Engage with an University of Oxford graduate passionate in the inner workings of mathematics.

I am Osman Safa, an online tutor with a Master's degree in Mathematics from the University of Oxford, and a passion for personalized learning and sharing the unique beauty of Mathematics to others. Thanks to my strong background in geometric group theory, I specialize in all secondary school mathematics and various undergraduate mathematics topics, for instance, group theory, ring theory, linear algebra, real analysis, topology, measure theory, and more. I believe that a student learns best with a personalized learning plan that takes account of strengths and weaknesses, such as explaining difficult concepts through different viewpoints, illustrating topics through various examples, and strengthening understanding by exploring the inner mathematical machinery that school curricula can often ignore in favor of seemingly arbitrary rules with no further explanation. For instance, middle school students are taught differentiation and integration rules without much justification. As someone who has seen formal proofs to these results, I can offer personalized justifications, appropriate to any level. I am also familiar with several high school curricula, such as GCSE, A levels, AP, and IB, including exam preparation techniques. Obtaining the best grades in such major exams requires more than a mastery of the topics listed in a syllabus, but also time management, answering questions as the examiners expect, etc.. It is therefore crucial to develop individual exam strategies. Whether you seek extra help in succeeding at school/university, or seek a greater understanding beyond the syllabi of your mathematics courses, I am certain that I will provide new and interesting insights into your mathematical journey.

My tutoring methodology revolves around interactive and adapting teaching, with a strong focus in building confidence and promoting intuition and understanding of concepts. My main tools are whiteboards and presentations in a format that permits fruitful discussions that lead to new insights. The exact details of my methodology varies for each student, to accommodate for their needs. Here are some examples that I think works with most, if not all, students: Firstly, I like to employ some more open-ended questions to give the opportunity for developing deep understanding. For example, by asking a middle school student why they think multiplication is distributive over addition. An example at the undergraduate level would be discussing about whether the converse of Lagrange’s theorem holds true and which group(s) could be counterexamples. Secondly, for exam preparation, I believe that students learn best by first attempting a past paper on their own, then discussing their attempt, comparing it to examiner expectations and rectifying misconceptions, if they are any. In general, this is the approach I like best for exercise sheets as well, and this is method that is frequently used for tutorials at the university level too. Private tutorials can take further advantage of this method due to the individualized attention. Mathematics is best learned through actual trial, but learning can certainly be much more efficient with the right guidance.