Teachers are constantly looking to innovate, to come up with new ways of delivering lessons. The ultimate goal is to ensure that students not only experience engaging and creative lessons, but gain the knowledge and skills needed to succeed  in exams, as well as in further education and employment.

However, some approaches leave a lot to be desired, with new research by the Sutton Trust suggesting that popular strategies used regularly by teachers lack authority – they are not backed by evidence that supports their usage.

Its new report, entitled What makes great teaching? examined over 200 studies that have looked into how professionals have, over the years, sought to enhance the way they teach.

Authored by Professor Rob Coe, director of the Centre for Evaluation at Durham University, the paper says that teachers need to be careful about deploying certain teaching methods because they can have a counter-intuitive effect. Again, the fact that most of them have no grounding in research is testament to inherent weaknesses.

The Sutton Trust has outlined seven strategies that it says are unsupported by academic evidence. All of these require a radical rethink to ensure that pupils get the very best in education. They are as follows:

1. Lavish praise

Praise has its merits – it can inspire youngsters, better motivate them and spur them to do more. However, for low-attaining students, using "lavish praise" can actually do the opposite. It can actually "convey a message of low expectations".

Key takeaway: "The evidence shows children whose failure generates sympathy are more likely to attribute it to lack of ability than those who are presented with anger."

2. Discovery learning

Empowering young people to discover learning for themselves is thought to enable students to take charge of their education. However, this is more theoretical than practical.

Key takeaway: "Enthusiasm for ‘discovery learning’ is not supported by research evidence, which broadly favours direct instruction."

3. Grouping students by ability

A long-held idea is that by grouping pupils by ability, either in whole classes or as sub-groups within a class, the learning experience can be transformed. Research suggests otherwise.

Key takeaway: "It can result in teachers failing to accommodate different needs within an ability group and over-playing differences between groups, going too fast with the high-ability groups and too slow with the low."

4. Encouraging re-reading

Read something enough times and you will eventually make sense of a topic or subject – that's something a lot of teachers believe in and accordingly they will encourage pupils to invest in this practice. It can work, but is not effective for comprehension nor memorisation.

Key takeaway: "Testing yourself, trying to generate answers, and deliberately creating intervals between study to allow forgetting, are all more effective approaches to memorisation than re-reading or highlighting."

5. Addressing low confidence early on

Teachers are advised to address low confidence and aspirations before they start teaching to boost motivation, but, according to various studies, the "impact on subsequent learning is close to zero".

Key takeaway: "If the poor motivation of low attainers is a logical response to repeated failure, starting to get them to succeed through learning content will improve motivation and confidence."

6. Presenting information in preferred learning style

Focusing study on particular learning styles – which is based on inclusive and differentiated teaching – is thought to make education more relevant and personable. This is true in some respects but as a rule, evidence is lacking to support it.

Key takeaway: Despite a recent survey showing over 90 per cent of teachers believe individuals learn better when they receive information in their preferred learning style, the psychological evidence is clear that there are no benefits to this method.

7. Being active helps you remember

Advocates of this philosophy claim, through the use of a 'learning pyramid', that being active in listening – rather than passive – helps you better remember instructions.

Key takeaway: "These percentages have no empirical basis and are pure fiction."