# Check for understanding in online tutoring: 9 techniques > Nine practical ways to check for understanding in online 1-to-1 and small-group lessons, so you find misconceptions in minutes, not at the next test. URL: https://learnworkly.com/blog/check-for-understanding-online-tutoring · Published 2026-11-10 · Tags: Formative assessment, Online tutoring “Does that make sense?” is the most common question in online tutoring, and the least useful. Almost every student says yes. Some say it because they understood, some because they think they did, and some because saying no in front of a camera feels awkward. Checking for understanding means getting **evidence** from every student, not a nod. In a classroom you can walk around and look at exercise books. Online, you need to build that view on purpose. Here are nine techniques that work in 1-to-1 and small-group online lessons, and how to make each one take less than two minutes. ## Why checking for understanding matters more online In person, you pick up a lot without trying: a frown, a pen that stopped moving, a student copying from a neighbour. Online, most of those signals disappear. The camera shows a face, often with a slight delay, and the student’s work is out of sight on the desk. The result is that misconceptions travel further before anyone notices. A student who confused “3x = 25” with “3x = 15” can practise the wrong method for a week. Research summarised by the [Education Endowment Foundation’s guidance on feedback](https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/feedback) is clear that feedback has a high impact when it is specific and timely. You cannot give timely feedback on work you never saw. ## 1. Replace “any questions?” with one hinge question A hinge question is a single, well-chosen question at the turning point of a lesson. Its wrong answers are designed to reveal a specific misunderstanding. For example, after teaching linear equations: > Which of these is a linear equation? A) y = 2x + 1 B) y = x² − 4 C) y = 3/x A student who picks B has a different gap from one who picks C. Ask it as a multiple-choice question that everyone answers at the same time, look at the spread, and decide whether to move on or reteach. It takes thirty seconds and tells you more than five minutes of “does that make sense?”. ## 2. Ask everyone, not the fastest student In a small group, the confident student answers first and the others agree. You learn what one person knows. Instead, have every student answer on their own screen before anyone speaks. Only then reveal the answers, ideally without names, and discuss. In LearnWorkly this is the [live view](/features/live-view): every student’s answer appears in a grid as they type, and you can hide names when you share your screen. ## 3. See the working, not only the answer In maths and science, the final answer hides most of the information. “x = 8.3” could be a slip in the last line or a misconception in the first. Ask students to show their working, then look at where it goes wrong. *[Image: Live view of three students’ handwritten working for “Solve 3x + 5 = 20”]* Students can draw their working on a touch screen, or write on paper and send a photo from their phone. We wrote a separate guide on [seeing handwritten maths work in online lessons](/blog/handwritten-maths-work-online) if you teach a subject where working matters. ## 4. Use “explain it back” prompts Ask students to explain an idea in their own words, in one or two sentences. “In your own words, what does the gradient of a line tell you?” is harder to bluff than a multiple-choice question. Short written explanations are quick to scan. Look for the key idea rather than perfect wording, and pick one good answer to read out (anonymously) as a model. ## 5. Let students say it out loud, one at a time For language learners, speaking is the skill. In a group call, though, only one person can speak at once and the others wait. Recorded answers solve that: everyone records a 30-second answer at the same time, and you listen while the group moves on to the next task. Audio answers also help younger students who can explain an idea better than they can write it. ## 6. Use confidence ratings, but never on their own Asking students how sure they are (“1 = guessing, 5 = certain”) is useful when it sits next to a real answer. A confident wrong answer is a misconception worth addressing now; an unsure right answer needs reinforcement, not new material. On its own, a confidence rating tells you how a student feels, not what they know. Always pair it with a question. ## 7. Spot-check with a two-minute exit ticket End the lesson with two or three questions on today’s main idea. Keep them short and mark them automatically where you can. You will know, before the next lesson, who needs a recap and who is ready to move on. Tag each question with a skill (“solving equations”, “past simple”) and over a few weeks you get a picture of progress by skill, not just a score per lesson. That picture is also what makes [progress reports for parents](/features/parent-reports) worth reading. ## 8. Retrieval at the start of the next lesson The best check of yesterday’s lesson happens today. Open with three quick questions from last week. If most students get them right, you have evidence the learning stuck. If not, you know exactly where to start. Retrieval practice is one of the most reliable ways to strengthen long-term memory, and it doubles as a check for understanding with no extra preparation. ## 9. Close the loop with feedback they can act on A check for understanding is only useful if something happens next. That might be reteaching to the group, a quick comment to one student, or a follow-up question. The key is that feedback reaches the student while the work is still fresh, and that they can respond. A short comment on the answer itself (“Look at line 2 again: what is 20 − 5?”) works better than a general “check your working”. When students can reply, feedback turns into a conversation, and you find out whether they really fixed the mistake. ## Putting it together: a 45-minute online lesson You do not need all nine techniques in every lesson. A simple structure covers most of them: 1. **Retrieval (5 minutes):** three auto-marked questions from last week. 2. **Teach (15 minutes):** explain the new idea, then a hinge question everyone answers. 3. **Practise (15 minutes):** students work on problems and show their working; you watch live and give feedback. 4. **Explain it back (5 minutes):** one short written or recorded explanation. 5. **Exit ticket (5 minutes):** two or three questions on today’s idea. Each step gives you evidence from every student. By the end of the lesson you know who understood, who did not, and why. ## Make it easy to do every lesson The hard part of checking for understanding online is not knowing the techniques. It is doing them every lesson without extra preparation or marking. That is the reason we built LearnWorkly: questions that mark themselves, a live view of every answer and every line of working, and feedback in one place. If you want to try these techniques in your next lesson, [LearnWorkly is free for up to 10 students](/pricing), with every question type included.