Using a grounded theory approach to the study of historical texts and an expert interview, this study investigates culturally embedded conceptions of giftedness as evidenced in one of the most important Iranian literary canons, "The Gulistan", to guide the development of education and programming for gifted and talented students in Iran.…

A hands-on symmetry project is proposed as an innovative way of teaching point groups to undergraduate chemistry students. Traditionally, courses teaching symmetry require students to identify the point group of a given object. This project asks the reverse: students are instructed to identify an object that matches each point group. Doing so…

Comic strips on newspapers, magazines and Internet are one of the most accessible materials that may be used in science classroom as instructional tool. However, it is sometimes difficult to find and adapt appropriate comic strips useful for instructional purposes, because most of them are irrelevant. The purpose of this study is to develop and…

The demands of art projects in public schools may not fit with reality for many exceptional students because the project outcomes are often too specific (Henley, 1992). One strong motivator for students is looking at and discussing visual culture, involving all the images they see and all the visual experiences they have every day. This pedagogy…

Although research on second language (L2) humor and language play is burgeoning, most previous studies have addressed language learners. Thus, L2 teachers in general and EFL teachers in particular have comparatively received much less attention in the literature. The present research, to my knowledge, is the first study in the Iranian context and…

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…

Emilie Townes begins by describing her childhood growing up as a Black middle class girl headed toward womanhood in the South in the late 1950s, 60's and early 70s. Townes writes that growing up during that time filled her with a host of experiences and memories that continue to shape her today. She writes that she learned about racism from the…

This paper addresses the ways in which humour is used by university academics to shape teaching personas. Based upon the work of Mauss and Foucault, and employing semi-structured, in-depth interviews with a range of university teachers, this research suggests that most tertiary teachers deliberately fashion various kinds of teaching persona, which…

This article will review the issues surrounding the use of humor as an informal teaching method in higher education lecturing. The impact and usefulness of humor, from both a teacher's and a student's perspective, will be investigated. The aim is to classify the challenges and limitations of using humor in classrooms and to investigate and…

Adolescents learn sustainable production techniques, civic engagement, leadership, public speaking, food safety practices, conflict resolution, disaster preparedness, and other life skills through Extension programming. Educators can increase participant interest in such programming by applying a creative pop culture twist, such as a zombie…

Teaching and learning research typically focuses on learning outcomes relating to the acquisition of knowledge. In this article, we shift focus to a different outcome: student commitment to, and thus successful completion of, a course. By examining the relationship between instructor pedagogical choices and rates of student retention--as measured…

This paper describes and analyses the 'feminist pedagogy of laughter' deployed in an original sex education presentation for college students, entitled Sexual Pleasure, Health, and Safety (SPHS). This work seeks to advance scholarship on liberatory education and humour in education by emphasising how we can use laughter to casually and joyfully…

The role of the teacher's personality can be placed amongst many factors that play a role in learning English as a second/foreign language. A teacher with a humorous character inevitably aids in reducing any potential fear that may be experienced by students in relation to the learning of a second language in the classroom (Bell, 2009; Chee,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of use of different types of humor in the classroom for a possible relationship with perceived and actual learning. This relationship was examined using quantitative methods. Participants answered questions about their perceived and actual learning and the type of humor to which they were…

Undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory educational technology course at a large US Midwestern public university completed a "greatest learning experience" narrative assignment, in which they were prompted to discuss and describe their best learning experience. In many of the narratives (n = 267), students discussed a…