PhD Tutor for School and Competition Mathematics

David A.

Hi, I'm David! I graduated with a PhD in mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC), after previously completing my undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon University. I have several years' experience teaching in classrooms around the United States, from discussion sections at UIUC to math camps for motivated students. I believe that the best way to guide students through mathematics is by demonstrating empathy: understanding the struggles people have with math, learning from these struggles, and determining the best way to guide through the material.

My teaching philosophy revolves around several core principles. First, I radiate enthusiasm through my teaching so that students are comfortable and enjoy being in my classroom. Second, I aim for clear explanation of the material, with visual diagrams, lots of colors, and intuition behind why mathematics works. Third, I think carefully about the practice problems my students work on, ensuring that they provide a fair challenge. Because of these principles, my Calculus students at UIUC ranked me as an excellent Teaching Assistant for six straight semesters.

I am also available for competition mathematics training. In high school, I qualified for the American Invitational Mathematics Exam (AIME) four times and made the USA Math Olympiad in my senior year. Over the years, I have continued to teach middle and high school students through summer camps and math circles, including the AwesomeMath Summer Program. Furthermore, I have written hundreds of problems for these competitions, including the AMC and AIME, and am intimately familiar with how these contests work.

Please feel free to reach out with any more questions or to schedule a lesson! I look forward to working with you.