By Todd Pettigrew | March 14th, 2012 | 1:43 pm
Why humour should count on course evaluations. Really.
When my august institution was creating its new course evaluation form, I was asked to provide input, and I dutifully suggested a number of questions that I thought should be on such a form.
One of my ideas, a question asking whether the professor was funny, was rejected outright on the grounds that not all professors are funny, so it wouldn’t be fair to include that criterion.
To my mind, the response begged the question, though. Some professors may lack foresight— does that mean you can’t ask if the course seemed to have been planned well?
I like to think I'm funny (I'm not), so I tell jokes in class to explain certain concepts. Judging from the exams, the students always remember the joke, but rarely remember the reason I told it.
ReplyDeletePeople remember happiness much better than pain.
DeleteOne of the reasons I read CM is that it--and you all--are funny.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea. I'm gonna pass it along to our Tenure Review Review Committee. No, that's not a typo.
I feel your pain, Philip. My school has a Task Force on Committees.
DeleteA Task Force on Committees? Facepalm!
DeleteWell, now this is a tricky one. I don't think that humor per se should be evaluated, not the least because my jokes are often based on knowledge of current events that many of my students simply don't have. Or else trapped in the '80s. And in a foreign country to boot!! But if we accept the (dubious) premise that 18-22 year old students are qualified to evaluate anything, then "personality" or "humanity" are as good a category as the next one. Why not? They already judge my accent, my clothing, my enthusiasm, and my field knowledge. Why not let them judge my personality as well.
ReplyDeletePlus, most of my humor is Blackadder-esque. With the students as Baldrick. God help me if they ever work that reference out!
DeleteCan I come sit in on your class? I love Blackadder!
DeleteOh, fucking hell. Yet ANOTHER excuse to make college even more vacuously brain-dead than it already is. "Funny" wasn't in my fucking job description: you want funny, you go watch TV. Have you ever noticed whenever students like you, they write on evaluations "He's funny"? I've taught over 2000 students, and I've never seen compliments about my courses' rigor, accuracy, usefulness, currency, thoughtfulness, or insight: all that counts is funny. No goddamn wonder there's "limited learning in college education" today.
ReplyDelete"Rigor, accuracy, usefulness, currency, thoughtfulness, or insight" and funny are not mutually exclusive. And nobody's saying that humor is required.
Delete"Funny" could probably be re-worded as "Entertaining".
DeleteMany years ago (the 70's) I remember reading about a problem that elementary school teachers were having in keeping their students' attention. It was mostly the teachers' fault because they weren't as entertaining as "Sesame Street" or "The Electric Company". No Muppets, bright colors or catchy little songs to help the little flakes remember their lessons. Plus, the TV programs only lasted a half hour, while the teachers were cooped up with their little charges for six hours.
In college, it's the proffies' fault. Why can't you teach them all they need to know in a fun way? Words like rigor, accuracy, thoughtfulness, insight, and discipline sound so harsh. It smacks of effort. If they try and don't get it immediately it might injure their precious self-of-steam, which has been steadfastly guarded all their lives. Better to not make any effort and just passively learn.
In Tae Kwon Do classes I've had parents complain about me not letting their little flakes play with their broken boards during testing. I always wanted to ask them, "When do you think would be a good age for them to learn to sit still and pay attention?"
Perhaps it would be better if Education majors had a heavy requirement in Marketing classes. Children can learn commercial jingles and corporate logos before they can read. Just think of all they could accomplish if it were presented to them as advertising. "Hey, kids! Just think of what Columbus could have done with an iPad!"
Rigor, accuracy, usefulness, currency, thoughtfulness, or insight are all more important than funny. And the title was, "Why humor should count on course evaluations," implying that if it isn't funny, it will count against me. I am deeply ashamed by how low I have to stoop to keep borderline illiterates who think they're university students entertained: I wish I could stop it at once.
DeleteNeil Postman, in "Amusing Ourselves to Death," has interesting perspectives on how, because of TV, every aspect of American society has turned into entertainment: politics, news, religion, and of course education. If a prof "should" be funny, students will come to expect it: soon a prof "must" be funny. And so we lose our intelligence, autonomy, maturity, and our freedoms, in the most delightful way.
Gary, this presupposes that Education majors learn anything. :o)
ReplyDeleteBut yes! if it's not FUN, then it must not be worth doing. And funny = fun. I get near-enraged when I hear students discussing whether their friends should take a class from a professor because "he's so fun!" or "she's hilarious!"
I GET that this isn't saying it would replace anything on the evals, but seriously, I don't go into my classroom trying to entertain. I end up being entertaining (for various reasons, mostly because I need to do anything to gain and hold my own attention), but that's not my goal. And I know that if this were on an evaluation, it would tell students that they are now also equipped to judge our senses of humor. I don't want a first-year student judging anything I do because he or she simply isn't equipped to make that evaluation, but mostly, all I have left when they've battered and beaten my soul is my sense of humor. And now they want to judge that, too? Hell, no!!! :
I'm surprised people take classes based on who's fun or not. Because I prioritize based on my likelihood of getting an A. Funny has little to do with that.
DeleteAnd to complete my sexist trolling quota for the day: I'm guessing the "I hear students" is referring to a bunch of girls talking. It sounds like a female thing to prioritize things like "fun" and "hilarity".
SS, nope, it's not only the girls looking for entertainment. The boys are the ones who usually try to participate in the entertainment by being clowns, and the girls watch them crash and burn.
DeleteAnd I am sure they have a similar perspective as you do about being resistant to learning and only wanting to be given an A, except that they ALSO want to be entertained while sitting out their time in the class.
"True wit is nature to advantage dressed, / What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed."
ReplyDeleteNo bonus points for wit?