Matthew
Certified Tutor
Undergraduate Degree: University of California-Santa Barbara - Bachelors, Biology, General
GRE Verbal: 166
Long-distance running, Rock climbing, ukulele and medicine
College Biology
High School Biology
Quantitative Reasoning
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
My first session will start off with a brief personal introduction, followed by a series of questions to establish what the student's goals include and what learning styles facilitate their progress best.
What is your teaching philosophy?
My philosophy largely follows a Socratic model, but also embraces individual preferences for learning style. I like to use leading questions to increase engagement, critical thinking and boost confidence.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
Increasing self-confidence with a solid foundation of practice is one way to grow towards independence. Providing the student with learning strategies and readily available external resources also allows the motivated mind to use those same skills for mastery of any subject material.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
Making sure there is a good blend of challenge and routine practice keeps up self-esteem while maintaining interest.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Start with the basics and ask the student to identify what it is specifically that they find challenging. Having clear and constant communication will allow for focused attention on the pertinent material that is most difficult.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Establishing rapport and maintaining engagement tend to work well with almost all students. These dimensions are reached in different ways, as every student is unique.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Reversing the teacher-student role is a great way to demonstrate understanding. If the student can talk me through the question with their own logic then I feel very confident in their mastery.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Starting off with material that resides within reach and progressively increasing difficulty sets the learner up for success and sustained confidence.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
First and foremost, I always ask the student to self-evaluate needs and/or subject material goals. I will constantly pay attention to what they find most challenging and ask for follow-up re-evaluations as we move along.