The power of teaching others to solidify learning

The Unexpected Tutor: How Teaching Others Transformed My Learning

I’ll never forget the panic that set in during my sophomore year of college when my professor asked me to lead a review session for our upcoming biology midterm. Me? Explain the intricacies of cellular respiration to a room of my equally confused peers? I had scraped a B- on the last quiz. I wasn’t the expert; I was the one who needed the expert.

But a funny thing happened as I fumbled through my notes, trying to piece together the Krebs cycle in a way that made sense. In the act of preparing to teach, I was forced to move the information from the messy, passive stacks in my brain onto a clean, organized table. I had to anticipate questions, find simple analogies (the mitochondria is the powerhouse, yes, but why?), and connect disparate concepts. When a friend asked, “Wait, so how does that ATP actually get used?” I had to dig deeper than my memorized textbook definition.

The result? Not only did the review session go well, but I achieved my highest exam score that semester. The material wasn’t just memorized; it was understood, owned, and solidified. This experience wasn’t a fluke—it was my accidental discovery of one of the most powerful learning strategies known to cognitive science: the Protégé Effect.

Why Does Teaching Make Learning Stick?

We’ve all been there: cramming facts the night before a test, feeling like we’ve got it, only to draw a blank under pressure. This is often the result of passive studying. We’re consumers of information. Teaching flips the script, making us producers.

When you teach, you engage in what researchers call elaborative rehearsal. You’re not just repeating information; you’re reconstructing it, interpreting it, and translating it into your own language. This process builds stronger neural pathways, making the knowledge more accessible and durable.

Think of your brain like a city. Passive studying is like looking at a map. Teaching is like being forced to give someone turn-by-turn directions. To give those directions, you need to know the side streets, the landmarks, and the quickest routes. You develop a working, practical knowledge of the terrain. This is the core of memory improvement through teaching. You identify gaps in your own understanding the moment you try to explain a concept and can’t. That moment of “I don’t know how to explain this” is a priceless signal, highlighting exactly what you need to revisit.

From the Classroom to the Study Group: Stories of Solidarity

This principle isn’t just theoretical. I see it play out constantly. My friend, a high school chemistry teacher, starts every new unit by having her students teach the core concept from the previous class to a partner. “The first time,” she told me, “they rely on their notes. By the third day, they’re using hand gestures and metaphors. That’s when I know they’ve got it.”

Then there’s Ben, a former student who struggled with history. He started a podcast with a classmate where they’d “debate” historical events from different perspectives. To argue their points, they had to master timelines, motivations, and consequences. Ben’s grades didn’t just improve; he developed a genuine passion for the subject. He shifted from chasing academic success as a grade to embracing it as understanding.

For educators, this is a paradigm shift. It moves us from being the sole source of knowledge to being architects of environments where students can teach and learn from each other. It’s about creating those opportunities—think-pair-share, peer review workshops, student-led presentations, or even having students design a quiz question for the class.

Making It Practical: How to Harness This Power

You don’t need a classroom or a captive audience to start. The magic is in the simulation of teaching. Here’s how to weave this into your study techniques or teaching practice:

• The Empty Chair Method: After studying a topic, explain it out loud as if to an imaginary person in an empty chair. Be thorough. When you hit a snag, pause and consult your materials.
• Create a “Cheat Sheet” for Someone Else: The constraint of space forces you to prioritize the most critical, foundational ideas. What must someone know to grasp this topic?
• Form a Teaching Partnership: Find a study buddy and take turns teaching each other different sections. The act of listening and asking clarifying questions is equally valuable.
• Leverage Technology: Tools like QuizSmart can be a fantastic springboard for this. You can use it to generate practice questions on a topic, and then, instead of just answering them, use each question as a prompt to give a full verbal explanation. If you can teach the why behind the correct answer, you’re miles ahead. It turns passive Q&A into an active teaching simulation.

The key is moving from a mindset of “Do I know this?” to “How would I explain this?” That simple shift is transformative.

The Ripple Effect: Beyond the Grade

The ultimate power of teaching others extends far beyond the next exam. It builds confidence, communication skills, and empathy. It fosters a collaborative spirit, whether in a middle school classroom or a university lecture hall. The learner-turned-teacher develops a deeper sense of responsibility for their knowledge.

As the Roman philosopher Seneca said, “While we teach, we learn.” This ancient wisdom is backed by modern science. By giving our knowledge away, we don’t lose it; we fortify it.

So, whether you’re a student navigating finals week or an educator designing your next lesson, I invite you to experiment. Challenge your students to teach. Challenge yourself to explain a complex idea from your work to a friend over coffee. Embrace the beautiful, messy process of making sense of something for someone else.

You might just find, as I did in that long-ago biology review session, that the person who learns the most is the one standing at the front of the room. Start small. Explain one concept today. The path to effective studying and deeper understanding might just begin with your own voice.