Paul Ekman, an expert in the field of emotions, has identified four primary emotions that are universally acknowledged: fear, anger, sadness and enjoyment. All of these emotions evoke engagement, but not all of them build a state of being ready to do difficult things, and to think deeply about them, and finally develop new solutions and new knowledge. So, logically, teaching should be nice and pleasant, because enjoyment gives the best results.
But, is it always possible to play during lectures making them funny? Does, in your opinion, enjoyment really have a positive effect on memorizing knowledge, even in case of statistics or econometrics?
Could you suggest some works on this topic?
See this paper on Instructional Humor Processing Theory, which is used to explain the slew of findings of humor facilitating better learning.
Also, the Talmud (Shabbat 30b) explains how the rabbinic sage Rava began his classes with a series of jokes to lighten the spirits of his students. Rava believed that a light-hearted and humorous educational environment was infinitely more productive than a stern joke-free classroom.
Article An Explanation of the Relationship between Instructor Humor ...
I think humour is very useful in teaching. Ftom my personal experience students comprehend and remember serious theoretical concepts if you can find a funny example.
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