Keywords
mature students
higher education
fun
How to Cite
Abstract
The focus of this study is on mature students in a UK university, returning to higher education after a gap of many years, and the experiences and perceptions this demographic has of humour in Higher Education (HE). This interpretivist phenomenological study uses semi-structured interviews with mature students in a UK university and identifies areas the students focus on when discussing their perceptions of humour in higher education. Through the detailed analysis of the data collected, six themes were selected by the researcher as it appears that students clearly deem them important to their educational journey in HE. Primary focus of the students is on the enjoyable and fun teaching style, followed by the relaxed learning environment conducive to feelings of safety. Both of these enable the learning and understanding of the content (cognition) and encourage engagement with the tutor and the peer group. According to the results obtained through the semi-structured interviews, the students make it clear that they want:”more humour” and “more fun”. Previous experiences of education (referred to as “traumas” by the participants) are revisited and students report their belief that they would have achieved much better GCSE results if humour was used in the classroom. Furthermore, the use of humour within the lectures in their current undertaking on the undergraduate level, is cited as a reason for potential progression beyond the current course of study, and onto the postgraduate level.
References
Berk, R.A. (1996). Student ratings of 10 strategies for using humor in college teaching. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 7(3), 71-92.
Berk, R.A., & Nada, J.P. (1998). Effects of jocular instructional methods on attitudes, anxiety, and achievement in statistics courses. Humor. International Journal of Humor Research, 11(4), 383-410. https://doi.org/10.1515/humr.1998.11.4.383.
Berk, A.R. (2002). Humor as an instructional defibrillator: Evidence-based techniques in teaching and assessment. Stylus Publishing.
Berk, A. R. (2003). Professors are from Mars®, students are from Snickers®. Routledge.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2020). One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis? Qualitative Research in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2020.1769238
Brent, D. (2005). Teaching as performance in an electronic classroom. First Monday, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v10i4.1221
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2001). Research methods in education (5th ed.). Routledge.
Cornett, C.E. (1986). Learning through laughter: Humor in the classroom. Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.
Davenport, D. C. (2015). Examining peer perceptions of humorous communication in the college classroom. [Master Thesis, University of Kentnucky]. Theses and Dissertations-Communication 42.
Davies, J., & Arrend, B. (2013). Facilitating seven ways of learning: A resource for more effective, and enjoyable college teaching. Stylus Publishing.
Diener, E., & Crandall, R. (1978). Ethics in social and behavioral research. University Of Chicago Press.
Egerton, M., & Parry, G. (2001). Lifelong debt: rates of return to mature study. Higher Education Quarterly, 55 (1), 4–27.
Galloway, G., & Cropley, A. J. (2001). Humour and mental health: Implications for psychotherapy. Journal of Baltic Psychology, 2, 5-14.
Gee, J. P. (2005). Why video games are good for your soul: pleasure and learning. Common Ground Publishing.
Henman, L.D. (2001). Humor as a coping mechanism: Lessons from POWs. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 14, 83-94.
Hodgson, V. E. (2005). Lectures and experience of relevance. In F. Marton. D. Hounsell & N. Entwistle (Eds.), The experience of learning; Implications for teaching and studying in higher education (pp. 159-171). 3rd (Internet) edition. University of Edinburgh Centre for Teaching, Learning and Assessment.
Huble, S., & Bolton, P. (2021). Mature students in England Report, House of Commons Library, Parliament UK, https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8809/ [Accessed 30.7.2024]
Jones, S., (2007), Reflections on the lecture; outmoded medium or instrument of inspiration? Journal of Further and Higher Education, 31(4), 397–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098770701656816
Kantanis, T. (2002). Same or different: Issues that affect mature age undergraduate students‟ transition to university. Paper presented at the 6th Pacific Rim, First Year in Higher Education Conference, Christchurch.
Kenny, A., Kidd, T., Nankervis, K., & Connell, S. (2011). Mature age students’ access, entry and success in nurse education: An action research study. Contemporary Nurse: A Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession, 38(1), 106-18.
Kher, N., Molstad, S., & Donahue, R. (1999). Using humor in the college classroom to enhance teaching effectiveness in ‘dread courses’. College Student Journal, 33, 400-406.
Kosiczky, B., & Mullen, C. A. (2013). Humor in high school and the role of teacher leaders in school public relations. Journal of School Public Relations, 34(1), 6–39.
Lei, S. A., Cohen, J. L., & Russler, K. M. (2010). Humor on learning in the college classroom: Evaluating benefits and drawbacks from instructors’ perspectives. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 37, 326-331.
Lowman, J. (1994). Professors as performers and motivators. College Teaching, 42(4), 137-141.
Masek, A., Hashim, S., & Ismail, A. (2018). Integration of the humour approach with student’s engagement in teaching and learning sessions. Journal of Education for Teaching, 45(2), 228–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2018.1548169
Powers, T. (2005). Engaging students with humor. Association for Psychological Science. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/engaging-students-with-humor [Accessed 23.12.23]
Provine, R. (2002). The science of laughter. Psychology Today, 33(6), 58-62.
Riggio, R., E., (2015, 15 April). The 4 Styles of Humour, Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201504/the-4-styles-humor?msockid=04208cbce9366be20cc69834e8246a94
Schoenewolf, G. (2015). The healing power of humor, Psych Central. https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-healing-power-of-humor#1
Shea, E., (2024). Top 5 challenges facing professional service leaders in uk higher education today, HE Professional, https://heprofessional.co.uk/edition/top-5-challenges-facing-professional-service-leaders-in-uk-higher-education-today, [Accessed 07.08.2024]
Tait, G., Lampeter, J., Bahr, N., & Bennett, P., (2015) Laughing with the lecturer: the use of humour in shaping university teaching, Journal of University Teaching &Learning Practice, 12(3). Article 7.
VideoArts (1972), https://www.videoarts.com/the-video-arts-story/ [ accessed 21.07.24]
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2024 The European Journal of Humour Research