In this article I examine the perceptions of third grade minoritized emergent bilinguals (Spanish/English) in a US classroom as they articulate how family members serve as a source of jocularity. By taking a sociocultural perspective on humor as a resource, I seek to render visible the relational and linguistic connections between these students…

Humor is a fundamental pedagogical tool that EFL teachers can utilize in the classroom to maximize their effectiveness. Furthermore, humor in pedagogy is a basic tool that can help teachers to create a motivating atmosphere in class to enhance student learning. For years, educational researchers have tried to investigate humor implementation in…

The study of marginalia has not been widely discussed in social sciences research and occupies a marginal space in terms of methodological legitimacy. We highlight the value of paying attention to the ways in which participants "speak back" to the researcher. This paper draws on marginalia found in surveys written or drawn by young…

In this study university students interpersonal problem solving approaches were investigated in terms of solution focused approach and humor styles. The participants were 773 (542 female and 231 male, between 17-33 years old) university students. To determine the university students' problem solving approaches "Interpersonal Problem Solving…

There is a common saying that if students like their teachers, they will start liking the subjects taught by them and be more attentive in the class. "A strict teacher can be successful but a humorous teacher can be more successful" (Vijay, et al, 2014:260-61). Hence, students' attitudes towards their instructors and subjects taught by…

This article aims to study both similarities and differences in female students' creativity between Mainland China and Taiwan. As two main aspects influencing creativity, playfulness and humor are especially focused on in this comparative study. Empirical data were collected from 831 students in Mainland China and 703 students in Taiwan. Based on…

It has been argued that humour is beneficial in the classroom because it increases social bonding between teachers and students, salience of information, and ultimately recall and retention. The current study attempts to test some assumptions about humour as a pedagogical tool. Results have indicated that using humour to teach material…

Employing a quasi-experimental design, this study examined the efficacy of humorous idiom video clips on the achievement of Iranian undergraduate students studying English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Forty humorous video clips from the English Idiom Series called "The Teacher" from the BBC website were used to teach 120 idioms to 61…

Many studies have reported on the perceptions of medical students toward dissection. It is important to understand the feelings and symptoms experienced during dissection so that they can be adequately handled. Prior to dissection, first year students are given lectures on aspects of dissection, death and dying, and death rituals in various…

Problem Statement: Teacher candidates who will soon be responsible for educating the future generations should possess certain characteristics. Specific teacher candidates should have specific characteristics taken into consideration: pre-school and primary teacher candidates should be seen as role models by younger students; psychological…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the roles of coping humour and gender in the college adjustment of Turkish freshmen. Considering greater happiness and academic achievement as predictors of initial college adjustment, data were gathered from a sample of 574 students using the Subjective Well-Being Scale (SWS) and the Coping Humour…

A substantial body of research emphasizes the importance of humor in teaching/learning processes; however, research on the reasons for non-use of humor in academic contexts has enjoyed scant attention. Addressing this gap, this study examines the reasons for instructors' humor avoidance taking into account student perceived benefits of using humor…

Based on theory and research, social aspects like friendship and sense of relatedness are fundamental in the development of children's cultural identity and achievement of outcomes. It is argued that this is a motivational aspect often neglected in research studies focusing on students' motivation and learning. Theory and research on motivation…

This study explores what classroom behaviors and activities in the basic speech course contribute to student connectedness. The results indicate that student encouragement, humor, honesty, interactive exercises and individual speeches, can help student bonding and motivation, and impacts their overall college experience.

Freshmen in an orientation course at a state university answered questionnaires about their peer mentors' playful communication and about how well their peer mentors help them ease tensions of socialization. Results showed that a mentor's perceived playful communication helped the protege ease tensions of socialization. Proteges liked mentors who…