Breaking up long lectures with humor
Some of the lectures in the course I am teaching are a little long, I have found using humor, and tell relative stories keep my students engaged.
Humor and creativity is very important for students to be engaged, specially in long lectures. I often utilize appropriate jokes, stories, past experiences to keep the class interested. I teach a course that may be dreadful to some students and may cause anxiety and fears. I have to reduce the threatening nature of the course by changing the tone of the instructional process and remove the stigma in mental health nursing.
Hi Lauren,
Aren't these kinds of classes a pleasure to teach? They really help to keep my excitement up about being a teacher.
Gary
I have also found that humor is easier to implement after some time has passed and the student-teacher relationship becoms a little more comfortable. I am lucky to have a fun class that responds well to comic relief!
Hi Jeff,
I would suggest both. At times a real life situation is very appropriate and others a quick joke to change pace is the way to go. Just "read" the class and you will start to see when each one should be used.
Gary
As a new instructor do you suggest real life situations or a joke to break the tension. It seems a real life situation would carry more weight and get more respect as a professional in the field?
Good For You Mike, I also feel that humor is important. It provides relatibility and a sense of comfort for the students. It can put them at ease and also allow you as the instructor to release any tensions you may have while delivering the material. It can be a valuable tool especially if you can relate an occasion when you were faced with a strange or uncomfortable challenge not unlike one that the students might be facing and how you handled it either at the time of the incident or in humerous retrospect.
I do the same thing. My class is mostly 'hands on', but the three classes before me are all lecture. By the time they come to me they are half a sleep. A little humor wakes them back up and makes them happy to be in my class.
I do the samething I have some night classes that last four plus hours, so I like to keep thing light and easy or else I find I loose my students, it make the evening more manageable
I agree that this is very effective as long as the students refocus and don't get out of control. Another way to maintain their attention is to use a varying tone of voice and try to engage them in discussion. In my course I think it's important to relate what they are learning to its value for them in the future.
Great tip! I think if long lectures as long meetings with a lot of detail being shared. You need to give the students a breather and allow them time to relax. Telling a funny story does jsut the trick and allows you to still control the class.
HI Denise,
Good examples of pacing for a class. The students like it when there is a change of pace or activity in the class. It helps them to disengage and then reengage in the class.
Gary
Humor works for me, too. I'm always careful to keep it pretty general because humor is so very subjective. I have also discovered that short breaks and Q&A periods after breaks seem to help my students retain info better.
