Steve
Certified Tutor
Undergraduate Degree: University of Michigan - Bachelor of Science, Physics
Graduate Degree: University of Wisconsin - PHD, Physics
SAT Verbal: 700
Movies, Songwriting, Trivia
College Physics
Cosmology
Electromagnetism
High School Physics
IB Physics
Quantum Physics
Thermodynamics
What is your teaching philosophy?
I firmly believe in tutoring with a lot of empathy toward how the student sees the material. It is very easy for someone intimately familiar with a subject to fall, without thinking about it, into a mindset that everyone can see those connections of familiarity just as easily. I always try to remember how overwhelming it can be to see this material for the first time, and teach accordingly, breaking things down to as simple a set of parts as possible.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Assess the student's understanding to determine how best to present and discuss subjects and problems. Determine which material the student would like to cover. Introduce me and my style.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
By helping them learn how to read descriptions of situations to extract the information important to solving a given problem, and how to ignore irrelevant or confounding information.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
I find that helping students be able to read and understand material they could not get to click before is very motivating in itself.