Education Commons^™

What College Students Learn From Teaching Others, Larkin N. Hood

Journal of Archaeology and Education

This article describes what undergraduate students learned from participating in a museum docent program at a large, public university on the West Coast of the United States. The majority (93%) of students report an increase in their ability to effectively communicate specialized knowledge to museum visitors in one or more of the following ways: 1) identifying what visitors know and adjusting their explanations accordingly; 2) translating technical information to visitors; 3); communicating information in an active, hands-on manner; 4) confidently communicating their knowledge to others. Students reported personal and professional benefits as well. In addition to this focused observation approach, …