Humor and learning styles: toward a deeper understanding of learning effectiveness in the virtual environment

This study explores how virtual learners perceive the use of humor in instructor-developed videos and their other factors for learning effectiveness in an online course.

The study adopted a set of qualitative methods flowing from lesson study, to pilot study, to self-declaration of a learning style, to semi-structured interviews. Through the process, 142 undergraduate business students from the same online course, of different learning styles, discussed their perspectives on the instructor's use of humor and their learning preferences in online situations. Thematic analysis was performed.

First, humor is deemed harmless, but its value is perceived at different degrees among the four styles of adult learners for their benefit of learning motivation toward an online course. Second, four common themes that respond to learning effectiveness online are addressed.

Similar studies with additional samples, including students in other countries, in different age groups and/or on different online courses, are encouraged to strengthen the current findings.

The results provide evidence to school administrators, course developers and instructors on the importance of using a diverse pedagogy in online education. To motivate virtual learners, being humorous from instructors proves insufficient but developing the course with all respective features for different learners' styles is a clue.

It is among the first studies contextualizing a differential relationship between humor and learners' styles as well as evaluating the effectiveness of an online course from the learning-style standpoint.