Patient Physics PhD with a Passion for Physics Tutoring

Jerry S.

Hi there! My name is Jerry. I earned my doctorate in physics at Oregon State University working on gravitational wave data analysis. Over the course of my PhD (spanning 2018 to 2025), I developed a passion for physics education and also earned a certificate specializing in teaching at the undergraduate/collegiate level. During this time, I have led many terms of introductory physics labs and recitations as a physics teaching assistant primarily in classes of engineering and physics undergraduate students. Finally, I've been tutoring professionally since my undergraduate education, and have nearly a decade of experience in one-on-one settings in both math and physics.

In my experience, physics is a really difficult subject to learn because of its connections with abstract mathematical ideas. I see a lot of students in introductory physics struggling with uniting quantitative reasoning with their understanding of the laws of physics. My tutoring style has evolved to focus on connecting these ideas together, and building confidence in the use of mathematics to "speak physics". As a result, my tutoring focuses on approachable explanations of physical concepts in addition to practical problem solving tips and tricks. Many sessions will begin with a quick overview/review of the major physics concepts followed by guiding the student through some scaffolded simple examples before moving on to more complex example problems or your homework problems (depending on what you want from the tutoring session). Over the course of nearly a decade, I have built up a library of concise and simple introductions to all major topics in introductory physics.

While the bulk of my experience has been with introductory undergraduate physics students, I am also equipped to help with other subjects as well (calculus, probability/statistics, algebra, geometry). Please feel free to reach out and I will be honest up front about whether or not I think I can help!