The power of teaching others to solidify learning

Remember that time you tried to explain a difficult concept to a friend, and halfway through your explanation, something just clicked? You started out thinking you were helping them, but by the end, you realized you’d somehow helped yourself even more. The fog lifted, the connections snapped into place, and you walked away feeling like you truly owned that knowledge for the first time.

This isn’t just a happy accident; it’s one of the most powerful, yet underutilized, learning strategies available to us. Whether you're a student cramming for finals or an educator designing a curriculum, the act of teaching others isn't just an act of generosity—it's a secret weapon for academic success and profound understanding.

Why Explaining Something Makes It Stick

We’ve all been there: you read a chapter, highlight the key points, and feel pretty confident. You close the book and think, "Yeah, I got this." But then you sit down to take a quiz or write an essay, and the details suddenly feel fuzzy. Why does this happen?

It comes down to the difference between passive review and active retrieval. Rereading notes is like looking at a map of a city you’ve never visited. Teaching someone else is like being forced to give them turn-by-turn directions. You have to navigate the material yourself, identify the landmarks, and articulate the path clearly. This process, often called the Protégé Effect, forces your brain to organize information logically and fill in its own gaps.

I’ll never forget trying to help my niece with her algebra homework a few years back. I hadn’t solved for x in over a decade, and I was secretly terrified I’d look like a fool. But as I fumbled through explaining linear equations, drawing little graphs on a napkin, I wasn’t just re-learning it; I was building a new, sturdier framework for that knowledge. I had to break it down to its simplest parts, and in doing so, I cemented it in my mind in a way I never had as a student. The struggle to teach became my most effective studying session.

How to Harness This Power in Your Routine

So, how can you actively build this into your life? You don’t need a formal classroom or a captive audience of students. The magic is in the attempt to explain.

For students, this could look like forming a study group where you each take turns teaching a concept to the others. Don't just quiz each other; truly explain it as if your friends have never heard of it before. You’ll quickly discover which parts you actually understand and which parts you’ve only memorized. This is where a tool like QuizSmart can be so helpful. You can use it to quickly generate practice questions on a topic, but then go a step further: instead of just answering them, use them as a prompt to teach the answer and the reasoning behind it to your study partner. This transforms simple recall into deep, explanatory practice.

For educators, this is the core argument for peer-to-peer learning and project-based assignments. Design lessons where students have to become the experts and present their findings. The student who has to teach their classmates about the causes of the Civil War will engage with the material on a much deeper level than if they simply read a textbook chapter and took a test.

A few simple ways to start:

• The Rubber Duck Method: Explain the concept out loud to an inanimate object (a rubber duck, a pet, a poster). Saying the words forces coherence.
• Create a "Cheat Sheet": Try to distill a complex topic onto a single page as if you were creating a guide for someone else.
• Record a Mini-Lesson: Use your phone to record a one- or two-minute video explaining a key idea. You don’t even have to show it to anyone; the act of recording is what matters.

Real-World Lessons from the Classroom and Beyond

I once had a physics professor who revolutionized my approach to learning. His exams were notoriously difficult, but his study method was simple: for every problem set, we had to not only solve the problems but also write a paragraph in plain English explaining the "why" behind our solution, as if we were writing a letter to a struggling classmate. This single practice did more for my comprehension than any number of practice problems done in silence.

This principle extends far beyond the classroom. In the tech world, many companies use a concept called "You build it, you run it," but a more learning-focused version might be "You learn it, you teach it." When an engineer learns a new system, the best way to ensure they truly understand it is to have them document it or present it to their team. The fear of public misunderstanding is a powerful motivator for deep learning.

This approach is a cornerstone of memory improvement. When you teach, you’re not just accessing information; you’re building multiple pathways to it. You’re connecting it to analogies, to stories, and to the act of speech itself, making it far more durable and easier to recall under pressure.

The Ripple Effect of Shared Knowledge

Ultimately, the power of teaching others is about more than just better grades or more efficient study techniques. It creates a culture of collaboration and shared growth. The learner becomes the teacher, and in doing so, they solidify their own foundation while strengthening the entire learning community around them. It turns the solitary act of studying into a connected, human experience.

So, the next time you’re grappling with a new concept, don’t just bury your head in a book. Turn to the person next to you—whether they’re a classmate, a friend, or even just a rubber duck—and say, "Hey, let me try to explain this to you." You might be surprised to find that the person who learns the most from the conversation is you.

What’s one topic you’re learning right now? Go ahead, try to teach it to someone today.