Dr. Madelijn Strick explains: the best joke according to 10,000 primary school children
On 10 November, over 10,000 primary school children from all over the Netherlands researched humour. They did so during the Grote Wetenschapsdag (Great Science Day in English), which is a program of Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 that wants to inspire teachers to bring science into the classroom. UYA member Dr. Madelijn Strick was present to teach the children about humour.
Guided by different research instruments and the research cycle, the students found out how they could find the funniest joke in class. Which measuring instrument would be most reliable to do so: the applause measure, the smiley measure, or grading? Each class examined their own jokes and sent in their best one. The classes also discussed why something is funny and how it is possible that not everyone likes the same jokes. During the central ending of the project, in a on YouTube, the students voted for their favourite joke (which is in Dutch).
Naughty jokes
Dr. Madelijn Strick studies humour at Utrecht 木瓜福利影视. She was present during the opening and closing of the day, to explain the students about humour. She was not surprised that the students voted for this specific joke as the funniest one. 鈥淲e know from research that long jokes are often considered the funniest. And children often laugh about naughty jokes.鈥 Not only the children have learned something during the Grote Wetenschapsdag, for Madelijn it was also a valuable day: 鈥淭he students have helped me to understand what children find funny. I can use every joke they sent in for my research and as an example to show to other children.鈥
In the livestream, Madelijn also explains why she thinks humour is so important: 鈥淧eople usually laugh with others, and almost never when they are alone. Laughing together with other people is one the best things there is. It makes you feel happy and relaxed, and you like the other people you laugh with. Laughing helps to bond with other people. And you can use humour for all kinds of things, to sell products, for example. I think it is interesting to find out how this exactly works.鈥
About the Grote Wetenschapsdag
With the Grote Wetenschapsdag, Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 wants to inspire primary school teachers to bring science into their classrooms. Every year, a different scientific theme is chosen, which the teacher can address in class using investigative teaching materials.