Telling someone else what you've learned....

is one way to improve the rate at which content is retained by the learner. I've read that the retention rate for learners who tell someone else what they've learned varies by individual but up to 50% improvement in retention, is not uncommon. That's significant. The principle of articulation is one that continues to intrigue me because I can see it's application at some many levels. I mention it again at this point in the semester because articulation is included in many instructional strategies but its form of execution varies by strategy.

A few questions I move forward with are:
How does an instructor respect a learner's need to articulate, particularly a student with a high articulation quota, while monitoring the same learner's tendency to need extra time to discuss topics in face to face situations and not letting them take away time from other students? Balancing the needs or diverse learners.

I wonder if sometimes it may appear to an instructor that a student is dominating the conversation. I'm sure there have been times when I've wondered about that in a classroom situation. But how many times is the student simply trying to verbally sort through the content they're trying to assimilate, in order to formulate the questions they need to ask to understand content being presented. Do students sometimes not ask questions because they haven't been given the opportunity to travel in their mental arena and play with the info being presented?

I also wonder if the need for articulation can be satisfied through self-talk. So if the learner has a need to articulate in order to learn, does the learner gravitate toward talking to themselves to talk through the new content, in the absence of a peer or an instructor? If so, will the student reach a similar level of understanding using either method? Will the level of thinking according to Bloom vary by the opportunity and method of articulation.

What's the impact of on line learning (not hybrid) for students who have a high need to articulate? Will their need be reduced or will their self-talk increase to fill the need. Will they seek out others outside of the course and initiate discussions about the content to fill the need and verbally walk through the content? Will they talk outloud through responses they are posting?

I find the actual learning process so interesting. I love to think, and talk, about topics such as this one in this one. Comments are welcomed.