Teaching and learning with instructional humor: a review of five-decades research and further direction.

IF 2.6 3区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Frontiers in Psychology Pub Date : 2025-01-29 eCollection Date: 2025-01-01 DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1445362

Weichen Zhou, Jun Choi Lee

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Abstract

The discussion about how to use instructional humor in class to promote teaching and learning efficiency has always been a concern of researchers in recent decades. The present project summarizes extant studies on instructional humor and provides a detailed review of research findings. First, the definition and classification of instructional humor are overviewed. Then, the study introduces three theoretical frameworks, namely Instructional Humor Processing Theory (IHPT) and other two alternative models, which, respectively, based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) or from an integrative perspective of cognition and affection, explaining how humor works in education settings. Based on the theoretical clarification of instructional humor, the paper further reviews existing empirical evidence regarding teachers' use of humor in class and its impact on students' learning, with emphasis on explaining inconsistencies in previous conclusions and identifying limitations in extant relevant works. The detailed analysis and comparison of previous results regarding instructional humor offer potential directions for further relevant research. Finally, the study concludes with feasible advice for teachers to maximize the positive benefits of humor in class.

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来源期刊

Frontiers in Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

5.30

自引率

13.20%

发文量

7396

审稿时长

14 weeks

期刊介绍： Frontiers in Psychology is the largest journal in its field, publishing rigorously peer-reviewed research across the psychological sciences, from clinical research to cognitive science, from perception to consciousness, from imaging studies to human factors, and from animal cognition to social psychology. Field Chief Editor Axel Cleeremans at the Free University of Brussels is supported by an outstanding Editorial Board of international researchers. This multidisciplinary open-access journal is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, clinicians and the public worldwide. The journal publishes the best research across the entire field of psychology. Today, psychological science is becoming increasingly important at all levels of society, from the treatment of clinical disorders to our basic understanding of how the mind works. It is highly interdisciplinary, borrowing questions from philosophy, methods from neuroscience and insights from clinical practice - all in the goal of furthering our grasp of human nature and society, as well as our ability to develop new intervention methods.