Meme-orable lessons: How internet humor can transform education

How to teach difficult subjects to Gen Z? Ateneo de Manila University researchers have discovered a creative and effective teaching strategy for engaging Gen Z learners: memes, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.

Meme-orable lessons: How internet humor can transform education
Photo credit: Freepik.com

According to their study, incorporating memes into biology lessons improved learning outcomes and attitudes toward science among students.

The study involved non-STEM 200 Grade 11 students from private high schools in the Philippines, for whom biology is a required subject. Students were divided into two groups: an experimental group taught with meme-infused lessons and a control group using traditional teaching methods. Over five weeks, both groups covered complex topics like cellular division and genetics.

Students taught with memes scored 21% higher on post-tests than those in the control group, averaging 21.46 correct answers compared to 17.74. In addition to that, they showed improved confidence in their ability to learn about and understand scientific concepts, developing a more positive attitude toward biology.

As researchers summarized, “Memes were deemed to be helpful in improving students’ mastery of the topic.”

The study suggests that humor and cultural references make challenging subjects more relatable.

"The results of this study suggest that the students taught with meme-infused materials were able to understand and retain scientific information better than their counterparts from the control group," the researchers wrote.

In addition to academic benefits, memes reduced students' anxiety toward biology.

"One possible reason for the improvement in the attitude towards biology is the memes as being meant to facilitate active learning. Teaching strategies and student activities that promote active learning are effective in establishing a positive attitude toward science subject matter," the study noted, emphasizing how memes promote engagement and a sense of self-efficacy in students.

Educators stand to gain from the findings, especially in adapting to the learning styles of digital-native Gen Z students.

“Generation Z learners’ short attention span challenges educators to design engaging teaching methods that capture their interest,” the researchers wrote, adding that memes provide a dynamic and enjoyable classroom strategy.

The researchers encouraged further exploration of memes in education.

“Future explorations on the use of memes in biology education can focus on examining its impact on student motivation, belief, and learner engagement among others. Further studies can also delve into dissecting the effect of the timing of usage and nature of memes used in the classroom,” study concludes.

Internet memes are not only making their mark in education but are also reshaping language itself, as seen in the rise of internet-originated words like 'manifest' and 'brat', which were named the words of 2024.

Currently reading