2023. 02. 15.

14:45 The Benefits of Having High School Students Learn by Teaching | Edutopia

GEORGE LUCAS E D U C AT I O N A L F O U N D AT I O N

P R O J E C T- B A S E D LEARNING (PBL)

Having Students Learn by Teaching

When high school students present a lesson, they
actively engage in learning and grow their research,
organizational, and speaking skills.
By Jason Abril

September 23, 2022

Marcus Chung / iStock

After the initial energy and excitement of the early school months, the fall and winter

seasons bring the annual challenge of maintaining student engagement. This precise

point in the school year provides teachers with an opportunity to sustain crucial student

engagement through project-based learning (PBL) that allows for collaboration and

student choice.

Youki Terada powerfully conveys the value of project-based learning in his Edutopia

article “New Research Makes a Powerful Case for PBL

(/article/new-research-makes-powerful-case-pbl) ” when he writes that PBL “fosters a sense of

https://www.edutopia.org/article/having-students-learn-teaching/?fbclid=IwAR0j07A5KVhls-4EepbZ18fpzhmT5_iewhcLcTuB0CxLrxgpCvj-ztjmgAs 1/4
2023. 02. 15. 14:45 The Benefits of Having High School Students Learn by Teaching | Edutopia

purpose in young learners, pushes them to think critically, and prepares them for

modern careers that prize skills like collaboration, problem-solving, and creativity.”

All teachers know that learning never ends, so we’re acutely aware that teachers

continuously enter and exit our lives. We spend hours in professional development

seminars taught by experts, but sometimes our best teachers are right there in our

classrooms. We all know, too, that one of the best demonstrations of mastery of a

specific skill is to teach that skill to someone else.

Keep Up With Education Research

We read the major academic journals and case studies so you don’t have to. Sign up for The
Research Is In, and we’ll send you the key takeaways once a month.

I want that (/account/signup?grades=&subscribe=researchNewsletter)

TEACHING TO LEARN

One of the most successful strategies to bolster student engagement is the ever-

reliable flip of the classroom, in which teachers give over the teaching to their students.

A student-centered project-based learning lesson that works well for me is a specific

type of collaborative project: the student lecture. This strategy has, for me, boosted

engagement, particularly at the close of a semester or the end of the school year.

My first experience with student lectures occurred in college when my literature

professor assigned a collaborative lecture project. My group and I had the flexibility to

choose our subject and then present a lecture to our peers, teaching them a lesson we

researched and prepared. Decades later—many decades later—I vividly remember this

experience: It was a potent learning experience that has left an indelible imprint on me

to this day. My aim is for my high school students to have a memorable opportunity like

this.

My own method for assigning student lectures is simple and straightforward: I either

assign groups or allow students to self-organize into small groups, usually of three to

four students. They research an area of interest, create a lecture, and then teach a

https://www.edutopia.org/article/having-students-learn-teaching/?fbclid=IwAR0j07A5KVhls-4EepbZ18fpzhmT5_iewhcLcTuB0CxLrxgpCvj-ztjmgAs 2/4
2023. 02. 15. 14:45 The Benefits of Having High School Students Learn by Teaching | Edutopia

carefully constructed lesson to the entire class (and to me). Here, students become the

teachers and, therefore, the experts on their subject. Students have a variety of

interests to choose from—lecturing on an analysis of time and memory in Romantic

poetry, the autobiographical elements in Virginia Woolf’s essays, or the rhetorical

strategies of U.S. presidents or world leaders.

Groups also create assessments and quizzes to deliver to their class. They field a

variety of questions testing their knowledge on their selected subject and often assign

homework to their peers. Finally, each student completes a self-reflection on the

learning experience. This is an opportune time to reveal the inner workings of the group

dynamic, what worked or didn’t work, who did all the work, and so on.

Above all, student lectures not only teach students essential skills like research,

reading comprehension, oral presentation, and reflection, but also provide a sense of

ownership over their own learning, encouraging their collective curiosity. Student

lectures teach content and a variety of inter-curricula knowledge.

For the teacher, there’s a palpable charge—a teacher joy—to see a group of students

lecturing to other students, seeing your students become learned teachers to others.

The audience doesn’t have to be solely fellow students. Several times, I’ve invited

fellow English teachers, social studies teachers, principals, and other administrators to

be the “students” for my student lecturers.

During one student lecture on braiding the themes of John Keats and F. Scott

Fitzgerald, an English teacher grilled my students with a series of challenging

questions, and my student lecturers answered them with confidence and poise. If we

hope to instill a lifelong love of learning in our students, wouldn’t it be good to instill a

love of teaching within them as well?

Student lectures are also amazingly versatile. At my school, the social studies

department assigned a lecture project that lasts the entire year. The group determines

an issue that our community—local, national, or global—faces and then researches

potential solutions for that issue. Groups conduct interviews, compile research,

determine a design plan, and prepare for their lectures. Then, at the end of a year, we

hold an evening symposium in which each group presents to peers, teachers, and

https://www.edutopia.org/article/having-students-learn-teaching/?fbclid=IwAR0j07A5KVhls-4EepbZ18fpzhmT5_iewhcLcTuB0CxLrxgpCvj-ztjmgAs 3/4
2023. 02. 15. 14:45 The Benefits of Having High School Students Learn by Teaching | Edutopia

members of our community. This yearlong lecture assignment provides an indelible

learning experience that intertwines content knowledge with practical, real-world skills.

Student lectures provide teachers with a product that reflects a culmination of student

learning, allowing us to interweave several important skills into one summative project.

Perhaps even more important, beyond content-specific skills, student lectures also

teach tangible real-world skills such as collaboration, problem-solving, conflict

resolution, communication, and researching that will travel with our students into their

futures.

S H A R E T H I S STO RY

FILED UNDER

Project-Based Learning (PBL) Communication Skills

Critical Thinking 9-12 High School

GEORGE LUCAS E D U C AT I O N A L F O U N D AT I O N

Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practic al strategies for learning and

teaching in preK-12 educ ation. We are published by the George Luc as Educ ational

Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

©2023 George Luc as Educ ational Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

Edutopia® and Luc as Educ ation Research™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of the

George Luc as Educ ational Foundation in the U.S. and other countries.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/having-students-learn-teaching/?fbclid=IwAR0j07A5KVhls-4EepbZ18fpzhmT5_iewhcLcTuB0CxLrxgpCvj-ztjmgAs 4/4