Humor helps professor teach about bugs

Entertainment gives reason for students to attend classes

By Lynde Smith
Staff Writer

Students won’t learn if they don't listen and that is why Tom Turpin uses humor in his teaching.

Turpin, a professor of entomology who has taught at Purdue since 1971, gave a lecture about humor in the classroom titled "Can a Professor be Entertaining and Still be Effective?" to professors, instructors and teaching assistants on Thursday.

Turpin said entertainment includes a wide range of things and the goal is to be comfortable.

The workshop had three goals: to look at the types of things that provide humor, to see if humor improves teaching and learning and to encourage other teachers to think about using humor to improve learning.

Rich Grant, a professor in agronomy, said he thinks the use of entertainment is important.

"It connects students with professors," he said.

Turpin showed a video of how he uses entertainment in his classroom. The video contained part of a lecture that showed him frying mealworms for his students to taste, his teaching assistants dissecting a grasshopper and students reacting to his style of teaching.

During his workshop, he also gave examples of ways to use humor. Apparel is one way to do this, as his pink tie with ants on it demonstrated.

He said that the tie that he wears often coordinates with the subject matter for the day.

As he described another way to use humor, Turpin pulled a cockroach out of his pocket and put it on the overhead projector. This showed how unexpected events could be effective.

Another way to get students attention is cartoons. The Far Side is great for those in entomology, he said.

As he was explaining this, he displayed a cartoon of praying mantises standing outside a theater that was showing the movie "Honey, I Ate the Kids."

He also said that if a professor has teaching assistants in his class, the professor should have them join in the lecture. In his class, Turpin and his teaching assistants will orchestrate mistakes, like a teaching assistant putting the wrong insect on the overhead. Students see this as a mistake, but they learn from it.

Entertainment in the classroom has outcomes such as less tension.

"In a humorous situation, you can always reduce tension," Turpin said.

Bonding is another outcome of entertainment in the classroom.

"They will feel they know you better," Turpin said.

Enjoyment, reduced boredom and increased creativity are more results professors can expect.

He said that the student response to humor in the classroom is often high, but there are some that feel that it should not be used in teaching.

There is also an increased amount of learning with humor. In the short term it may not be as effective, but the retention of the material is much higher.

Turpin once taught two biology classes in a row. In the first lecture he taught it fairly straightforward and in the other he wore a costume and used a lot of humor.

At the end of class he had the students from both classes write as much as they could about what they remembered from the lectures. After he went through those evaluations, he found that 30 percent more information was retained in the humorous presentation.

While humor in the classroom is usually good, there are some concerns about its use.

For example, it may cause a loss of intensity. Turpin said during the lecture, intensity may be lost but it will be retained through the overall class.

People are also scared that students will lose respect for the professor if he or she uses humor.

Turpin said, "The most talented people in the world are the ones that can clown their own expertise."

Another concern some people have is that there will be less task orientation, said Turpin. He said after using humor, it might be a struggle to get students back to the task at hand.

He also cautioned the teachers that humor should not become degrading to the students.

Following Turpin's lecture, those in the audience shared some of the ways they use humor in their classes.

Barb Mayfield, an instructor in foods and nutrition, said that in her F&N 303, "Essentials of Nutrition," class she had a guy come up and demonstrate how to breastfeed a baby by using a baby doll.

Mayfield said she wanted to show the students how to hold a baby when breast feeding, but she felt that it might be uncomfortable for a girl to do it.

Breast feeding can be an awkward subject and having a guy demonstrate it relieved the tension, she said.

"Occasionally I use it (humor)," said Jennifer Starkey, a technical trainer for the libraries. "I teach adult learners. There is often a feeling of 'you're wasting my time,' so I try to use more subtle humor."

Sarah Bonewits, a graduate student, said she thought the workshop was useful.

"It is interesting to see how (using humor is) done," she said.

Starkey said that the way people learn best is often the way they teach.

Turpin said someone who wants to use humor in his or her class should start out slowly and work up to things.

"The most important thing to remember is if your goal is to get your students to laugh, you will probably be disappointed," he said.

Even though they may not express it, students are probably enjoying the use of humor.

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Humor helps professor teach about bugs

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