A fascinating report summarising the findings of over 200 other pieces of research into this question, was published recently.  Here are the key findings.  A must read for all teachers, as well as students and parents!

What makes great teaching?

Review of the underpinning research

Professor Robert Coe

http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/great-teaching/

Key findings

The two factors with the strongest evidence of improving pupil attainment are:

• teachers’ content knowledge, including their ability to understand how students think about a subject and identify common misconceptions
• quality of instruction, which includes using strategies like effective questioning and the use of assessment

Specific practices which have good evidence of improving attainment include:

• challenging students to identify the reason why an activity is taking place in the lesson
• asking a large number of questions and checking the responses of all students
• spacing-out study or practice on a given topic, with gaps in between for forgetting
• making students take tests or generate answers, even before they have been taught the material

Common practices which are not supported by evidence include:

• using praise lavishly
• allowing learners to discover key ideas by themselves
• grouping students by ability
• presenting information to students based on their “preferred learning style”