Prof HORNER Andrew B
- Michael G. Gale Medal for Distinguished Teaching, 2000
- Best Ten Lecturers Award, 2000, 2001, 2002School of Engineering Teaching Excellence
- Appreciation Award, Fall 1997-98, Fall 1998-99, Fall 1999-2000, Fall 2000-01
"A Little Humor"
Getting the student's full attention at the beginning of class (especially 9AM classes!) requires something dramatic. A good joke provides a quick way to re-connect with the students at the start of class, warming us all up, just as in The Sound of Music, where "a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down."
One of my favorite types of jokes is the "Top 10 List," popularized by David Letterman, but tailored to the HKUST student audience. Examples include "Top 10 Reasons the 91 Bus is So Slow" and "Top 10 Methods to get Perfect Marks on the Midterm Exam." Computer culture, campus life, and current events are the general topics. Typically, I show six of the ten items at the beginning of class, and four at the end. The four at the end give students something to look forward to, and nicely "frame" the class.
Sometimes I announce the top10 topic in advance (in a previous class or by email) and solicit student responses. The number and quality of responses can be overwhelming, especially at the beginning of the semester (I have had to do Top20 on occasion because there were so many good responses). This breaks the ice and establishes a great creative interaction with the students very quickly.
I screen new material on my PG students to see if they think it is funny. Finding the intersection of what I think is funny and what the students think is funny is a real challenge!
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