'LOL! That was funny but does it help me learn?' : humour in the marketing classroom

The positive role of humour in the classroom is well-accepted in the education literature. However, its direct impact on student learning is less extensively researched. Moreover, what little work has been undertaken in this field has been largely based on experimental research design. By using the Critical Incident Technique method, interpretive information was collected from undergraduate students at an Australian university. Data was coded in two stages: first, to identify categories of humorous incidents; and second, to identify whether students perceived the use of humour as being connected to their learning. This paper makes a contribution as it explains how the ‘associative network model’ offers a theoretical explanation on why ‘relevant’ or ‘related’ humour contributes towards student learning.