Studying with a Smile        
Rotem Yaniv is a first year Art History Student
University can be a laugh

"So," said Professor Deaville, examining me and Professor Moore with suspicion, "are you the mysterious writer? Is this the place for the interview?"
"Yes," I answered, "come on in, I brought cookies!"

James Deaville, Associate Professor in the School for Studies in Art and Culture: Music, and Michael J. Moore, Associate Professor of Mathematics, teach very different material. Deaville deals with Opera performers while Moore instructs calculus. But they have something in common; they both enjoy a good laugh, and are not afraid to share it with their students.

"Here's the wager; if any of you students make this particular mistake, you all buy me a beer. If you get through the rest of the term without making it, I buy you a beer. That is, one bottle, and 45 straws."
(M.J. Moore, performing an annual ritual)

When I asked the professors to define themselves as teachers they answered that they make students laugh simply because it's in their character. "Humour draws them out but it's not some sort of a strategy; it's just part of my personality." said Deaville. "I would agree with you on that point, it's just something that I Always did," said Moore and added, "I found it to be a very good method of breaking the ice and getting students to respond to me." Class interaction isn't the responsibility of students alone; teachers can and should encourage students to participate. Humour is one of the ways to do it. Deaville and Moore aren't the only ones who use comedy in class; I received other names of humoristic professors who unfortunately didn't respond to my emails (no fun for them; didn't get any of my cookies). I think it's safe to say that most students have met at least one funny professor at university. But is this sort of teaching truly effective, and more importantly, isn't it sometimes offensive?

Both professors developed certain methods to ensure their humour serves their purpose – helping students understand the subject matter. Deaville treats laughter as "kind of an interactive activity, causing [the students] to engage, and challenging them to think about something in a different way, presented humorously." He added that "they don't know what's gonna come out of your mouth, so the class becomes an event rather than just the lecture." As a student of Professor Moore I can say that his jokes keep me from playing computer games in class (like I do in other lectures). Moore said "I try to use [humour] at times when there's a specific point I want them to remember; if I can make a joke about it or twist it in some way, it gives them a mnemonic [reminder] to tag. Although sometimes they only recall the joke and forget the bit I really wanted them to remember." This technique can prove quite efficient; last semester, an Architecture History professor, for instance, referred to a certain church as "St. Peters on drugs." My tutorial group still remembered details of the building two months and about a hundred buildings later. Heck, I still remember it now.

"And when I'm having troubles recalling the life of Rossini, I always find his death through rectal cancer a good technique for remembering him."

Riddles, funny stories, jokes, puns, and nonsense can stimulate students to take part in subject matter discussed; however, a teacher must be careful not to offend or discourage his students. Assessing Students' Perceptions of Inappropriate and Appropriate Teacher Humour, an academic essay, argues that students determine whether a joke is appropriate or not according to three elements: the subject of the joke and its genre (Is it a person? Does it involve prejudice such as sexism or ageism?), students' orientation (social and cultural background), and teacher orientation (its proximity to that of the students). What this actually means is there's no one formula to determine whether a teacher crosses the line or not (in the research for "Assessing Students" certain jokes were considered offensive by some students and appropriate by others). Moore and Deaville approach each new classroom carefully and evaluate students' general attitude and ideas of appropriateness. "You can usually gauge very quickly how far a class will let you go and also which students you're not gonna tease at all." said Moore. He also mentioned he tries to avoid racism and only attacks nationalities of his European sphere. (Professor Moore is British; to understand the recording of this interview I needed a shot of scotch, a good thesaurus, and some very durable speakers.) "I can make cracks about the French because the French make cracks about the English all the time. And you know, I'm making many remarks about Americans - cause they're such an easy target." Having said that, he added, "I have occasionally stopped a student after a lecture and said, 'I didn't mean it personally, please don't take it that way.'" Deaville agreed and added that one must also be careful of religious offence. "I said something about the Pope the first day [of class this year] and discovered one of the students was an avid Catholic. So, as [Moore] said, at the beginning of the term you find grounds that some students are a bit more sensitive about." Eventually, any professor might accidentally insult students; nevertheless, by being aware of students' reactions he can minimize the damage. Indeed, during 39 years of Professor Moore and 20 years of Professor Deaville's teaching careers no student has ever filed a complaint against either of them.

"It's great that I remember all of these famous quotes; this way I can make you believe I actually know what I'm talking about. You, however, have no idea what you're talking about, and you certainly don't know how to hide it."
(M. J. Moore, building students' self esteem)

Humour is a gamble, "taking a risk", as Deaville put it. When a joke misses its mark, students might lose interest or even be offended, in which case an apology is in place. But when the gamble pays off, students become more interactive and pay closer attention to the material discussed, thus increasing their chances for higher grades. Next time you see your professor joking around in class, try coming up with an "appropriate" answer. For the most he'll fail you, but hey, eventually you'll laugh about it. I know I do.

"My wife had at least some sense when she married me all these years ago."
"Heh, yea, a sense of humor."
(finding new definitions for the term "limits" in calculus) -R