The effect of learning by teaching has been demonstrated in . Could it be that having the responsibility of imparting knowledge is relevant? Or perhaps teaching is an extremely efficient study technique in itself because it requires remembering what we have previously studied?
In a in Applied Cognitive Psychology, directed by Aloysius Wei Lun Koh, the theory was tested that teaching improves the learning of those who teach because it forces them to remember what they have previously studied. In other words, the researchers argued that the learning benefits of teaching are a manifestation of the well-known “testing effect”: bringing to mind what we have previously studied leads to a deeper and more lasting acquisition of that information, compared to passing it on. more time passively studying again.
For the study, they recruited 124 students and asked them to spend 10 minutes studying a text with accompanying figures, about the and sound waves (a topic about which none of them had prior knowledge), keeping in mind that they would have to teach the material themselves later, without having notes. They were told that they could take notes while studying but could not use them in the next stage.
After the study phase, the participants were divided into four groups. In one group, participants spent five minutes being filmed alone while lecturing standing on the study material without notes (they could use a blank flipchart to draw pictures if they wanted). As for the other groups, they either spent the same time completing arithmetic multiplications; or standing literally teaching from a set script (which included referring to pre-drawn figures on a whiteboard); or writing down everything they could remember from the text (i.e., a form of retrieval practice designed to induce the effect being tested).
One week later all participants returned to the laboratory for a surprise test of their knowledge and understanding of the original study text. The test consisted of six free-response questions that required them to explain key concepts of the study material.
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The critical finding is that the group that taught without notes performed better than the group that spent the same time completing arithmetic problems and the group that taught from a script, but the group that spent the same time remembering what they learned also performed better. that he had learned.
The researchers said their results suggest that “the benefits of the ‘learning by teaching’ strategy are attributable to the practice of retrieval of the taught materials.”
The new findings do not undermine the notion of teaching as a learning method for effect, but have practical implications for how the technique of “learning by teaching” is applied in education and training. “To ensure that students and tutors learn and retain the educational material they have prepared and presented in class, they should internalize the material to be presented before communicating it to an audience, rather than relying on study notes during the presentation process. ” the researchers said.
Some criticism of this study is based on the fact that there was no learning audience in any of the teaching groups and therefore there was no interaction, which surely also plays a role in the benefits of learning when taught. Additionally, participants in all groups were originally prepared to expect having to teach the material, which may have had learning benefits in itself. Lun Koh and her colleagues said future research will evaluate the importance of retrieval practice across a variety of teaching settings and activities.
Study reference: , , . The learning benefits of teaching: A retrieval practice hypothesis.
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