Mathematics Tutor V - 25+ Years Experience at Austin Community College

Ron P.

I'm a Mathematics Tutor V at Austin Community College, Elgin Campus. I started at ACC in Spring of 1996. I'm often told by students that I have a knack for making math problems easy. The reason is simple: I remember what it is like being a student and getting stuck and I enjoy getting students UNstuck. My approach to helping is simple: Ask questions and listen carefully to pinpoint exactly where the difficulty is. Often, Calculus students, for example, are really having trouble with an Algebra or Trig concept, so I'll suggest we review those topics before proceeding. Math is a build, so we often need to review topics from a previous course - factoring, for example.

I had been taking math courses at ACC in the early 90s just for fun and personal interest. I enjoyed taking all of ACC's math courses, including College Algebra, Trig, Precal, Cal1 thru Cal 4 (Vector Calc), Differential Equations, and Linear Algebra. I made all A's, thanks to having amazing teachers.

While I was taking these classes, I was approached by an ACC tutor. "You should be a tutor!", she said. It sounded great to me, so I immediately applied and was hired at ACC, Pinnacle Campus Learning Labs. We tutored all ACC math students who showed up for help at any math level. I've been enjoying helping ACC students ever since, including several years as fulltime Mathematics Tutoring Specialist.