“Humor and Creativity are intimately related – There is a connection between HA HA and AHA! – Joel Goodman (educator)
The mental processing of humor involves your noggin, especially the right hemisphere (Svebak, 1982), and is, believe it or not, similar to the process of problem solving and creativity.
“I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it.”
~Frank A Clark
Abundance - Get off your Assets and dance
Affirmation: Everything I eat turns to money and my drawers are full of cash!
The mental processing of humor involves your noggin, especially the right hemisphere (Svebak, 1982), and is, believe it or not, similar to the process of problem solving and creativity.
“I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it.”
~Frank A Clark
Abundance - Get off your Assets and dance
Affirmation: Everything I eat turns to money and my drawers are full of cash!
MY ORIGIN STORY, PART DEUX
Remember in the preface when I explained the true genesis of this book – getting that treasure trove of jokes from my pal Victor at the Song of the Morning spiritual retreat center? Well, there’s another key element to my origin story, this one on the teaching side, and this one is (coincidentally or not) brought to you by the letter “O” (aren’t you glad “HUMOR” only has five letters?).
People may wonder why a non superhero needs to have an origin story. I didn’t fly here as an infant from Krypton or get bitten by a radioactive arachnid, but isn’t there something heroic (or at least superhuman) about making a boring subject like physics amusing and fun? And making the teaching of it compelling? To understand why I’m crazy enough to write a book like this, you need to know all that went into my decision to actually write a whole Master’s Thesis on “Exploring The Use of Humor In Enhancing Physics Education and Assessment.” That was the title! If you don’t believe me, later in this chapter I have a photo of the cover.
I’m not sure if there was a true “Eureka” moment – a la Doc Brown in “Back to the Future” falling off a toilet and waking up visualizing the “flux capacitor” – but there sure was a lot of passion. I still have it now. And there are some key moments and great mentors I will share with you. You still may think I’m crazy, but at least you’ll know…why I’ve always been!
I hope you enjoy the story. So let’s begin…
People may wonder why a non superhero needs to have an origin story. I didn’t fly here as an infant from Krypton or get bitten by a radioactive arachnid, but isn’t there something heroic (or at least superhuman) about making a boring subject like physics amusing and fun? And making the teaching of it compelling? To understand why I’m crazy enough to write a book like this, you need to know all that went into my decision to actually write a whole Master’s Thesis on “Exploring The Use of Humor In Enhancing Physics Education and Assessment.” That was the title! If you don’t believe me, later in this chapter I have a photo of the cover.
I’m not sure if there was a true “Eureka” moment – a la Doc Brown in “Back to the Future” falling off a toilet and waking up visualizing the “flux capacitor” – but there sure was a lot of passion. I still have it now. And there are some key moments and great mentors I will share with you. You still may think I’m crazy, but at least you’ll know…why I’ve always been!
I hope you enjoy the story. So let’s begin…
Make Your Vocation a Vacation. TGIM (Thank God it's Monday).
Allow me to set the scene. It was a cool and rainy day during a Michigan summer and I was on break from graduate school at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (more about the name later, but I’m NOT a Hoosier!) I only took a single class the first couple semesters, so I didn’t yet have much interaction with the graduate department there. I was trying to come up with a unique Masters Thesis idea that would be acceptable to the graduate advisors. They’re tough customers, but you could say anyone who writes a book about the physics of funnyness – and thinking people are interested in such a thing! - is up to challenging himself.
Because I was getting an M.A., my focus was on teaching physics. So the quest became finding and exploring a subject that would make physics more interesting and easier to understand. Usually when people think of writing a Master’s Thesis, it’s about as exciting as chewing on rocks. That is, unless you’re really into your topic. Then it might be a labor of love. Was it possible to make it fascinating? Paul Hewett seemed to think so!
I was really inspired by this man and his sheer passion for teaching physics. He made what for some would be a dreadfully dry science full of those awful word problems interesting and fun! He could make difficult ideas easier to understand using a conceptual approach which required no more than a basic grasp of algebra. My hat’s off to him (even if I don’t wear them) because in a single semester using his book, I feel I learned as much as I did attending Georgia Tech for four years as an undergrad (and received my Bachelors of Science, with high honors).
Let me clarify that. When I say “learned,” I don’t mean the ability to solve abstract problems, derive proofs or solve equations. I mean, I learned what all the important concepts in physics really meant. You know, all that magical scientific stuff like force, gravity energy, momentum, electricity, magnetism, wave mechanics – and the basics of modern physics, quantum mechanics and relativity, among other things. I learned about all this jazz at Georgia Tech, but they spent very little time defining these ideas. They jumped right into super drippy stuff like abstract theory, proofs and problem solving. I’m yawning just thinking about it. Bottom line? Paul Hewitt made physics fun (fhysics Phun?) and easier to understand. And that got me looking for that non rock chewing thesis.
I needed some serendipitous confirmation I wasn’t totally wasting my time – and found it in the bowels (oh wait, that was Chapter H) of the internet! After hours of searching online for ideas, I came across a curious study that created a possibility to not only make physics fun, to perhaps to make it actually FUNNY! Here’s the irony. Though this was serious research, the ACTUAL possibility of using jokes and humor to enhance learning and make physics more fun seemed a natural fit for me. Remember, I was familiar with inserting humor into my comedy skits, standup and those articles for Healing Garden. As you can imagine, I was elated by the possibility of such a thesis. What FUN FUN FUN! (and I didn’t have a T-Bird for daddy to take away!) Usually theses (is that a word?) are as much fun as doing taxes and watching C-SPAN. But this got me really excited.
The only question was, Would my advisors actually approve it?
NOTE: Pay special note to the first four paragraphs in the picture below. I would find out that the benefits of humor even went beyond just learning and memory - but that was an AMAZING start!
Because I was getting an M.A., my focus was on teaching physics. So the quest became finding and exploring a subject that would make physics more interesting and easier to understand. Usually when people think of writing a Master’s Thesis, it’s about as exciting as chewing on rocks. That is, unless you’re really into your topic. Then it might be a labor of love. Was it possible to make it fascinating? Paul Hewett seemed to think so!
I was really inspired by this man and his sheer passion for teaching physics. He made what for some would be a dreadfully dry science full of those awful word problems interesting and fun! He could make difficult ideas easier to understand using a conceptual approach which required no more than a basic grasp of algebra. My hat’s off to him (even if I don’t wear them) because in a single semester using his book, I feel I learned as much as I did attending Georgia Tech for four years as an undergrad (and received my Bachelors of Science, with high honors).
Let me clarify that. When I say “learned,” I don’t mean the ability to solve abstract problems, derive proofs or solve equations. I mean, I learned what all the important concepts in physics really meant. You know, all that magical scientific stuff like force, gravity energy, momentum, electricity, magnetism, wave mechanics – and the basics of modern physics, quantum mechanics and relativity, among other things. I learned about all this jazz at Georgia Tech, but they spent very little time defining these ideas. They jumped right into super drippy stuff like abstract theory, proofs and problem solving. I’m yawning just thinking about it. Bottom line? Paul Hewitt made physics fun (fhysics Phun?) and easier to understand. And that got me looking for that non rock chewing thesis.
I needed some serendipitous confirmation I wasn’t totally wasting my time – and found it in the bowels (oh wait, that was Chapter H) of the internet! After hours of searching online for ideas, I came across a curious study that created a possibility to not only make physics fun, to perhaps to make it actually FUNNY! Here’s the irony. Though this was serious research, the ACTUAL possibility of using jokes and humor to enhance learning and make physics more fun seemed a natural fit for me. Remember, I was familiar with inserting humor into my comedy skits, standup and those articles for Healing Garden. As you can imagine, I was elated by the possibility of such a thesis. What FUN FUN FUN! (and I didn’t have a T-Bird for daddy to take away!) Usually theses (is that a word?) are as much fun as doing taxes and watching C-SPAN. But this got me really excited.
The only question was, Would my advisors actually approve it?
NOTE: Pay special note to the first four paragraphs in the picture below. I would find out that the benefits of humor even went beyond just learning and memory - but that was an AMAZING start!
My favorite part is that first line: "A Climate of FUN and LAUGHTER effects LEARNING and MEMORY positively (caps mine). When people laugh and have fun, they release chemicals in the brain that affect learning in a positive way.”
So I wasn’t completely a completely crazy lone wolf. I had some high brow company!
The other paragraphs are illuminating too!
“According to the research of McNamara and Skelton, there is a specific neurochemical basis for learning and memory. Stanford researcher Bandura notes that there is a biochemical difference in the body when a person is confident and optimistic. The presenter's job is to assist students in deliberately releasing those chemicals through emotional release, physical movement and a positive attitude. In other words, the teacher's job is not to teach, but to provide an environment that is conducive to learning.”
*McNamara, R. K. and R. W. Skelton. "The Neuropharmalogical and Neurochemical Basis of Place Learning in the Morris Water Maze." Brain Research Reviews 18.1 (1993): 33-49
*Bandura, A. Social Foundations of Thought and Action: a social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1986
“Paul MacLean says that our hormones, feelings and emotions affect our learning. O'Keefe and Nadel were instrumental in establishing the role of the hippocampus in emotions and learning and suggested positive emotions allow the brain to manufacture better cognitive maps. In other words, when we feel good we can learn better and enhance our memory.”
*MacLean, Paul. "A Mind of Three Minds: Educating the Triune Brain." 77th Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978. 308-42
*O'Keefe, J., and L. Nadel. The Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978
“Hooper and Teresi documented the work of Dr. James McGaugh who says, ‘Arousal causes all these chemical cocktails-norepinephine, adrenaline, enkephalin, vasopressin, ACTH to spritz out. We think these chemicals are memory fixatives...they signal the brain, this is important, keep this!’
*Hooper J., and D. Teresi. The Three Pound Universe: The Brain from Chemistry of the Mind to New Frontiers of the Soul. New York: Dell Publishing, 1986.
*Restak, R. The Brain. New York: Warner Books, 1988.
Also, Humor improves student teacher relationships!
*Bryant, Jennings, Paul W. Comiskey, Jon S. Crane, and Dolf Zillmann. “Relationship Between College Teachers’ Use of Humor in the Classroom and Students’ Evaluations of Their Teachers.” Journal of Educational Psychology. 72 (1980):511-519.
And improves creativity and thinking “outside the box.”
*Ziv, Avner. “The Influence of Humorous Atmosphere on Divergent Thinking.” Contemporary Educational Psychology. 8 (1983):68-75.
“Teaching with Humor: A Performing Art.” Contemporary Education. Spring 1982: 150-154.
So I wasn’t completely a completely crazy lone wolf. I had some high brow company!
The other paragraphs are illuminating too!
“According to the research of McNamara and Skelton, there is a specific neurochemical basis for learning and memory. Stanford researcher Bandura notes that there is a biochemical difference in the body when a person is confident and optimistic. The presenter's job is to assist students in deliberately releasing those chemicals through emotional release, physical movement and a positive attitude. In other words, the teacher's job is not to teach, but to provide an environment that is conducive to learning.”
*McNamara, R. K. and R. W. Skelton. "The Neuropharmalogical and Neurochemical Basis of Place Learning in the Morris Water Maze." Brain Research Reviews 18.1 (1993): 33-49
*Bandura, A. Social Foundations of Thought and Action: a social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1986
“Paul MacLean says that our hormones, feelings and emotions affect our learning. O'Keefe and Nadel were instrumental in establishing the role of the hippocampus in emotions and learning and suggested positive emotions allow the brain to manufacture better cognitive maps. In other words, when we feel good we can learn better and enhance our memory.”
*MacLean, Paul. "A Mind of Three Minds: Educating the Triune Brain." 77th Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978. 308-42
*O'Keefe, J., and L. Nadel. The Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978
“Hooper and Teresi documented the work of Dr. James McGaugh who says, ‘Arousal causes all these chemical cocktails-norepinephine, adrenaline, enkephalin, vasopressin, ACTH to spritz out. We think these chemicals are memory fixatives...they signal the brain, this is important, keep this!’
*Hooper J., and D. Teresi. The Three Pound Universe: The Brain from Chemistry of the Mind to New Frontiers of the Soul. New York: Dell Publishing, 1986.
*Restak, R. The Brain. New York: Warner Books, 1988.
Also, Humor improves student teacher relationships!
*Bryant, Jennings, Paul W. Comiskey, Jon S. Crane, and Dolf Zillmann. “Relationship Between College Teachers’ Use of Humor in the Classroom and Students’ Evaluations of Their Teachers.” Journal of Educational Psychology. 72 (1980):511-519.
And improves creativity and thinking “outside the box.”
*Ziv, Avner. “The Influence of Humorous Atmosphere on Divergent Thinking.” Contemporary Educational Psychology. 8 (1983):68-75.
“Teaching with Humor: A Performing Art.” Contemporary Education. Spring 1982: 150-154.
All this Research on using Humor in education was a good starting Point - But I need one more thing - LUCK
Why Luck? Because using humor as a Master Thesis
in PHYSICS probably has NEVER been done before! If it has, nobody’s ever
stepped forward to let me know. So I can be even more dramatic. I mean, like NEVER
IN THE HISTORY OF THE HUMAN RACE. At least not at a reputable school. So that
makes me bold, brave and, there’s that word again, nuts. But in good,
groundbreaking way.
The Serendipitous Event That Changed Everything
Who’s the cool cat in the picture, you ask? Nope, it’s not someone auditioning for a reboot of “Home Impvovement,” it’s Dr. Ronald Berk – one of the key professors in making all of this possible for me! Turns out, I presented my thesis idea (along with all of my research on humor in learning and education) at a very fortuitous time! Dr. Berk had JUST given a talk at IUP about all the benefits of using HUMOR in teaching and education – with Dr. Numan in attendance! Dr. Berk even had a toolbox of jokes, performed a comedy skit and provided many examples while presenting his research.
How lucky was that! As a statistics professor, Dr. Berk was a pretty powerful voice in academia. So his speech was a VERY credible endorsement for using humor in a Masters thesis. Dr. Berk actually did much humor research and published many studies. To this day, he still uses humor in teaching statistics at Johns Hopkins. My thesis, in a nutshell was about trying to duplicate Dr. Berk’s research in the realm of teaching physics.
How lucky was that! As a statistics professor, Dr. Berk was a pretty powerful voice in academia. So his speech was a VERY credible endorsement for using humor in a Masters thesis. Dr. Berk actually did much humor research and published many studies. To this day, he still uses humor in teaching statistics at Johns Hopkins. My thesis, in a nutshell was about trying to duplicate Dr. Berk’s research in the realm of teaching physics.
My Thesis in Humor Approved!!
So my thesis topic was ACTUALLY approved! (Oh, I
guess the above header gave it away.) Oh well, it’s important, so it’s worth
shouting about twice with exclamation points!
Ron Berk’s serendipitously timed talk was THE KEY to getting this bold topic approved (he helped me formulate an experiment to use humor). See the Supplement at the end of book to read my thesis in FULL. It’s a proven cure for insomnia. More importantly, at least you’ll know I didn’t pull the ideas for this book out of thin air (or my…)…
What a fun Masters thesis this was! Has anyone you know ever said those words before? For example, it was really fun gathering the initial cartoons for my all my experiments.
I bought ALL The Far Side Galleries by Gary Larson (including every cartoon of the strip during its run from 1980-95), and picked out all the hilarious math and science funnies. Then I had over 30 students in the physics club on campus RATE all the cartoons on a scale of 1-5. I selected the five best for my experiments. This process is outlined in my thesis. (Shameless plug to get you to read it!) In case you are wondering, the cartoon below was the highest rated (text edited to make it read more clearly).
Ron Berk’s serendipitously timed talk was THE KEY to getting this bold topic approved (he helped me formulate an experiment to use humor). See the Supplement at the end of book to read my thesis in FULL. It’s a proven cure for insomnia. More importantly, at least you’ll know I didn’t pull the ideas for this book out of thin air (or my…)…
What a fun Masters thesis this was! Has anyone you know ever said those words before? For example, it was really fun gathering the initial cartoons for my all my experiments.
I bought ALL The Far Side Galleries by Gary Larson (including every cartoon of the strip during its run from 1980-95), and picked out all the hilarious math and science funnies. Then I had over 30 students in the physics club on campus RATE all the cartoons on a scale of 1-5. I selected the five best for my experiments. This process is outlined in my thesis. (Shameless plug to get you to read it!) In case you are wondering, the cartoon below was the highest rated (text edited to make it read more clearly).
Researching these cartoons was actually part of the “work.” Had I picked a winner or what? Imagine me sitting reading The Far Side cartoons all day for my Masters thesis…well, at least for a part of it. My research was finding the funniest cartoons and humorous ideas to add to physics tests, following the m.o. of the experiments and research Ron Berk did at Johns Hopkins. I included one The Far Side cartoon on every page of a physics test to see the effect that comic relief might have on the students’ anxiety. After the test, I had them fill out a questionnaire. It turned out that it helped them perform well and indeed made them more relaxed in taking the test.
I wish I could say Larson’s cartoons helped them rise from a “C” to an “A” but that wasn’t really the point. The point was introducing humor into the process like Dr. Berk. I also utilized a humorous title on the tests, humorous directions, and humorous choice (e) answers since the tests were multiple choice and a humorous final note. Like instead of “None of the Above,” it was “Who cares?” “Are we finished yet?” “How do I get off this thing?”
According to the research of Ron Berk at Johns Hopkins University, students showed improved attitudes toward the subject matter, decreased anxiety and increased overall achievement when humor was used in the classroom including on tests. Dr Berk even designed experiments in using humor in many ways in assessment and testing. I adopted these for a physics course and followed his experiment approach.
*Berk, R.A. Professors are from Mars, Students are from Snickers. Magma Publishing
*Berk, R.A. Humor as an Instructional Defibrillator.
I think I remain the only physicist (like ever) to have done their thesis in humor. LOL. That’s why you can trust everything I say in this book – or at least consider it as food for thought!
I actually performed FOUR humor experiments and did a thorough literature review of the use of Humor in Education.
I’m happy to report (because sad news isn’t fun to report ever) that ny thesis was well received and one of my thesis advisors (Stanley Soblewski) submitted it at Winter Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) in Baltimore in 2008. Wish I could have been a fly on that wall!
I wish I could say Larson’s cartoons helped them rise from a “C” to an “A” but that wasn’t really the point. The point was introducing humor into the process like Dr. Berk. I also utilized a humorous title on the tests, humorous directions, and humorous choice (e) answers since the tests were multiple choice and a humorous final note. Like instead of “None of the Above,” it was “Who cares?” “Are we finished yet?” “How do I get off this thing?”
According to the research of Ron Berk at Johns Hopkins University, students showed improved attitudes toward the subject matter, decreased anxiety and increased overall achievement when humor was used in the classroom including on tests. Dr Berk even designed experiments in using humor in many ways in assessment and testing. I adopted these for a physics course and followed his experiment approach.
*Berk, R.A. Professors are from Mars, Students are from Snickers. Magma Publishing
*Berk, R.A. Humor as an Instructional Defibrillator.
I think I remain the only physicist (like ever) to have done their thesis in humor. LOL. That’s why you can trust everything I say in this book – or at least consider it as food for thought!
I actually performed FOUR humor experiments and did a thorough literature review of the use of Humor in Education.
I’m happy to report (because sad news isn’t fun to report ever) that ny thesis was well received and one of my thesis advisors (Stanley Soblewski) submitted it at Winter Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) in Baltimore in 2008. Wish I could have been a fly on that wall!
Graduated from IUP in 2007
Serious NOTE: IUP is the 12th largest college in
Pennsylvania right behind Villanova, so we are talking about an accredited
bricks and mortar university. I actually did spend a full year in Indiana,
Pennsylvania living right on campus completing my core classes.
Funny Sidenote on IUP - that I used in Comedy Skits
I tell people jokingly that IUP is located at the border of Indiana Pennsylvania, Indiana. Or Pennsylvania, Indiana. There’s a little matter of Ohio in between but for the geographically illiterate, this joke always kills.
Little bit of trivia...It just missed the cut to be Ivy league though kudzu (my favorite name of an invasive plant) grows like weeds in the area. That is, schools least likely to become Ivy league. I wonder if there’s a poison Ivy League?
Indiana, Pennsylvania is not a place you want to live, that's for sure. Not only does it rain a lot, but it’s surrounded by nuclear power stations...Visualize the Bizzaro view of the Rockies, only instead of the Rockies, you have nuclear power plants on the horizon... Though I must admit, the smoke can be lovely at times. Pollution is underrated! People that have the means often commute from Pittsburgh – which may be saying something.
The drug of choice there is prozac and I guess if you live there it’s kind of a necessity. Fortunately. I only needed to spend a year there to get my Masters. The one positive of this small town is the Jimmy Stewart Museum, because that is really Indiana, PA’s ONLY claim to fame. It’s the hometown of Hollywood legend Jimmy Stewart! (My favorite film of his is not “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “The Philadelphia Story” or those Hitchcock classics “Rear Window and “Vertigo.” It’s “Cheyenne Autumn,” a 1964 Western directed by John Ford.
The region in general promotes itself as the "Christmas Tree Capital of the World" because the national Christmas Tree Growers Association was founded there.
Little bit of trivia...It just missed the cut to be Ivy league though kudzu (my favorite name of an invasive plant) grows like weeds in the area. That is, schools least likely to become Ivy league. I wonder if there’s a poison Ivy League?
Indiana, Pennsylvania is not a place you want to live, that's for sure. Not only does it rain a lot, but it’s surrounded by nuclear power stations...Visualize the Bizzaro view of the Rockies, only instead of the Rockies, you have nuclear power plants on the horizon... Though I must admit, the smoke can be lovely at times. Pollution is underrated! People that have the means often commute from Pittsburgh – which may be saying something.
The drug of choice there is prozac and I guess if you live there it’s kind of a necessity. Fortunately. I only needed to spend a year there to get my Masters. The one positive of this small town is the Jimmy Stewart Museum, because that is really Indiana, PA’s ONLY claim to fame. It’s the hometown of Hollywood legend Jimmy Stewart! (My favorite film of his is not “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “The Philadelphia Story” or those Hitchcock classics “Rear Window and “Vertigo.” It’s “Cheyenne Autumn,” a 1964 Western directed by John Ford.
The region in general promotes itself as the "Christmas Tree Capital of the World" because the national Christmas Tree Growers Association was founded there.
My Humorous Intro to Physics
I love nuclear physics, and switched majors from premed to physics because I wanted to understand the meaning of life, instead of making a boatload of money. I know, how UN-American! How counterculture! My physics mentor once told me the secret to staying positive. He said, “Study nuclear physics, especially the PROtons - for that will REALLY keep your mind positive. So I studied the nucleus and never the outer electrons, and you know what? I never had trouble with negative thoughts. I thought it was just a pun, but it really worked! People ask me, how can you possibly enjoy nuclear physics? I tell them, "It's just one of my quarks, I guess.”
I think the stigma of the term “nerd” is gone because it applies to “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” nuts now too. The mainstream pop culture success of Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye, the Science Guy makes science “nerdiness” cooler than ever! And I like how science and spirituality come together. For example, Both the Old Testament AND modern physics proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything can be traced back to the first Atom/Adam.
The upshot is, I had the opportunity to teach Math and Physics for FIVE years at the college level, including a year at Central Michigan. I very successfully used Humor IN MANY ways in my teaching as well as many other areas of life.
In the Occupation/Work realm, this is the core of my research. I actually received a M.A. in Physics education and my thesis, again, was titled “Using Humor in Physics Education and Assessment.” I was fortunate enough to complete my Masters AND teach for 5 years implanting humor in the workplace, which was for me, teaching Math and Physics. But no matter WHAT your job is, I will show you tips, strategies and jokes for making your job actually fun…
Imagine driving to work every day (including Monday morning), looking forward to the day (Chapter 5). Ok, if you just can't see it, then start by imagining 5 p.m. Friday is nearing, and you are on the verge of a weekend long drunken fest and you dread Monday like the Black death...Baby steps, baby steps.
I think the stigma of the term “nerd” is gone because it applies to “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” nuts now too. The mainstream pop culture success of Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye, the Science Guy makes science “nerdiness” cooler than ever! And I like how science and spirituality come together. For example, Both the Old Testament AND modern physics proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything can be traced back to the first Atom/Adam.
The upshot is, I had the opportunity to teach Math and Physics for FIVE years at the college level, including a year at Central Michigan. I very successfully used Humor IN MANY ways in my teaching as well as many other areas of life.
In the Occupation/Work realm, this is the core of my research. I actually received a M.A. in Physics education and my thesis, again, was titled “Using Humor in Physics Education and Assessment.” I was fortunate enough to complete my Masters AND teach for 5 years implanting humor in the workplace, which was for me, teaching Math and Physics. But no matter WHAT your job is, I will show you tips, strategies and jokes for making your job actually fun…
Imagine driving to work every day (including Monday morning), looking forward to the day (Chapter 5). Ok, if you just can't see it, then start by imagining 5 p.m. Friday is nearing, and you are on the verge of a weekend long drunken fest and you dread Monday like the Black death...Baby steps, baby steps.
Examples of My use of Humor in Teaching Math and Physics for Five years - Jokes to Follow.
Ways you can use Humor in Education:
Teaching Examples/Skits,
Humorizing a Syllabus or one page orientation (so it morphs into a Silly-Bus!)
Handouts with The Far Side cartoons (great way to introduce Millennials to Larson’s genius!)
Physics and Math Jokes (even made extra credit). I’ll provide you with a handful!
Humorizing a Theory --> Forget Einstein’s “Theory of Everything” and get on board with “The Theory of Nothing”!
Humorizing stressful situations – like a test, the first day of class, etc..
Some of the Wild and Crazy Things I did Teaching
I think Steve Martin would approve of some of the Wild and Crazy things I did during my teaching career:
Dressed up like Newton plastic apple (and handed out Fig Newtons to everyone) for a discussion of Sir Isaac and gravity
Dry Ice ---> When you wish upon a star (phase of matter) to Smoke on the Water. I made it like a rock concert!
Came in holding sparklers like it was the 4th of July as Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff” blasted to introduce the difference between heat and temperature. Themo-disco-dynamics, anyone?
Came in on roller blades with a heavy ball to demonstrate momentum
Inertia Demo - Pulled tablecloth out from under silverware.. I Pulled it off! Literally!
Wore Star Trek Shirt and did a Star Trek Dance to discuss stars. Still trying to master the Vulcan finger greeting!
Brought in tons of stuff at the dollar store. The aisles of cheap junk inspired the madness behind many fun lectures!
Pulled a Hans and Franz – Wearing a padded sweat shirt to show the idea of work (W=f*d) with dumbbells that looked heavy but were not. Apologies to Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon for this session!
Came into class with formal attire, explaining, “I always dress up for functions.” F(x)
Writing “Advanced Calculus 660” on the board before the first class to throw students off!
sin(x) = 6n (Let’s keep this cryptic!)
5q + 5q = 10q – “You’re welcome!”
And of course, loads of humorous tests using the Berk method.
All this made class and learning FUN! I had students that did not want to miss a class for fear of what they would miss! I hope that I have inspired you in this chapter like my mentors – including Paul Hewitt, Bill Nye, Ron Berk, Standard Deviants (!) and all the teachers that teach with passion, laughter and fun – have inspired me. Now let me challenge you with a question: “Can you figure out ways to make your work life more fun?” If I can make teaching physics fun, you can make ANYTHING fun and humorous. Your ability to smile all day long depends on the answer.
Math and Science Jokes
This may help. As I promised earlier in this
chapter, what follows are some of the funniest Math and Physics jokes that I
used in my classes. They’re Certified funny and I guarantee laughs. Also
included are some chemistry and other general science jokes. One thing I really
love about math and science jokes is that they are based on intelligent humor
requiring some knowledge of the subject. So even if you don't get the joke, you
can look it up AND LEARN something. This Humor is both funny and informative
AND is perfect for using in the classroom!
