So this method is called the Feynman method and I use it and have used it extensively. The usual motto is "you know something if you can explain it to someone".
So I used it during med school all the time. What I would usually do is watch some video on youtube or other video lecture service website, combine that with my lecture notes. Both of those created the basic study guide. I would practice explaining what I got out of those two resources (which was always the most essential and fundamental information). The explanation would be done from memory! Only after this was done did I continue to read the textbook. This exercise made reading the book a much shorter and more pleasant endeavor. Besides taking a shorter time I felt like I understood more since the only thing I really needed to do was complete the few details that the lectures didn't provide. After having completed the detail I had a complete study guide which I would review using the spaced repetition method. The way I reviewed it was again trying to explain it from memory. If I was able to I would systematically review it less and at longer time intervals between (that's basically the concept of spaced repetition). If I was not able to remember it from memory I would go back to the material and restart the process again of reviewing it more often.
The beauty of this method is that you can explain it using a drawing board, using a pen and piece of paper or nothing. Also, you can explain it to your friends, family, girlfriend/boyfriend, a plant, an imaginary crowd, anything works.
So to answer your question, it's a brilliant method and SHOULD be used if you like it. Have no doubt about its effectiveness, it is. However, like every study method, you should use it if you enjoy it and feel that it works for you. There isn't one study method that fits all, and also sometimes one has to switch the method from one class to another.
cheers
