Humor in Content

This study is currently in progress. It seeks to determine if humor affects learning. Half the students get a break after each problem in the form of a short comic. The other half just get a filler question.

Control

Students receive ASSISTments with feedback as usual. They also get a filler question.

Experiment

Students receive ASSISTments with feedback followed by a humor element. Humor is delivered using a variety of simple comics interspersed between main problems. Below is an example of the feedback, followed by some of the comics used for humor.

Click on the image to enlarge

Teacher Invitation - This was sent to teachers to recruit their participation.

Click here to try the problem set

Clicking on the link above will allow you to experience this study from the student's perspective. You will be randomly assigned to either the control or experimental conditions. Follow the link multiple times or refresh the preview page to experience each condition.

Muchlin, S., Desmarais, P., Roseen, T., Ostrow, K., Heffernan, N., Hefferna, C. (in preparation) A study on Humor in Content on student performance.