Learning-by-Teaching Without Audience Presence or Interaction: When and Why Does it Work?

Teaching the contents of study materials by providing explanations to fellow students can be a beneficial instructional activity. A learning-by-teaching effect can also occur when students provide explanations to a real, remote, or even fictitious audience that cannot be interacted with. It is unclear, however, which underlying mechanisms drive learning by non-interactive teaching effects and why several recent studies did not replicate this effect. This literature review aims to shed light on when and why learning by non-interactive teaching works. First, we review the empirical literature to comment on the different mechanisms that have been proposed to explain why learning by non-interactive teaching may be effective. Second, we discuss the available evidence regarding potential boundary conditions of the non-interactive teaching effect. We then synthesize the available empirical evidence on processes and boundary conditions to provide a preliminary theoretical model of when and why non-interactive teaching is effective. Finally, based on our model of learning by non-interactive teaching, we outline several promising directions for future research and recommendations for educational practice.

Learning-by-Teaching Approach Improves Dengue Knowledge in Children and Parents

There is narrow evidence on which strategies are most effective for disseminating information on dengue prevention. This is particularly relevant because social habits have a great prevention capacity for dengue. We investigated how effective are children as health educators, and how much they learn as they teach. We recruited 142 children and 97 parents in Argentina’s tropical area for two cluster randomized parallel trials. In Study 1, we compared the dynamics of dengue knowledge of 10-year-old children who—after receiving a dengue talk—1) listened to an unrelated topic; 2) read a booklet with information about dengue, 3) taught their parents about dengue, or 4) taught their parents about dengue, using the booklet. In Study 2, we assessed whether the parents’ dengue knowledge changed after interacting with their children, in comparison with parents learning about dengue from an expert or about an unrelated topic. Children that taught their parents what they learned, using a booklet, showed 2.53 more correct responses (95% CI [0.20, 4.85]; P = 0.027) than children who listened to an unrelated topic. This style of teaching also serves to effectively propagate knowledge: parents learned from their children the same as from an expert; and significantly more than parents who learned about an unrelated topic. Parents learned from their children even if they were taught with booklets (1.49, 95% CI [0.01, 2.96]; P = 0.048) or without (1.94, 95% CI [0.44, 3.44]; P = 0.006). Specifically, after being taught by their children, parents showed on average 1.49 (if they were taught with a booklet) and 1.94 (without booklet) more correct responses than parents that learned about an unrelated topic. The simple action of prompting children to teach consolidated their own knowledge and broadcasted it effectively to their parents. This strategy is a potential low to no-cost method for sharing information about dengue prevention.

APRENDER ENSINANDO: O QUE DIZEM AS PESQUISAS SOBRE O TEMA

Apresentam-se os resultados de uma investigação que buscou identificar, na produção científica, as contribuições de estratégias de ensino estruturadas por ações que proporcionam aprendizagens através do ensino. Foram utilizados, como base de dados, o Catálogo de Teses e Dissertações da Capes, o conjunto de periódicos que integram o Sistema WebQualis da Capes – trabalhos disponíveis on-line, estratos A1 e A2 – e a biblioteca digital ERIC. Foram selecionados 34 trabalhos que apresentavam, no título, resumo ou nas palavras-chave, pelo menos uma destas expressões, adotadas como descritores do estudo: “Ensinar Aprendendo”, “Learning by teaching” e “Lernen durch Lehren”. Classificados em duas categorias de análise, os resultados apontam que a metodologia de aprender através do ensino está sendo utilizada em diferentes contextos escolares, consolidando-se com uma estratégia viável na promoção de aprendizagens sólidas e duradouras tanto para quem ensina quanto para o aprendiz.

El compromiso de la comunidad y el método "Learning by Teaching": Un proyecto piloto para abarcar el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras desde los primeros días

El Proyecto Niños y Niñas Bilingües y Biculturales (NNBB), consolidado gracias a la colaboración del centro de educación infantil en la University Child Development Center y el Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, combinó los objetivos de aprendizaje de dos cursos de español avanzado con los beneficios de aprender una segunda lengua a temprana edad. Los estudiantes universitarios desarrollaron un programa de tres semanas de duración centrado en la enseñanza de vocabulario básico, geografía, y aspectos culturales de países de habla hispana para niños angloparlantes y monolingües. El objetivo de este estudio es comprender como el programa en la comunidad afectó a) las percepciones de los estudiantes universitarios sobre su participación en la misma comunidad; y b) las percepciones de los estudiantes universitarios sobre el aprendizaje de lenguas a una edad temprana. Los ensayos personales escritos por los estudiantes indicaron que este programa los incentivó a participar proactivamente en la comunidad y les ayudó a experimentar de primera mano la efectividad en la habilidad que poseen los jóvenes aprendices para adquirir una segunda lengua. Los padres de los niños en el programa indicaron en el cuestionario una disposición sistemática y consistente para implementar un programa de segundas lenguas en el currículo de preescolar en el centro.

Learning Design Thinking: A Social Innovation Jam

This learning innovation offers the framework for a three-day extracurricular “Social Innovation Jam” workshop aimed at teaching design thinking to address sustainable development. As entrepreneurship educators incorporate the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into their programs, the Social Innovation Jam can be replicated to provide local solutions to global problems using design thinking and “learning by teaching” pedagogy both in and out of the classroom.