 The practice of creating student-centered learning or peer instruction can be mutually beneficial in producing greater student achievement.

Albert Einstein once said, “if you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” Recent research suggests that this theory may have some truth to it. In a 2021 study, one group of students was asked to prepare for a test, while a second group of students was asked to prepare to teach their peers the very same concept. “Results supported that expecting to teach improved learning outcomes even at a delay and improved both memory and comprehension.”¹ Furthermore, “research over the past 25 years has demonstrated that courses that incorporate Peer Instruction produce greater student achievement compared to traditional lecture-based courses.”²What’s even more astounding is that this practice of creating student-centered learning or peer instruction is mutually beneficial. When students are teachers, mentors or “advice givers” to their peers, their own grades improve as well. A large-scale field experiment found that “advice givers earned higher report card grades in both math and a self-selected target class over an academic quarter.” ³ An additional benefit of peer instruction is social emotional growth. Educational Psychologist Richard E. Mayer suggests that “if students feel confident enough to explain it to someone else, they might develop a higher self-efficacy.” ⁴While the benefits of the “peer teacher” model are clear, what are the advantages of the student who is learning from their classmate? Will their learning decrease as a result of not being taught by an educational professional? It turns out that quite the opposite is true. Not only do peer “tutored students outperformed control students on examinations” but “they also developed positive attitudes toward the subject matter covered” ⁵Ways to incorporate student teaching in your classroom:<ul><li>Jigsaw Activities - Like pieces of a puzzle, students are separated apart. Students then review materials in small groups to become the experts on that specific topic. After a certain amount of time, students or groups teach the entire class about the materials they reviewed. In many cases, this is done by guided questions provided by the teacher.</li><li>Socratic Seminars - This discussion driven instructional strategy focuses on higher level thinking that is student led and teacher organized. More on Socratic seminars can be found <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW-WQk-UnUg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.</li><li>Think-Pair-Share - This approach allows students to think about a scenario, question, or problem. Afterwards, they discuss their insights with a partner. Finally, the partner groups share their thoughts and ideas with the class.</li><li>Debate - Student driven discourse is a powerful tool. Debate allows students to lead the discussion, teach their peers, practice presentation skills, and master material. It is important that debate parameters are set prior to this activity.</li></ul>In summation, Einstein was also quoted in saying “I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” We suggest that educators should follow Einstein’s example: facilitate learning by letting your students become the teacher.<h3>Sources:</h3><ol><li>Guerrero, T. A., &amp; Wiley, J. (2021). Expecting to teach affects learning during study of expository texts. Journal of Educational Psychology, 113(7), 1281–1303. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000657" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000657</a></li><li>Schell, J. A., &amp; Butler, A. C. (2018). Insights from the science of learning can inform evidence-based implementation of peer instruction. Frontiers in Education, 3. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2018.00033" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2018.00033</a></li><li>Eskreis-Winkler, L., Milkman, K. L., Gromet, D. M., &amp; Duckworth, A. L. (2019). A large-scale field experiment shows giving advice improves academic outcomes for the Advisor. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(30), 14808–14810. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1908779116" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1908779116</a></li><li>Stock, E. (2019, January 24). WANT students to remember what they learn? Have them teach it. -edsurge news. EdSurge. Retrieved September 1, 2022, from <a href="https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-01-24-want-students-to-remember-what-they-learn-have-them-teach-it" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-01-24-want-students-to-remember-what-they-learn-have-them-teach-it</a></li><li>Cohen, P. A., Kulik, J. A., &amp; Kulik, C.-L. C. (1982). Educational outcomes of tutoring: A meta-analysis of findings. American Educational Research Journal, 19(2), 237–248. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/00028312019002237" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312019002237 </a></li></ol>Blog Post Provided By: Griffith Roberts

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