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Sara

Certified Tutor

I have a PhD from Rutgers University in Biomedical Engineering/ Neuroscience. Before that, I earned a BS in Biomedical Engineering/ Electrical Instrumentation from New Jersey Institute of Technology (Albert Dorman Honors College).

Through my years of academic studies, I have gained an extensive background in mathematics, biological, and physical sciences. In addition to conducting scientific research, I have developed an strong passion for teaching.

I have had the pleasure of teaching/tutoring high school and college students from diverse backgrounds for more than seven years, covering standardized test such as SAT, ACT, and GRE as well as high school and college math and science courses.

I believe that effective teaching is not about transfer of knowledge from instructor to student but rather providing an interactive learning environment that motivates students to be active and fully engaged in their education.
I understand the importance of not only learning the material well but translating that education into demonstrable performance on time sensitive exams.

I will help you achieve your academic goals through a comprehensive study plan involving an individualized curriculum and a strategic study plan to improve not only your learning, but also your test-taking skills.

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Sara’s Qualifications
Education & Certification

Undergraduate Degree: New Jersey Institute of Technology - Bachelors, Biomedical Engineering

Graduate Degree: Rutgers University-Newark - PHD, Biomedical Engineering / Neuroscience

Hobbies

Some of my hobbies are: Painting, Reading, Cooking, and Running.

What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe in an interactive and individualized teaching style that focuses on students' specific needs and goals and builds a strategic study plan that helps them recognize their weaknesses and strengths, boost their confidence, and improve their learning. By continuously motivating students and evaluating their needs and performance, I build a comprehensive and adaptive curriculum that offers a personalized learning plan and creates an engaging, dynamic, and fruitful learning experience.

What might you do in a typical first session with a student?

I would get familiar with student's background, academic goals, strengths and weaknesses, personality, and more importantly their learning style. It is also important to evaluate their understanding on the topics through a short questionnaire. Having all this information in mind, I can build an effective and appropriate study plan that suits student's needs.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

This can be achieved through motivating the student, creating dynamic study plans, becoming familiar with student's needs, and setting appropriate and reasonable goals and strategies to achieve them.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

By reinforcing accomplishments and having a positive and stress-free learning environment with clear objectives and defined goals, students will feel more responsible and motivated. Keeping students engaged, confident, and excited about their learning will further help them get motivated and remain motivated!

If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?

It would help to identify the source of misunderstanding and try a different approach. Whether they need a simple review or they need to learn the concepts from scratch, it helps to determine what skills the student is missing and work to solve the issue step by step.

How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?

It helps to teach them to concentrates on key facts and relevant information rather than irrelevant details. Often focusing on background information and every detail causes the main idea to get lost. It also helps to evaluate student's vocabulary knowledge and reading speed to make sure he/she has the ability to read with appropriate speed and understands each step of the way. Finally, practice and repetition is key to improving reading comprehension skills.

What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?

To begin, it is important to introduce yourself, learn about the student's background and goals, and create a positive and motivating atmosphere. It is even more important to discover student's strengths and weaknesses, evaluate his/her academic performance, the amount of time he/she can devote to learning, and the learning style preferred.

How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?

To get students excited and engaged, it helps to clearly define their objectives and expectations, have an adaptive and dynamic learning plan, and create a supportive environment with positive reinforcements for achievements. I can generate motivation by encouraging students to compete against themselves; comparing the baseline knowledge with the performance after learning with speed and accuracy improvement gives students a sense of accomplishment, gets them excited, and keeps them engaged.

What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?

The key is to keep learning interactive. Asking for students' feedback regarding their learning and providing them a comfortable environment would allow and encourage them to be honest about their abilities and not afraid of making mistakes or asking questions. Active listening and open communication are essential!

How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?

I believe that confidence can be taught. I believe that making students feel comfortable, encouraging them to be open, motivate them to learn, and more importantly help them realize their accomplishments and improvements and be proud of them, helps them feel more secure and confident.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

By clearly identifying students' goals and monitoring their learning and progress during the learning process, I can evaluate their needs and adjust my teaching techniques to meet those needs.

How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?

The key to adapting my tutoring to the student's needs is to tailor and individualize a dynamic teaching plan that addresses students' needs and matches their learning style.

What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?

Depending whether the session is online or in person, I use a combination of an interactive whiteboard, textbooks and study guides relevant to the lesson, comprehensive yet targeted set of problems and exercises, and previous tests/ homework that should be reviewed.