A Three Person Problem

Early in the Gong book the author establishes learning as a three-person problem. After reading this introduction I began to look for instances of it in my own learning process. The ever-illusive third person truly is key to the learning curve. I, for one, cannot store information in my mind for a long-term basis without first teaching it to someone else.

Often the person I teach is a classmate or even my husband. I've always done this. Once I finish homework in class I generally look about to find someone I can help. I don't think this is simply out of the charity of my heart. I actually think it's because subconsciously it made me more confident in my own answers if I was able to explain them to another.

I think a great contributor to the fact that information is better retained if it is taught is simply the fact that teaching promotes a personal ownership of the information. Everyone knows you can't give away something that wasn't yours in the first place. If a student is 1)understanding the information and 2)excited about the information enough to teach it you can be assured that it will be retained.

As a teacher, of course it is important to inform the students about the three person problem, but I think it is more important to structure the classroom in such a way that doing so does not seem immoral. Group work, seating arrangements and other factors can all work together to help a student feel as though instructing a classmate is not cheating. Organizing activities so that teaching becomes a built-in part of your curriculum will better help students take advantage of all aspects of the three person problem.