Something I’ve started doing more of lately is asking students to explain a concept back to me after we’ve covered it. It sounds like a small thing, but it changes the dynamic of a session pretty significantly. The gaps in understanding show up immediately in a way they never do when a student is just listening or following along, and honestly, it’s often more useful than any practice question I could set.

I noticed it with my own students first: they’d track a worked example fine, then freeze when asked to try one by themselves. There’s a real difference between recognising something when you see it and being able to explain it yourself, and most students don’t realise how wide that gap is until they’re asked to explain it out loud. The fix, as far as I can tell, is just making them talk more and me talk less. I’ll step back after introducing something and ask how they’d explain it to a friend who missed class and what follows is usually more revealing than anything else in the session. For HSC students especially, this matters. I try to do this as much as possible now when I’m teaching.

Luke Livolsi