Education Commons^™

A Phenomenological Study Of The Use Of Humor As A Teaching Tool By Middle And High School Teachers, Chad Michael Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand perceptions of instructional classroom humor used to help students learn and master new material, among teachers at middle and high schools in rural Appalachia districts. Using humor in the classroom is generally defined as deliberate planning and utilization of subject relevant humor in an attempt to improve students’ learning outcomes. Rural Appalachia was defined as the area geographically located in or near the Appalachian Mountain range, and the dominant socioeconomic culture found there. The theories guiding this study were (a) Bandura’s social learning theory, as it describes the way students …