2.3.5. Humor and joke in teaching

The natural dynamics of the lecture includes four phases: the beginning of perception - 4–5 minutes; optimal perception activity - 25-30 minutes; phase of effort - 10-15 minutes; phase of marked fatigue. The situation of attenuation occurs in any audience, because it is a psycho-physiological process. The psychological art of the lecturer is manifested in the ability to maximally smooth crisis peaks with the optimal combination of public speaking methods: switching attention, a joke, an original example in the course of a lecture, etc. On the admissibility of humor and jokes in the lecture process, there are two extreme points of view:

• • “The lecture is not a circus,” and therefore jokes are irrelevant;

• • jokes and anecdotes - an effective means of maintaining active interest of listeners.

It seems that the truth here, as always, is in the middle. Indeed, the lecture is not a circus, but the students are not mannequins. Therefore, it should be made reasonably attractive in aspects that go beyond scientific and technical information.

It seems, however, important that such “entertainment,” or rather distraction, should be relevant and meaningful. “Inserted” jokes and jokes are generally not constructive and, as experience shows, can even distract from the content of the lecture.

Aphorisms of Herzen, Chernyshevsky, Lichtenberg, Bolingbrock and other thinkers are a rich and constructive source of reasonable short-term distraction. Aphorism, unlike anecdote and simple sharpness, amazes with concentration of thought and teaches, pointing the way. “Ostrots and fads, like all things that can rust, should be used with caution” (G. Lichtenberg).