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29 January 2024 | Story Igno van Niekerk | Photo Igno van Niekerk
Prof Jannie Pretorius
Prof Jannie Pretorius uses an engaging and humorous teaching style that keeps his Life Science and Natural Science students fascinated and engaged.

Once upon a time, there was a monotonous teacher: the students did not like his lectures. Nothing interesting ever happened. The teacher grew old and retired. The end. Or not? According to research, teaching can be a humorous, fun, and enjoyable experience if you do it differently.

Mr Bean videos and Trevor Noah in the class

Prof Jannie Pretorius, a lecturer in the School of Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Technology, uses an engaging and humorous teaching style that keeps his Life Science and Natural Science students fascinated and engaged. When starting out at the UFS, Prof Jannie wondered about using humour in a “serious tertiary environment.” He soon discovered that students, like most other people, also enjoy appropriate humour.

Using humour in education turned into a research project, and Prof Pretorius found himself showing Mr Bean videos and watching Trevor Noah shows to develop a lesson where the impact of using intentional humour was studied by measuring students’ reactions. An example from the transcription of his class on the mating habits of the praying mantis, where the female often bites the male’s head off to eat him for nourishment, shows how fun can be integrated into learning:

So, it seems that the praying mantis is like – praying; the male is saying: ‘Please don’t eat me, Sylvia, please!’… (laughter) … and she would pray back and say, ‘Please, Ronnie, I can’t resist you.’ (laughter).

Sensitive to their learners’ preferences

Despite the classes being fun, Prof Pretorius also cautions that it is important for teachers to be sensitive to their learners’ preferences and cultural backgrounds when using humour. “There is always an element of risk in the use of humour. As such, humour should always be used in a respectful and inclusive manner to ensure that all learners feel comfortable and included in the classroom.”

Prof Pretorius recognises that the use of humour depends on educators’ personal preferences. Ultimately, it is about what the students learn.

Listen to Prof Jannie Pretorius talk about his research. 

News Archive

Kovsie one of the newcomers in the Springbok Rugby team
2008-10-29

Five Kovsies are included in the Springbok Rugby team that will leave for the rugby tour to England this week. One of the newcomers in the team, Heinrich Brüssow  (photo), is a fourth-year B.Com. student in Economics at the University of the Free State (UFS).

The other four players are former students of the UFS. They are: Juan Smith, Bismarck du Plessis, Gürthro Steenkamp, Ruan Pienaar and CJ van der Linde. Brüssow is flank of the Vodacom Free State Cheetahs and also played for the Shimlas – the UFS’s first rugby team.

“It seems that the UFS is continuously producing national rugby players for South Africa. This is something to be proud of and is an indication of the standard of our coaching,” says Mr James Letuka, Director of KovsieSport.

“We wish all the Kovsies and the rest of the team good luck with the coming tour,” says Mr Letuka

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za  
29 October 2008
 

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