A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

The use of humour during a collaborative inquiry




AuthorsJaakko Lamminpää, Veli-Matti Vesterinen

Publication year2018

JournalInternational Journal of Science Education

Volume40

Issue14

First page 1718

Last page1735

Number of pages18

ISSN0950-0693

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1508926(external)

Web address https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1508926(external)


Abstract

Studies show that teachers and students use humour when communicating with each other in a science education context. This study investigates the use of humour during a collaborative inquiry laboratory task on an undergraduate chemistry course and an undergraduate physics course. Seven groups of students working on a collaborative inquiry task were recorded on video. The videos were analysed utilising an analytical framework based on conversation analysis. During the tasks, humour was used in a dynamic way and the role of humour changed as the inquiry progressed. As expected, humour was used to create a group identity and to regulate negative emotions such as anxiety, frustration, uncertainty, boredom and disappointment. Humour also had an integral role in collaborative decision-making, for example in proposing and evaluating new ideas. Awareness of how humour can contribute to the regulation of emotions and collaborative decision-making might help students and teachers to better utilise humour in inquiry and learning.



Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 23:27