PhD candidate | Physics | Math| process-oriented

Chang X.

I am currently in my last year of my Physics PhD program. I have a Bachelor's degree in computer science and a Bachelor's degree in physics.

I have been tutoring online on Varsity and Tutor.com since 2022. I have tutored college-level physics, Calculus, AP physics 1/2/C, AP calculus AB/BC, algebra, etc. On a separate note, I have been working as a Teaching assistant in college since 2020, where I have taught lab classes and problem-solving classes in college-level Physics Mechanics, and Physics electromagnetism. I also tutored math and physics subjects part-time when I was in college from 2016 to 2020. I would say roughly 80% of my work has been one-on-one, and 80% has been teaching classes for around 15-25 students.

My teaching method involves the following principles. First of all, I am interested in students' goals and motivations. I would like to try my best to explore the student's potential and set up a reasonable goal for the student. Secondly, I encourage making mistakes during practice and tutoring sessions. I prefer a back-and-forth discussion style tutoring where we explore different ideas, rather than a lecture-style session. I believe that only when you make mistakes can you learn and move forward. This method helps student create their own understanding and map out their own story of the material, which, in general, as far as I am concerned, is a better idea. This also helps students become more confident and more exploratory with the material. Thirdly, having gone through college and grad school, I understand and relate to stress reactions such as anxiety and procrastination, especially in a modern environment. These negative feelings are one of the most common but ignored obstacles in students' learning experience. I can quickly identify the root of these feelings and suggest tips on how to deal with the stress and even harness it for their own motivations.