Humor in the classroom: Predicted outcome values, motivation, and student learning

While some research has been conducted examining the use of humor in the classroom in terms of how it is perceived or how it affects perceptions of an instructor, communication research has not yet explored how this use of humor can influence students in several tangible ways. These range from student's interest towards the class or the anxiety they feel about taking it. This research explored the use of appropriate humor in the classroom by instructors and its subsequent effects on student evaluations of their perceived interest and motivation in, and their anxiety for, a hypothetical college course.;Research involved participants (n=163) who attended a sample class session for a hypothetical college public speaking course that either featured appropriate humorous material or did not. Participants filled out surveys following the class session answering questions designed to gauge their interest and motivation in taking and performing highly in a class like the one they had just observed, their anxiety and stress about taking such a class, and their perceived rating of the importance of taking public speaking and communication classes in general. Using Sunnafrank's (1986) Predicted Outcome Values as a theoretical framework, it was predicted that humor would have significant positive influence on student perceptions.;Results showed that appropriate humor significantly and positively impacted student interest and motivation, as well as decreased anxiety. Students also rated the importance of the subject as significantly higher in the humorous condition. Implications, limitations, and potential future research are discussed.