Mathematics Tutor from Drexel University: Tailored Lessons for High School Students

I believe that everyone has the capacity to learn, and that everyone learns in different ways. Some students may excel at doing word problems, and some may excel at pure mathematical expressions. It is my job to understand the student at a personal level so that I can tailor my tutoring to the way they learn best. No one is incapable of learning. As long as you are putting effort towards learning, I promise that you will meet your academic goals. I am an assistant professor at Michigan State University teaching coding in python. I have studied physics receiving my B.S. with a minor in mathematics. I went on to receive my Ph.D. in physics education research. I have dedicated my career to investigating how teachers can be better and what instructors can do to foster a welcoming, positive, and engaging environment for every learner. I mostly have experience instructing introductory physics at the collegiate level, but I am comfortable helping explore other areas in physics, mathematics, and coding. I am also a firm believer in communication. We need to be able to understand each other if we are to work well together. That means talking about our expectations of our tutoring session and feeling comfortable enough with each other to ask any questions. I'm looking forward to learning together!

My teaching methodology has two parts: community learning, and personalized attention. When I teach my courses, I find that students that are well connected with other students do well in the course. I also find that students that talk to me individually also do well in the course. I believe that students that are engaged in their learning and community, talk to other people about it. The more you can immerse yourself in the dialogue and people who are learning the same things as you, the more you will learn. Similarly, if we meeting individually, that means all of my attention is on you. I can focus entirely on giving you the space to think about concepts in a non-pressured way. I can get to know you and tailor my lessons or the way I interact with you so that you are learning the way that works best for you. I will use images, drawings, videos, and anything at my disposal to provide multiple modes of engagement and learning. I will ask you to find things in your life to use as examples like rubbing your hands together to show friction and heat. Learning is an iterative process. The more times you are exposed to an idea or concept the more fully you will understand it. I do not expect students to understand something I say the first time around. Learning should be messy and filled with mistakes. If you knew everything already and didn't ask questions, then it wouldn't be learning.