Teach to Learn by Joseph

Teach to Learn by Joseph - January 2014 Scholarship Essay

Studying is not the most exciting activity one will embark on. It is easy to get distracted and unmotivated very easily while trying to study. So it is important to be efficient. In order to achieve efficiency, one must discover the studying technique that suits him/her the best. Personally, I the technique that I find to be extremely helpful is teaching others the material that I am supposed to be studying. By being able to make someone else understand the material it truly shows whether or not I have successfully internalized the material because teaching someone else requires me to have a decent concept of the information. I also must possess the ability to effectively communicate in order for the person I am explaining the concepts to understand what I am trying to say.

In order to be able to successfully teach someone else something, first I need to understand the information I am going to present. So if I take good notes in class I should be able to look over them and have a general idea of what I am supposed to be learning. Then, when it is time to teach someone else the material I can see the holes in my understanding of the subject. Now that I have successfully identified the holes in my understanding I can go back to my notes or my text books or the internet to fill in the gaps. It makes for a fool-proof system.

However, for this teaching method of studying to work, I need to have good communication skills. If I cannot effectively explain the material then it leaves the other person confused and it may damage my confidence in the concepts. This can be avoided by communicating efficiently. In addition to making my studying habits successful, excelling at communicating improves my ability to answer the open ended questions on my tests.

Although there are many different types of study habits to choose from, I chose the teaching method because it betters my communication skills as well as further ingrains the information in my head. This method satisfies me because it allows me to not have to just sit locked up in my room studying for hours but it allows me to mix that with interaction with people which also helps them learn something new.