Expecting to Teach Helps Increase a Desire to Learn

What we expect to happen may not always turn out the way we want. However, a recent study shows that this might not always be true.

For instance, those expecting to teach may actually enhance their learning capabilities without even knowing it.

"When compared to learners expecting a test, learners expecting to teach recalled more material correctly, they organized their recall more effectively and they had better memory for especially important information," said lead author John Nestojko, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in psychology in Arts & Sciences at WUSTL, in a news release.

Researchers performed a comprehensive study based on a series of reading-and-recall experiments involving one group of students who were told that they will be tested on a selection of written material. Another group was led to believe that they were preparing to teach the passage to another student, when in reality, no one actually engaged in teaching.

Overall findings suggested that simply telling learners they would later be teaching students actually influenced their frame of mind. In other words, using this engaging approach helped them learn more than other peers taking the same tests during the experiment.

"The immediate implication is that the mindset of the student before and during learning can have a significant impact on learning, and that positively altering a student's mindset can be effectively achieved through rather simple instructions," Nestojko concluded.

Furthermore, study participants who expected to teach produced better-organized material in general and answered more questions correctly than those others who expected a test instead.
Findings reiterate that the expectation to teach could help to increase a desire to learn at home and in the classroom.