Teach to Learn

The Protégé Effect

Today, the Teach to Learn approach is used in many learning environments throughout the world because of its tried and tested effectiveness. Research presents us with the fact that teaching someone else is one of the – if not the – most effective ways to learn and is dubbed “The Protégé Effect”. According to this theory, the motivation to teach boosts engagement in one’s own learning process and brings to light in a non-confidence-shattering way gaps in understanding. The process of preparing to teach is also shown to improve comprehension and memory.

TO SUM UP
In preparing to explain something to someone else, knowledge is actively constructed and a deeper understanding develops as connections build up, patterns get recognized, and concepts are applied in different contexts.

Roles (almost) reversed

The Teach to Learn methodology disrupts the more common interaction between a learner listening to an instructor and opens the way to peer-to-peer learning, facilitating greater participation and collaboration. The instructor takes on the role of a mentor and coach and offers learners support, guidance, and feedback along the way.

The role of the instructor can be more active than what we might think! Here are some tips to help learners create a lesson plan (aka, lesson plan 101):

Set learning objectives together: A first-time teacher may need some support crafting learning objectives that are aligned to the purpose and content of the lesson. Defining clear goals from the start will play a crucial role in creating a coherent and impactful presentation.

Select useful resources: Help filter out credible sources and suggest some articles or videos to get the research going if anyone is having trouble getting started.

Help present information: Set some guidelines, in the form of a template for example, and offer ongoing, timely feedback on creating a presentation. Make sure your new teachers present information in meaningful chunks, organize elements in a logical way, and use a mix of visuals, audio, and text-based content where possible.

Foster interaction: You could also offer mentorship on including interactive experiences during the presentation, such as discussion, hands-on product testing, and Q&A. This not only to engage the audience more actively, but also a way for the presenter to get feedback on how their presentation is going.

HOW TO

Split the class into groups and assign a specific topic to each group (e.g., group A will teach topic 1; group B will teach topic 2, etc.);
Each group uploads everything they need to teach the specific topic, and/or want to share with the other learners in the Lessons section;
Schedule Live sessions using the Calendar feature;
Learners that are leading the Live session can use the Board to explain their topic;
Upload the recording in the Lessons section to gather feedback and comments from other partcipants.