I recently read Smart Thinking by  Art Markman in which he discussed a teaching/ learning strategy used by the medical profession.

In effect, new doctors are invited to first WATCH a procedure being carried out by an experienced practitioner.  They DO the procedure, after which they are required to TEACH the procedure.

This struck me as a generally excellent strategy  for teaching and learning.

Much of what is written about learning retention (10% of what you see, 20% of what you hear....blah blah blah) has long ago been debunked, so I will simply comment on my own experience.  

I know if I have to teach someone something, that I am learning, I pay more attention during the initial lesson.  That immediately has a positive effect on my retention.  I know that if I have to teach someone a procedure, I will make sure that i have practised it several times so I am familiar with all the steps.  This has a further positive effect on my retention.  And finally, I know that if I am teaching someone a topic, I will prepare and make sure I know the material, procedure, etc, both contexts, which it works, and the context which doesn't work.  This blows my retention through the roof. 

I have introduced this idea and methodology into my Expert as Teacher program as a way of helping subject matter experts teach their team members highly technical subjects.  

Three things:

1. When you are learning something new, identify someone you can teach it to, potentially increasing your own retention.
2. Consider how can you build in "teach backs" to your material enabling it either in the classroom environment, or when participants get back on the job.
3. Announce the teach back requirement at the beginning of the training.  Participants will pay closer attention to the lessons if they know they are going to have to teach the concepts.