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Become a better tutor · Module 3: Teaching online

Make them do the thinking

If you’re talking for most of the lesson, you’re working harder than your student. Flip it.

Written by the Brainhub Editorial Team Cites published research Updated 13 Oct 2026 6 min read

The course unlocks one lesson at a time. You can read this now, but it only counts once you’ve finished Tutor, not teacher.

Key takeaways

1. Explaining isn’t teaching

A review of 225 studies in science and maths compared lecture-style teaching with active learning, where students answer, solve and discuss during the lesson. Exam scores were higher with active learning, and students in lecture-only classes were 1.5 times more likely to fail.[1]

One-to-one tutoring makes active learning easy, yet many tutors still explain for long stretches, especially online. A great explanation is a few minutes long. Then hand the pen over.

2. Attention comes and goes

A study that asked students to report their attention with clickers found lapses happened throughout lectures, not just at the end. They were less frequent straight after active moments, such as a question or demonstration.[2]

Online, there is no teacher walking round the room. So build in a change of activity every few minutes: explain, ask, try, check, repeat.

3. Techniques that work on screen

Teach Like a Champion, a widely used collection of classroom techniques, includes several that translate well to a screen. Cold call: ask the student a question without warning, often. No opt out: if they say “I don’t know”, come back to them until they can answer.[3]

Rosenshine’s principles add: ask many questions, check understanding by getting students to explain, and guide practice before they work alone.[4]

You write, I watch

The student writes on the shared board while you watch and ask about their thinking.

Explain it back

“Teach me how you’d do this, as if I’m in Year 7.”

Spot the mistake

Show a worked answer with one error. They find and fix it.

Thirty-second quiz

Three quick questions on last week’s topic at the start of every lesson.

4. Make it about them

In a randomised study, algebra students got either standard word problems or the same maths written about their own interests: sport, music, games, food. The personalised group did better on the hardest skill, turning a story into an equation, and kept the advantage in a later topic that wasn’t personalised. It worked best when the link was real, not just swapping in a name.[5]

Relevance helps too, but let students find it. When science students wrote a few lines on how a topic connected to their own lives, interest and grades rose for those who expected to do badly. Telling low-confidence students why a topic matters can backfire, so ask “Where might you use this?” instead.[6]

One thing not to personalise to: “learning styles”. There is no good evidence that matching lessons to visual, auditory or kinaesthetic styles helps. Personalise to interests, goals and what they already know.[8]

5. A lesson shape to copy

Time
Activity
Who’s working
0–5 min
Quick-fire recap quiz
Student
5–15
Short explanation and a worked example
Tutor, then together
15–35
Guided practice on the shared board
Student, with tutor questions
35–50
Exam questions alone, then mark together
Student
50–60
Explain back the key idea; set practice
Student

Try this: Time how long you talk without a pause in your next lesson. If it’s over three minutes, add a question.

Try it now

Test yourself on this page

Answer in your head first, then check.

  1. 1. In the active-learning review, how much more likely were students in lecture-only classes to fail?

  2. 2. What does “no opt out” mean?

Your next steps

  • Start every lesson with a 30-second, three-question quiz.
  • Use “you write, I watch” for at least ten minutes per lesson.
  • Ask at least one question every three minutes.

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Sources

  1. Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H. and Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. PNAS, 111(23), 8410–8415. doi:10.1073/pnas.1319030111
  2. Bunce, D. M., Flens, E. A. and Neiles, K. Y. (2010). How long can students pay attention in class? A study of student attention decline using clickers. Journal of Chemical Education, 87(12), 1438–1443. doi:10.1021/ed100409p
  3. Lemov, D. (2021). Teach Like a Champion 3.0: 63 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass. teachlikeachampion.org
  4. Rosenshine, B. (2012). Principles of instruction: research-based strategies that all teachers should know. American Educator, 36(1), 12–19, 39. aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Rosenshine.pdf
  5. Walkington, C. A. (2013). Using adaptive learning technologies to personalize instruction to student interests: the impact of relevant contexts on performance and learning outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(4), 932–945. doi:10.1037/a0031882
  6. Hulleman, C. S. and Harackiewicz, J. M. (2009). Promoting interest and performance in high school science classes. Science, 326(5958), 1410–1412. doi:10.1126/science.1177067
  7. Durik, A. M., Shechter, O. G., Noh, M., Rozek, C. S. and Harackiewicz, J. M. (2015). What if I can’t? Success expectancies moderate the effects of utility value information on situational interest and performance. Motivation and Emotion, 39(1), 104–118. doi:10.1007/s11031-014-9419-0
  8. Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D. and Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), 105–119. doi:10.1111/j.1539-6053.2009.01038.x

This lesson is general professional guidance for tutors. Always follow Brainhub’s safeguarding policy and use your own professional judgement.