Teaching is indirect. Our role as tutors is to deliver understanding to students. This comes in many forms. A high school substitute might hand out thirty worksheets without explaining a word; while a university lecturer might explain at great length and detail over the course of two hours. Which is better might seem obvious, but in reality it depends on the student.
Teachers are often judged by the quality of their explanation, or the ease by which they command attention. But, in my opinion, they should be judged solely on their ability to involve students. The most well-prepared, concise, and detailed explanation will be in vain if the student is never given a chance to stop, interact with and conceptualize the subject.
If a two hour lecture is never interrupted by a question, then perhaps the worksheet would in fact be better. Involvement requires a subtle understanding of your student’s capability, and great teaching finds that balance between practice and explanation. I find more and more often that the best path to a students’ improvement lies not in extremely animated explanations, the promise of gold stars, or mountains of homework – rather, it’s asking them the right questions at the right time.

Fred Bennett