I earned an Associate of Science in mathematics degree from Northampton Area Community College and am currently pursuing my bachelor's in physics through Arizona State University. My coursework included Calculus I-III, calculus-based Physics I-III, programming for physicists, linear algebra, discrete math, and differential equations. I have 4 years of tutoring experience; while at NACC I would help peers who were my same age with their math and physics courses. I was especially effective at...
I earned an Associate of Science in mathematics degree from Northampton Area Community College and am currently pursuing my bachelor's in physics through Arizona State University. My coursework included Calculus I-III, calculus-based Physics I-III, programming for physicists, linear algebra, discrete math, and differential equations. I have 4 years of tutoring experience; while at NACC I would help peers who were my same age with their math and physics courses. I was especially effective at teaching Calc I-III and Physics I-II. The majority of them had the basics down, but they had trouble understanding the whys and hows, of the equations. A few also did not have a strong grasp of the basics, but I found teaching those peers less challenging and more rewarding as I lifted the viel for them so to speak. When I would teach it was almost always one-on-one, but there were a number of times I had to teach 3-5 of my peers at once. I also have tutoring experience with younger students, helping a family friend's son through 6th-grade algebra and their daughter through 10th-grade trigonometry.
My approach to teaching is to start from first principles. My main goal is to make a concept feel inevitable and to construct a framework in the mind of a student so they can conclude themselves when it matters. At first I assess the level that the studnet is at, build their intution to a level where they can explain back why theyre doing each step, then slowly hand off responsibility to the student as they progress in thieir understanding.
This approach is important in math, and physics because concepts build on eachother. Having a solid foundation of intuition allows you to make conlcusions about topics and concepts you only recently learned about, which in turn makes learning them easier. I want students to leave a lesson not only with a better understanding of their coursework and an A letter grade, I want them to feel good about their understanding of the universe, and I hope for them to see math in their everyday life.
