The learning benefits of teaching: A retrieval practice hypothesis

Summary Teaching educational materials to others enhances the teacher's own learning of those to‐be‐taught materials, although the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we show that the learning‐by‐teaching benefit is possibly a retrieval benefit. Learners (a) solved arithmetic pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied cognitive psychology 2018-05, Vol.32 (3), p.401-410
Main Authors: Koh, Aloysius Wei Lun, Lee, Sze Chi, Lim, Stephen Wee Hun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arithmetic
Comprehension
Educational materials
educational psychology
Group practice
Instructional Effectiveness
Instructional Materials
Learning
Learning Strategies
learning‐by‐teaching
Mathematics
Mathematics Activities
Memory
Retrieval
retrieval practice
retrieval‐based learning
Teachers
Teaching
Teaching Methods
the testing effect
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Summary:Summary Teaching educational materials to others enhances the teacher's own learning of those to‐be‐taught materials, although the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we show that the learning‐by‐teaching benefit is possibly a retrieval benefit. Learners (a) solved arithmetic problems (i.e., they neither taught nor retrieved; control group), (b) taught without relying on teaching notes (i.e., they had to retrieve the materials while teaching; teaching group), (c) taught with teaching notes (i.e., they did not retrieve the materials while teaching; teaching without retrieval practice [TnRP] group), or (d) retrieved (i.e., they did not teach but only practised retrieving; retrieval practice group). In a final comprehension test 1 week later, learners in the teaching group, as did those in the retrieval practice group, outperformed learners in the TnRP and control groups. Retrieval practice possibly causes the learning benefits of teaching.
ISSN:0888-4080
1099-0720
DOI:10.1002/acp.3410