Don’t Joke About Me: Student Identities and Perceptions of Instructor Humor in College Science Courses
Humor is a popular tool used by instructors to engage students. However, some instructor jokes may be perceived as less funny and more offensive by particular groups of students. Previous studies have shown that student gender impacts student perception of instructor humor; however, to our knowledge...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Society for Microbiology
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education |
| Online Access: | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v21i1.2085 |
| _version_ | 1818988203723456512 |
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| author | Katelyn M. Cooper Erika M. Nadile Sara E. Brownell |
| author_facet | Katelyn M. Cooper Erika M. Nadile Sara E. Brownell |
| author_sort | Katelyn M. Cooper |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Humor is a popular tool used by instructors to engage students. However, some instructor jokes may be perceived as less funny and more offensive by particular groups of students. Previous studies have shown that student gender impacts student perception of instructor humor; however, to our knowledge no studies have explored whether there are differences in how other identity groups interpret instructor humor. In this study, we surveyed 1,637 students across 25 different college science courses at a research-intensive institution in the Southwest United States. Students evaluated a set of topics that science instructors might joke about in class as to whether they were funny and offensive. Using binary logistic regression, we analyzed whether students of different identities, including race/ethnicity, political affiliation, LGBTQ+ status, religious affiliation, and native language, differentially perceived joke topics to be funny and offensive if told by an instructor in class. We identified that topics which tended to be perceived by students as funny rather than offensive were generally less likely to be perceived as funny to non-native English language speakers compared with native English speakers. We also found that students were more likely to be offended by jokes about their own identity group. This work identifies potentially humorous topics that instructors should avoid because they could be offensive to groups of students. This study also highlights topics that tend to be perceived as funny to most students, which indicates that instructors who joke about such topics may be universally benefitting college science students. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T19:18:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-efc8ecb70767435bbf2e1c993a314bae |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1935-7877 1935-7885 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T19:18:51Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-efc8ecb70767435bbf2e1c993a314bae2022-12-21T19:29:04ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologyJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education1935-78771935-78852020-01-0121110.1128/jmbe.v21i1.2085Don’t Joke About Me: Student Identities and Perceptions of Instructor Humor in College Science CoursesKatelyn M. Cooper0Erika M. Nadile1Sara E. Brownell2Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816Biology Education Research Lab, Research for Inclusive STEM Education Center, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281Biology Education Research Lab, Research for Inclusive STEM Education Center, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281Humor is a popular tool used by instructors to engage students. However, some instructor jokes may be perceived as less funny and more offensive by particular groups of students. Previous studies have shown that student gender impacts student perception of instructor humor; however, to our knowledge no studies have explored whether there are differences in how other identity groups interpret instructor humor. In this study, we surveyed 1,637 students across 25 different college science courses at a research-intensive institution in the Southwest United States. Students evaluated a set of topics that science instructors might joke about in class as to whether they were funny and offensive. Using binary logistic regression, we analyzed whether students of different identities, including race/ethnicity, political affiliation, LGBTQ+ status, religious affiliation, and native language, differentially perceived joke topics to be funny and offensive if told by an instructor in class. We identified that topics which tended to be perceived by students as funny rather than offensive were generally less likely to be perceived as funny to non-native English language speakers compared with native English speakers. We also found that students were more likely to be offended by jokes about their own identity group. This work identifies potentially humorous topics that instructors should avoid because they could be offensive to groups of students. This study also highlights topics that tend to be perceived as funny to most students, which indicates that instructors who joke about such topics may be universally benefitting college science students.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v21i1.2085 |
| spellingShingle | Katelyn M. Cooper Erika M. Nadile Sara E. Brownell Don’t Joke About Me: Student Identities and Perceptions of Instructor Humor in College Science Courses Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education |
| title | Don’t Joke About Me: Student Identities and Perceptions of Instructor Humor in College Science Courses |
| title_full | Don’t Joke About Me: Student Identities and Perceptions of Instructor Humor in College Science Courses |
| title_fullStr | Don’t Joke About Me: Student Identities and Perceptions of Instructor Humor in College Science Courses |
| title_full_unstemmed | Don’t Joke About Me: Student Identities and Perceptions of Instructor Humor in College Science Courses |
| title_short | Don’t Joke About Me: Student Identities and Perceptions of Instructor Humor in College Science Courses |
| title_sort | don t joke about me student identities and perceptions of instructor humor in college science courses |
| url | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v21i1.2085 |
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