Discussion: View Thread

This has been quite an interesting thread and I'd like
to add my 2 cents as a Ph.D. student by sharing a
past incident and an example that I believe are relevant
to the subject.

Dutch's comment about pressure and prestige reminded
me of an incident from a Ph.D. course. As part of the class,
I was teaching the subject of the day. At one point I was up
at the chalk board writing some comments when I misspelled
a word, realized it, and when I went back to fix it, I made
a comment to my Ph.D. cohorts in the class something along
the lines of 'It would be nice to have a chalk board that does
automatic spell checking.' They laughed and the class went
on from there. I really didn't think much of it. After the class, I
was chided by the course instructor for making the comment.
The instructor felt that it showed a lack of professionalism to
use that type of humor in front of a class.

Somewhat of a side note, I'm dyslexic and continually misorder
the letters of words as I write them down.

The example is what I use to start a class on communication.
I begin the class by asking students for all of the different
definitions of the word "right." I write these definitions up
on the board as they are called out and usually end up
with a list of 10-12 different definitions.

I then read a transcript of a conversation between the pilot
of flight GIA 152 and air-traffic control in Indonesia. The
transcript is fairly short and it becomes quickly obvious that
the pilot and the air traffic controller are confused over the
word "right" and are using different meanings.

Every time I have read this transcript, my students begin to
laugh at the apparent confusion between the pilot and the
air controller over the meaning of the word "right." The
conversation is somewhat similar to a famous Lucille Ball
scene where she and Ricky become confused over the
same word.

How does this relate to humor? I think that because I have
previously used what I consider to be appropriate humor
in the course I have set up an expectation in my students that
what I am reading is or will result in a humorous ending. That a
large number of students begin to laugh, perhaps nervously,
perhaps not, it indicates that this might be their expectation.

The last two lines of the transcript read:

Pilot: (Pause) "Confirm turning left? We are starting turning right now."

Controller: "OK (pause) OK. GIA 152 continue turn right heading 015."


At this point, I stop, pause, look up at my students and say
(approximately):

"There were no further transmissions from GIA 152. In the confusion the
pilot had turned right into a mountain and killed everyone on board."

This unexpected ending to the story shocks them into silence.
In every class, the students looked stunned. I leave it at that and
after a minute or so, go into the rest of the class. The students are
required to write a journal for each class and the transcript dominates
the journal entries for this class.

If I did not use humor in previous classes, I don't think that this
transcript would have such an impact. The expected humor and
the resulting contrast is quite useful and has a powerful impact.

Martin's comments are "right" on target (pardon the pun). If we can make
simple comments about ourselves and laugh, we are in deep trouble.

Prof Ted Rosen
GWU School of Business and Public Management

> snip...The instructor felt that it showed a lack of professionalism to
> use that type of humor in front of a class.snip...

Don't you find that "lack of professionalism" is an accusation often levied
when the accuser can't find specific legitimate grounds for their objection?
Personally, I'd have congatulated you on your quick response in dealing with
the error - and we all make them.

An engineer I worked with thirty years ago always maintained that "...the
person who has never made an error has never made sod-all.."(actual language
toned down).

In my opinion,it isn't whether or not we make errors, but how we react and
deal with them, that shows the level of someone's 'professionalism'
Regards,

Kevin Fields
Lecturer: Tourism & Hospitality Management
Birmingham College of Food, Tourism
& Creative Studies

"Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire."
--- WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

Martin,
Sorry for the late request but was having trouble with my email. Also. I
apologize for sending this to the whole list. Could you send
me a copy or reference to that transcript? Thanks.
Barry
Barry Armandi
Dept. of Management
SUNY- Old Westbury
Old Westbury, NY 11568

----------
> From: Martin Martens <martinl@UNIXG.UBC.CA>
> To: MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
> Subject: Re: [MG-ED-DV] Useless & Useful Humor in B-School
> Date: Thursday, April 22, 1999 3:01 PM
>
> This has been quite an interesting thread and I'd like
> to add my 2 cents as a Ph.D. student by sharing a
> past incident and an example that I believe are relevant
> to the subject.
>
> Dutch's comment about pressure and prestige reminded
> me of an incident from a Ph.D. course. As part of the class,
> I was teaching the subject of the day. At one point I was up
> at the chalk board writing some comments when I misspelled
> a word, realized it, and when I went back to fix it, I made
> a comment to my Ph.D. cohorts in the class something along
> the lines of 'It would be nice to have a chalk board that does
> automatic spell checking.' They laughed and the class went
> on from there. I really didn't think much of it. After the class, I
> was chided by the course instructor for making the comment.
> The instructor felt that it showed a lack of professionalism to
> use that type of humor in front of a class.
>
> Somewhat of a side note, I'm dyslexic and continually misorder
> the letters of words as I write them down.
>
> The example is what I use to start a class on communication.
> I begin the class by asking students for all of the different
> definitions of the word "right." I write these definitions up
> on the board as they are called out and usually end up
> with a list of 10-12 different definitions.
>
> I then read a transcript of a conversation between the pilot
> of flight GIA 152 and air-traffic control in Indonesia. The
> transcript is fairly short and it becomes quickly obvious that
> the pilot and the air traffic controller are confused over the
> word "right" and are using different meanings.
>
> Every time I have read this transcript, my students begin to
> laugh at the apparent confusion between the pilot and the
> air controller over the meaning of the word "right." The
> conversation is somewhat similar to a famous Lucille Ball
> scene where she and Ricky become confused over the
> same word.
>
> How does this relate to humor? I think that because I have
> previously used what I consider to be appropriate humor
> in the course I have set up an expectation in my students that
> what I am reading is or will result in a humorous ending. That a
> large number of students begin to laugh, perhaps nervously,
> perhaps not, it indicates that this might be their expectation.
>
> The last two lines of the transcript read:
>
> Pilot: (Pause) "Confirm turning left? We are starting turning right now."
>
> Controller: "OK (pause) OK. GIA 152 continue turn right heading 015."
>
>
> At this point, I stop, pause, look up at my students and say
> (approximately):
>
> "There were no further transmissions from GIA 152. In the confusion the
> pilot had turned right into a mountain and killed everyone on board."
>
> This unexpected ending to the story shocks them into silence.
> In every class, the students looked stunned. I leave it at that and
> after a minute or so, go into the rest of the class. The students are
> required to write a journal for each class and the transcript dominates
> the journal entries for this class.
>
> If I did not use humor in previous classes, I don't think that this
> transcript would have such an impact. The expected humor and
> the resulting contrast is quite useful and has a powerful impact.