Humour-based learning: From the lens of adolescents

Abstract

Along with its psychological, physical and social benefits, humour has proved undeniably useful in educational contexts especially for the last sixty years. In order to close the research gap in Turkey, the current study scrutinized secondary school students’ views on the educational use of humour. Accordingly, 525 students attending state secondary schools were administered the Educational Humour Scale (EHS) in order to see whether they significantly differ in their related views regarding gender and types of schools they were attending. Their responses were qualitatively analysed through Nvivo 9, and codes, sub-codes and themes were formed based on the analysis results. An approximate consensus has been reached among the students on the idea that use of humour is profoundly beneficial in education. The statistical findings have revealed that the students do not significantly differ in their views on the use of humour in education with respect to gender and types of schools they attend (p>.05). The study ends with a few practical implications on the findings and suggestions for further research.