Laugh and Learn.

There is an old joke that goes as follows: A bologna sandwich walks into a bar and sits down on a barstool. The bartender says, "I'm sorry sir, you have to leave. We don't serve food here." Although it is corny, it is a joke that can reflect a deeper sense of thinking. Obviously, it makes no sense that a sandwich would walk into a bar, or even less sense that it would warrant conversation from the bartender. What is intriguing, though, is this joke could have more than one punch line. It just requires some deeper thought. Moreover, it is an excellent way to engage adult learners and get them to laugh and learn. For example, the punch line could be based around certain terms, bologna, for example. The bartender can say, "This is a great place to meet (meat) someone." Or, "I'm glad you are here, this place is already full of bologna." There can even be wordplay around the food choice. For example, "Why don't you find a spot with more room so you are not 'sandwiched' in?" Or, "Flow will you pay, do you have enough bread?" Humor has been shown many times to have a positive influence on learning. It helps students retain the material (Summerfelt, Lippman, & Hyman, 2010), leads to higher classroom evaluations (Skinner, 2010), builds trust between student and teacher, and reduces classroom anxiety (Shibinski & Martin, 2010). It can also be used, in a playful way, to poke fun at the teacher (Meeus & Mahieu, 2009) as well as successfully assess student learning by reducing anxiety. In specific adult learning situations, it has been shown to dramatically increase the comfort level of the students (Ty & Alkarzon, 2013). Puns represent a true form of critical thinking as the brain stretches itself to find dual meaning for certain words (Lems, 2013). They can also have a positive relationship on memory, as the internal incongruity they create influences informational recall (Summerfelt et al., 2010). As a result, puns and riddles become a humorous way of getting adult learners to think more critically about any subject. As older students continue their return to school, tomorrow's educators will need to utilize effective teaching methodologies. The classroom of the future, whether online or face-to-face, will be composed of students immersed in a world with a myriad of distractions. Humor can help students remain focused by keeping them engaged in the subject matter. This can be done through traditional techniques such as funny videos or guest speakers; however, the intent here is to provide some less obvious techniques. This brief article will present three humorous applications with which to promote thinking and engage adult learners. First to be discussed will be the use of whimsical brain teasers or thinking puzzles. Second is the use of everyday, sometimes outdated, bizarre laws. Finally, some effective uses of riddles and puns will be presented. Brain Teasers We all know that February has 28 days, except for leap years when it has 29. But of the remaining months, how many have 29? The common answer to this is 4 (September, April, June, and November). Four, however, is the incorrect answer. The actual answer is 11, every month but February. Even though we think the other 7 months have 31 days, they also have 30 days. Therefore, all months except February actually have 29 days. Tom's mother had three children. One was called April. One was called May. What was the other one called? The quick answer is June as our brains rush to associate the order of the calendar months with the missing name. The correct answer, however, is Tom. A closer look at the riddle shows that Tom was one of the three children. Both questions solicit an obvious response and a not-so-obvious response. It is the not-so-obvious response that not only causes us to chuckle but also gets our brains to think in different ways. A riddle such as this can be used to begin any class and get your students to think. …