Our study explored: (a) the feasibility of prescribing laughter to university students; (b) the efficacy of the prescription on creativity, well-being, affect, and academic efficacy (AE); and (c) the practicality of the Applied Creativity Test (ACT) conceived for this study. A convenience sample of healthy students (n = 70) aged 18-28 (78% female;…

How can comedy be used as an effective tool and truly help innovate the learning experience? This paper outlines how aspects of comedy have been creatively integrated into primary and secondary academic curricula such as English Language Arts, social studies, drama, as well as in areas of mental health and wellness. The essay demonstrates, for…

This study investigates the use of humor in teaching English in an English course in Indonesia. It aimed to find out the kinds of humor employed by the teacher and to explore the students' perspectives toward it. This study employed a qualitative research design and focused on one English course in Makassar, Indonesia. One teacher and one class…

Given the loss of heritage languages due to assimilation of the dominant English language in U.S. society within three generations of migration to the U.S. (Wiley & Valdes, 2000), it is of paramount importance to examine how we can maintain and enhance heritage languages. Humor is a pragmatic tool which one can utilize to increase…

Adult learners of tomorrow will face many challenges that will make it harder to attend classes. The demands of daily living will continue to multiply. Therefore, flexibility is among the keys to providing a quality learning experience for adult learners. This means teachers must constantly innovate to keep the class content fresh and their…

The effects of the incorporation of instructor humor in both the traditional and online classroom settings was examined. Students react to instructor humor in positive ways that demonstrate both increased engagement with the material and increased information recall following the use of instructor humor in lecture. Challenges of instructor and…

Despite efforts made over the past few years to improve upon the way introductory economics is taught, these efforts have unfortunately done very little to change student perception of economics as a dry, difficult and boring subject. Since the introductory economics course for many nonmajors may be their only economics course in college, it is…

While humor has long been documented as a useful teaching tool, it is almost entirely untheorized in terms of its potential for multicultural education. Specifically, the learning opportunities that racial comedic media offer in multicultural and anti-racist coursework is a particularly under-studied area, while research in this vein has great…

Employing drama activities in foreign language classes has proved to help language learners improve their skills. Within the context of drama course offered in an English Language Teacher Education program in Turkey, the present study suggests some drama activities based on well-known Nasreddin Hodja jokes. The study aims to find answers to…

The purpose of this capstone project was to design a course description on gelotology, the study of laughter, at a XYZ Institute. The course provides a detailed analysis of the background of gelotology, how the course was designed and how to put the course into application at the capstone site. The course was designed using a sample curriculum as…

Adventure-based learning (ABL) consists of highly structured physical activity with periods of reflection (i.e., debrief) that help promote personal and social development. It can be used as a valid curriculum in physical education to promote intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships. This type of curriculum can also help physical educators…

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…

Interviews with 31 nursing students and 3 teachers identified several benefits from using humor in class: relieving stress, focusing attention, making learning fun, enhancing learning, and strengthening relationships. Students overwhelmingly supported the use of appropriate humor. (Contains 29 references.) (SK)