Learning by teaching

Short description: Method of teaching in which students teach the subject to each other

In the field of pedagogy, learning by teaching is a method of teaching in which students are made to learn material and prepare lessons to teach it to the other students. There is a strong emphasis on acquisition of life skills along with the subject matter.

## Contents

* 1 Background
* 2 LdL method
* 2.1 Plastic platypus learning
* 2.2 Flipped learning + teaching
* 2.3 Application of Learning by Teaching (LdL) to Human-Robot Interaction
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 Further reading
* 6 External links

## Background

Student teaching vocabulary

The method of having students teach other students has been present since antiquity.[1] Most often this was due to lack of resources. For example, the Monitorial System was an education method that became popular on a global scale during the early 19th century. It was developed in parallel by Scotsman Andrew Bell who had worked in Madras and Joseph Lancaster who worked in London; each attempted to educate masses of poor children with scant resources by having older children teach younger children what they had already learned.[2]

Systematic research into intentionally improving education, by having students learn by teaching began in the middle of the 20th century.[3]

In the early 1980s, Jean-Pol Martin systematically developed the concept of having students teach other in the context of learning French as a foreign language, and he gave it a theoretical background in numerous publications, which was thus referred to in German as Lernen durch Lehren, shortened to LdL.[4] The method was originally resisted, as the German educational system generally emphasized discipline and rote learning.[5] However the method became widely used in Germany in secondary education, and in the 1990s it was further formalized and began to be used in universities as well.[4] By 2008 Martin had retired, and although he remained active Joachim Grzega took the lead in developing and promulgating LdL.[5][6]

## LdL method

Central to Martin’s entire theory, both for LdL and for the New Human Rights, are the following interacting concepts:[7] thinking (information processing and conceptualization) – control – antinomies – dialectical thinking – exploratory behavior – cognitive map – flow effect – top-down/bottom-up – centripetal/centrifugal forces – neuronal behavior – linearity/nonlinearity – homeostasis – integration/differentiation – centralization/decentralization – self-referentiality – coherence.

LdL, modeled on the structure of the brain by Martin[8]

After preparation by the teacher, students become responsible for their own learning and teaching. The new material is divided into small units and student groups of not more than three people are formed.[5]

Students are then encouraged to experiment to find ways to teach the material to the others. Along with ensuring that students learn the material, another goal of the method, is to teach students life skills like respect for other people, planning, problem solving, taking chances in public, and communication skills.[9][10][11][12] The teacher remains actively involved, stepping in to further explain or provide support if the teaching-students falter or the learning-students do not seem to understand the material.[5]

The method is distinct from tutoring in that LdL is done in class, supported by the teacher, and distinct from student teaching, which is a part of teacher education.[4]

### Plastic platypus learning

Plastic platypus learning in action

A related method is the plastic platypus learning or platypus learning technique. This technique is based on evidence that show that teaching an inanimate object improves understanding and knowledge retention of a subject.[13] [14][15] The advantage of this technique is that the learner does not need the presence of another person in order to teach the subject. The concept is similar to the software engineering technique of rubber duck debugging, in which a programmer can find bugs in their code without the help of others, simply by explaining what the code does, line by line, to an inanimate object such as a rubber duck.[16]

Feynman technique flowchart

A similar process is the Feynman technique, named after physicist Richard Feynman, in which a person attempts to write an explanation of some information in a way that a child could understand, developing original analogies where necessary. When the writer reaches an area which they are unable to comfortably explain, they go back and re-read or research the topic until they are able to do so.[17]

### Flipped learning + teaching

Traditional instructor teaching style classes can be mixed with or transformed to flipped teaching. Before and after each (traditional/flipped) lecture, anonymized evaluation items on the Likert scale can be recorded from the students for continuous monitoring/dashboarding. In planned flipped teaching lessons, the teacher hands out lesson teaching material one week before the lesson is scheduled for the students to prepare talks. Small student groups work on the lecture chapters instead of homework, and then give the lecture in front of their peers. The professional lecturer then discusses, complements, and provides feedback at the end of the group talks. Here, the professional lecturer acts as a coach to help students with preparation and live performance.[18]

### Application of Learning by Teaching (LdL) to Human-Robot Interaction

The educational principle Lernen durch Lehren (LdL), or Learning by Teaching, has long been recognized for its ability to deepen the understanding of students through the act of teaching others. These same principles can be extended to human-robot interaction to enhance the learning process in artificial systems. In the context of human-robot interaction, the LdL approach provides a compelling model for designing robots that can learn, collaborate, and teach. One such relevant work done is developing a system where robots not only learn a skill from human experts but also teach that skill to novices.[19] The robot begins as a learner, observing and practicing a task under expert supervision. Through the teaching process, the robot is required to explain, demonstrate, and evaluate the skill, much like students in the LdL method. By teaching a novice, the robot gains feedback about its own understanding. This mirrors the LdL model, where teaching strengthens the learner's grasp of the material. The robot’s ability to switch between the roles of student, collaborator, and teacher enhances its capability to adapt, refine its task model, and assess its knowledge through teaching interactions. This dynamic role adaptation provides greater flexibility and leads to better long-term knowledge retention, which is also a core advantage of the LdL approach in human education. Some of the benefits of applying LdL approach to human-robot interaction include:

* Enhanced Knowledge Evaluation: Teaching provides a new evaluation layer for the robot’s understanding. If the robot can teach effectively, it signifies a higher degree of task mastery, just as LdL assesses human understanding through peer teaching.
* Improved Human-Robot Collaboration: By integrating LdL principles, robots can enhance collaboration with humans. When a robot teaches or learns from a human, the shared knowledge model becomes more aligned, leading to more efficient teamwork.
* Promoting Lifelong Learning for Robots: Just as LdL fosters lifelong learning in humans by constantly engaging them in teaching roles, applying these principles to robots promotes continuous improvement in their learning models. The robot evolves not only by learning new skills but also by refining them through the act of teaching others.Learning by Teaching(LdL) for Human-Robot Interaction

## See also

* Social:Active learning - Educational technique
* Social:Jigsaw (teaching technique)
* Philosophy:Learning theory (education) - Theory that describes how students receive, process, and retain knowledge during learning
* Think aloud protocol - Method to gather data in usability testing
* Peer mentoring
* Peer-led team learning
* Rubber duck debugging – A code debugging technique which involves explaining code to a rubber duck

## References

1. ↑ Seneca: Epistulae morales ad Lucilium. Buch I, Brief 7, Abschnitt 8.
2. ↑ Graves, Frank Pierrepont (1915) (in en). A Student's History of Education. Macmillan Company. pp. 239ff. https://archive.org/details/astudentshistor00gravgoog.
3. ↑ Gartner, Alan; Kohler, Mary Conway; Riessman, Frank (1971). Children teach children; learning by teaching (1st ed.). New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 978-0-06-013553-9. https://archive.org/details/childrenteachchi00gart.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Safiye, Aslan (October 5, 2015). "Is Learning by Teaching Effective in Gaining 21st Century Skills? The Views of Pre-Service Science Teachers." (in en). Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice 15 (6). ISSN 1303-0485. https://eric.ed.gov/?q=EJ1101263.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Heinrich, Christian (November 2007). "Learning by Teaching: The Goal is Independence" (in en). Goethe-Institut. http://www.goethe.de/ges/spa/prj/sog/mud/en3913352.htm.
6. ↑ "About me" (in de-DE). Jean-Pol Martins Weblog. 11 November 2008. https://jeanpol.wordpress.com/about-me/. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
7. ↑ Lernen durch Lehren: Konzeptualisierung als Glücksquelle. In: Olaf-Axel Burow, Stefan Bornemann (Hrsg.): Das große Handbuch Unterricht & Erziehung in der Schule. Carl Link Verlag, 2018. S. 345–360. ISBN 978-3-556-07336-0
8. ↑ Kahl, von Reinhard (2005). Treibhäuser der Zukunft wie in Deutschland Schulen gelingen; eine Dokumentation (2nd, überarb. Aufl. ed.). Berlin: Archiv der Zukunft [u.a.]. ISBN 978-3-407-85830-6.
9. ↑ Thimm, Katja (1 July 2002). "Guten Morgen, liebe Zahlen". Der Spiegel. http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-23011324.html.
10. ↑ Kahl, Reinhard (October 22, 2008). "Unterricht: Schüler als Lehrer" (in de). Zeit. https://www.zeit.de/online/2008/43/schueler-lehrer.
11. ↑ Stollhans, S. (2016). "Learning by teaching: developing transferable skills.". in Corradini, E.; Borthwick, K.; Gallagher-Brett, A.. Employability for languages: a handbook. Dublin: Researchpublishing.net. pp. 161–164. doi:10.14705/rpnet.2016.cbg2016.478. ISBN 978-1-908416-39-1. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34412/1/478.pdf.
12. ↑ Grzega, Joachim; Schöner, Marion (4 July 2008). "The didactic model LdL (Lernen durch Lehren) as a way of preparing students for communication in a knowledge society". Journal of Education for Teaching 34 (3): 167–175. doi:10.1080/02607470802212157.
13. ↑ "Learning by teaching others is extremely effective – a new study tested a key reason why". 2018-05-04. https://digest.bps.org.uk/2018/05/04/learning-by-teaching-others-is-extremely-effective-a-new-study-tested-a-key-reason-why/.
14. ↑ Aslan, Safiye (2015). "Is Learning by Teaching Effective in Gaining 21st Century Skills? The Views of Pre-Service Science Teachers". Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice 15 (6). doi:10.12738/estp.2016.1.0019.
15. ↑ Bargh, John A.; Schul, Yaacov (1980). "On the cognitive benefits of teaching.". Journal of Educational Psychology 72 (5): 593–604. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.72.5.593.
16. ↑ Koh, Aloysius Wei Lun; Lee, Sze Chi; Lim, Stephen Wee Hun (2018). "The learning benefits of teaching: A retrieval practice hypothesis". Applied Cognitive Psychology 32 (3): 401–410. doi:10.1002/acp.3410.
17. ↑ Staff (5 March 2021). "Feynman Technique for Learning". Library, William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaiʻi. https://law-hawaii.libguides.com/notetaking/feynman.
18. ↑ Mastmeyer, A. (2020). "Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation of Transforming to Flipped-Classroom from Instruction Teaching using Micro Feedback Loops". Manuscript Work in Progress: 1–42. doi:10.5281/zenodo.4000357.
19. ↑ Adamson, Timothy; Ghose, Debasmita; Yasuda, Shannon C.; Shepard, Lucas Jehu Silva; Lewkowicz, Michal A.; Duan, Joyce; Scassellati, Brian (2021-03-08). "Why We Should Build Robots That Both Teach and Learn". Proceedings of the 2021 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction. 9. New York, NY, USA: ACM. pp. 187–196. doi:10.1145/3434073.3444647. ISBN 978-1-4503-8289-2. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3434073.3444647.

## Further reading

* Adamson, Timothy; Ghose, Debasmita; Shannon C. Yasuda; Jehu, Lucas; Shepard, Silva; Michal, A.; Duan, Jyoce; Scassellati, Brian: „Why We Should Build Robots That Both Teach and Learn". 2021.https://scazlab.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/hrifp1028-adamsonA.pdf
* Frick, Rosmarie (September 2005). "Students teach each other literature (lernen durch lehren): Working with "The Curious incident of the dog in the night-time"" (in en). Humanising Language Teaching 7 (5). http://www.hltmag.co.uk/sep05/sart04.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-10.
* Grzega, Joachim; Klüsener, Bea (15 May 2011). "Learning by Teaching through Polylogues: Training Expert Communication in Information and Knowledge Societies Using LdL (Lernen durch Lehren)". Fachsprache 33 (1–2): 17–35. doi:10.24989/fs.v33i1-2.1379.
* mJamet, Frank; Masson, Olivier; Jacquet, Baptiste; Stilgenbauer, Jean-Louis; Baratgin, Jean (2018). "Learning by Teaching with Humanoid Robot: A New Powerful Experimental Tool to Improve Children's Learning Ability". Journal of Robotics 2018: 1–11. doi:10.1155/2018/4578762.
* Kabache, Taieb (2022): Probing the Impact of Learning-by-teaching Method to Boost EFL Learners’ Engagement during the Grammar Session: The case of first-year PEM students at Taleb Abdurrahman ENS Laghouat. Algeria.[1]
* Kolbe, Simon (2021): Learning by Teaching - a Resource Orientated Approach Towards Modern Inclusive Education. In: Mevlüt Aydogmus (Hg.): New Trends and Promising Directions in Modern Education. New Perspectives 2021. Meram/Konya: Palet Yayinlari Verlag, 234-255.
* Kolbe, Simon (2025): Learning by Teaching: A Pathway to Educational Justice. In: International Journal of Teaching and Learning Sciences; 2025 (2). DOI:10.71010/IJTLS.2025-e116.
* Kolbe, Simon; Martin, Jean-Pol (2024)(Hrsg.): Praxishandbuch Lernen durch Lehren: Kompendium eines didaktischen Prinzips. Beltz-Juventa: Weinheim, 2024, ISBN 978-3-7799-7596-0
* Krüger, Rudolf (1975). Projekt Lernen durch Lehren : Schüler als Tutoren von Mitschülern. Bad Heilbrunn (Obb.): Klinkhardt. ISBN 978-3-7815-0243-7.
* Martin, Jean-Pol (1985). Zum Aufbau didaktischer Teilkompetenzen beim Schüler : Fremdsprachenunterricht auf der lerntheoretischen Basis des Informationsverarbeitungsansatzes. Tübingen: Narr. ISBN 978-3-87808-435-8.
* Martin, Jean-Pol (1994). Vorschlag eines anthropologisch begründeten Curriculums für den Fremdsprachenunterricht. Tübingen: Narr. ISBN 978-3-8233-4373-8.
* Martin, Jean-Pol (2018). "Lernen durch Lehren: Konzeptualisierung als Glücksquelle". in Burow, Olaf-Axel; Bornemann, Stefan (in German). Das Große Handbuch Unterricht & Erziehung in der Schule (1 ed.). Link, Carl. pp. 345–360. ISBN 9783556073360.
* Martin, Jean-Pol; Oebel, Guido (2007). "Lernen durch Lehren: Paradigmenwechsel in der Didaktik?". Deutschunterricht in Japan 12: 4–21. ISSN 1342-6575. (Author copy)
* Schelhaas, Christine (2003). "Lernen durch Lehren" für einen produktions- und handlungsorientierten Fremdsprachenunterricht : ein praktischer Leitfaden mit zahlreichen kreativen Unterrichtsideen und reichhaltiger Materialauswahl (2nd, verb. Aufl. ed.). Marburg: Tectum-Verl.. ISBN 978-3-8288-8548-6.
* Serholt, Sofia, Ekström Sara, Künster Dennis, Ljungblad Sara, Pareto Lena (2022): Comparing a Robot Tutee to a Human Tutee in a Learning-By-Teaching Scenario with Children, 2022 Front. Robot. AI, 21 February 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2022.836462
* Skinner, Jody (June 3, 2018). "The Koblenz Model within Anglo-American Cultural Studies at German Universities". Developing Teachers. http://www.developingteachers.com/articles_tchtraining/koblenzpf_jody.htm.

## External links

* Lernen durch Lehren website, archived 12/2018
* Online course (Video): Learning by teaching, Nellie Deutsch, 2017 Learning by teaching, Nellie Deutsch, 2017] Online course (Video): Learning by teaching, Nellie Deutsch, 2017
* Video: Protege effect: Learning by teaching, Ontario 2014
* Video: Learning by teaching, Germany 2004
* Video: Learning by teaching. Teaching Methodology, ELT under Cover, 2022
* Jean-Pol Martin - English Language Teacher Interview #16, ELT Under The Covers Podcast, 2022
* Martin, J. P. & Kolbe, S. (2023, May 21). Learning by Teaching [Interview]. Seitwerk. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4hofRriFR15Xa0fr4VFvhj-_bMExnnbm

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning by teaching. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Social:Learning_by_teaching&oldid=4163259"