class as students read each cartoon.

Remember to Enjoy Yourself. From the sparkle in their eyes to their enthusiastic engagement in classroom interactions, all three teachers demonstrated their enjoy- ment in classroom activities. Their stu- dents responded in kind, creating a posi- tive classroom atmosphere.

Summary The three teachers in this study select-

ed many types of humor to exemplify their points. To avoid predictability, they varied their humor presentation styles and fre- quency by using simple cartoons projected on a screen, jokes and stories, and songs and dance routines. All three teachers engaged in a continuous search for new material to further expand their reper- toire. Careful not to overuse humor, they never lost sight of the learning objectives, but they added enough humor to sustain

EDUCATIONAL INNOVATIONS

students’ attention. The teachers gradual- ly increased their use of classroom humor as they felt more comfortable with the con- tent and setting. All of the students’ and teachers’ comments corroborate the con- clusions reached by Bryant and Zillmann (1989), “It would appear that success in teaching with humor...depends on employ- ing the right type of humor, under the proper conditions, at the right time, and with properly motivated and receptive students” (p. 74).

Not all types of humor are appropriate for all teachers. However, for teachers who carefully invest time and effort into learn- ing to teach with humor, the reward can be a successful and enjoyable experience for all involved.

References Berk, R.A. (1998). Professors are from Mars, stu-

dents are from Snickers. Madison, WI: Mendota Press.

Berk, R.A. (2002). Humor as an instructional defibrillator. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Bryant, J., & Zillmann, D. (1989). Using humor to promote learning in the classroom. Journal of Children in Contemporary Society, 20(1-2), 49-77.

Gross, G.J. (1994). Epidemic: Overheaditis. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 25, 46-47.

McGhee, P.E. (1997). How to develop your sense of humor. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.

Prosser, B.R., Jr. (1997). The use of humor among adult educators in a formal classroom setting. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, North Carolina State University, Raleigh.

Ulloth, J.K. (1998). Intentional classroom humor in nursing: A multiple case study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI.

Educator Opportunities Registered Nurses

2 Full Time positions Hours are 8:00-4:30, with occasional flex and weekend shifts to work in our Education Department. The position requires some local travel between multiple Valley Health System sites. Master’s degree preferred.

Critical Care Educator Full Time

Three to five years current clinical experience in Critical Care-Cardiology/Cardiac Surgery required. Previous teaching/training experience with adult learners in both classroom and clinical settings. Strong interpersonal and presentation skills needed with a sound background in cus- tomer service. BLS and ACLS required; BLS Instructor preferred.

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Three to five years experience with computerized Nursing documentation and e-Learning systems preferred. This professional must possess knowl- edge of medical computer systems and keyboard skills, as well as strong interpersonal and presen- tation skills. This Educator will be heavily involved in evaluating and developing e-Learning applications for all levels of personnel. Other responsibilities will include orientation of new employees and inservice presentations for current employees. BLS Instructor preferred.

Educator We are looking for an experienced educator with excellent presentation and interpersonal skills to fill our full time position. This professional should have a Master’s degree in Education or related healthcare field and current experience in a healthcare leadership training, quality improve- ment and performance outcomes. A strong background in service excellence is a plus. This position is 8:00-4:30 with occasional flex hours and requires travel between multiple Valley Health System sites. RN preferred.

Interested candidates should forward resume, specifying position of interest and ad #030101-328, to: The Valley Hospital, Human Resources/Kraft Center, Attn: KH, 223 No. Van Dien Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07450. Fax: (201) 291-6279. E-mail: [email protected] For more information, please visit our website: www.valleyhealth.com Committed to equal opportunity.

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January 2003, Vol. 42, No. 1