Tips to Confirm Students Really Understand

You've likely been in a situation in which you explained something to a student, who then told you they had no questions about it. In reality, however, they were completely lost. It's unfortunately a common issue in tutoring.

These situations lead to frustration for students and probably a less-than-perfect rating for you. No one wins.

So it's better for everyone to make sure the student actually understands you and is following the lesson. But how can you do this?  Let's look at a few ways.

Why don’t they just tell you the truth?

First, let's take a quick moment to think about why students say they understand when they don't. 

Many learners may be self-conscious about asking you to repeat something they didn't catch or to explain a concept in more detail. They may not know how to phrase the question they want to ask. Or perhaps they feel their question is a silly one. 

Ultimately, they choose the path of least resistance and just say everything is fine, even when it isn't.

So what can you do about it?

Rephrase the question

Remember that "Do you have any questions?" can be answered with a simple "Yes" or "No." So asking this is giving students an easy way out when they don't want to speak up.

Instead, try asking "What questions do you have?" Phrasing it this way removes the student's ability to reply by simply shaking their head. Furthermore, it implies that you expect questions and that you're prepared to answer them.

This is simply a small change in wording, but it makes a big difference. It also links nicely with our next point …

Encourage questions

Another simple thing you can do is to let your student know early in the lesson that questions are welcome. You can even encourage them to interrupt you whenever they have them. 

This does two things:

1. It signals that there is nothing wrong with questions 

Questions are normal in learning environments. After all, a student in any type of class with no questions at all would be strange.

2. It helps create a more relaxed lesson environment 

Your students (and perhaps you, too) may be more familiar with a stricter classroom style, with a clear separation between the teacher and learner. Some tutors may prefer this, and that's fine if it works for you.

For everyone else, encouraging questions makes the lesson less like a lecture and more like a conversation. And do you really want to lecture anyone for 25 minutes?

Furthermore, when students do ask questions, a little positive reinforcement in the form of a "Good question!" can help to loosen them up and encourage them to speak more freely.

Test their understanding

Here's an idea: Instead of waiting for students to ask you a question, put a little pressure on them to demonstrate what they say they understand. Because talk is cheap, as the saying goes!

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If they can successfully meet your challenge, you know things are moving in the right direction. This also allows students to practice using what they've learned, and it can lead to more questions that might've been ignored if you had moved on without checking. 

On the other hand, if your student struggles to answer, you know they need more help with it. And they know that just nodding and smiling won't always fool you into simply moving on with the lesson. Perhaps they'll be a bit more truthful going forward!

Wrap-up

It's often easy for students to pretend everything is fine when it isn't, but this only makes things harder for everyone. 

Choose wording that invites open responses rather than closed ones, and generally encourage the asking of questions. Additionally, challenge them to show they understand so you can identify strong points as well as areas that need more attention. This will result in more productive lessons, which often lead to higher ratings and more bookings in the future.