The best way to learn something is to start teaching it to others. Whether such an exotic method really works, psychologists decided to find out. Experiment results.
An experiment was conducted at the University of Georgia (USA). Lagging students were invited to “play” a specially designed educational computer game in which they themselves had to teach virtual students. First, newly minted teachers were given lists of literature on the subject being studied. Then they were asked to choose for themselves one of the six virtual students, who, however, were quite tangible – the program indicated their name, the city in which they were born, and even their hobbies. Then The student-teachers themselves decided what exactly the student should learn, and chose one of two options: to give him the opportunity to make a short summary of what he had read or to explain the main concepts. The virtual student could also ask the teacher questions. At the end of the game, it was evaluated what the student was able to “teach” the computer. He was also asked how much this motivated him to read the studied literature. In the vast majority of cases, the answer was positive. In addition, students noted that they got more pleasure from classes, were less bored, irritated, and learned what they read better.
Read more:
- “I am a happy teacher”
The students admitted that thanks to the virtual students they themselves read the given literature. They had to do it, even if they didn’t really want to at first. In addition, they have absorbed, thought and analyzed the material more deeply than usual. Apparently, they were afraid to lose face in front of the students? ..
A computer game program for lagging students has been around for several years and is improved every semester based on user feedback. Its authors believe that the effectiveness of the program is due to the fact that the student has to make independent decisions – which student to choose, what to teach him and what topics to consider. The game allows you to bridge the gap between successful and lagging students. Typically, successful students achieve results themselves, regardless of the teacher, while those who lag behind need support and motivation, which is precisely what such an original development helps.
Подробнее см. «Boosting learning-by-teaching in virtual tutoring», Computers & Education, март 2015.