The Effect of Content-Related and Unrelated Humor on Academic Achievement among Fourth-Grade Elementary Male Students

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine and compare the effects of content-related humor and unrelated humor on academic achievement in fourth-grade elementary male students. This quasi-experimental study employed a pretest–posttest design with a control group. The statistical population consisted of fourth-grade male students enrolled in non-profit elementary schools in District 5 of Tehran during the 2023 academic year. Participants were selected using multi-stage cluster sampling, and the final sample included 88 students assigned to three groups: content-related humor intervention, unrelated humor intervention, and control group. The intervention was implemented across eight instructional sessions using humor-based educational activities. Academic achievement was measured through a researcher-developed fourth-grade science achievement test. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS-23. ANCOVA results indicated a statistically significant difference among the groups after controlling for pretest scores (P<0.001). Students exposed to content-related humor demonstrated significantly higher academic achievement compared to both the unrelated humor and control groups. The effect size indicated that instructional intervention accounted for a meaningful proportion of variance in academic achievement outcomes, whereas differences between unrelated humor and traditional instruction were comparatively smaller. Integrating humor directly related to instructional content can serve as an effective pedagogical strategy for enhancing conceptual learning, academic motivation, and achievement in elementary education, highlighting the importance of purposeful humor design over unrelated classroom humor.