Benjamin
Certified Tutor
Undergraduate Degree: Rutgers University-New Brunswick - Bachelors, Chemical Engineering
Graduate Degree: Stanford University - PHD, Chemical Engineering
SAT Math: 750
Cooking, Scuba Diving, Language Learning, Psychology, Traveling.
ACCUPLACER Arithmetic
Analytical Chemistry
AP Computer Science Principles
BASIC
Basic Computer Literacy
Biomechanics
C++
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Chemical Engineering
CLEP Prep
CLEP Calculus
CLEP Chemistry
CLEP College Algebra
CLEP College Mathematics
CLEP Precalculus
CLEP Spanish
College Application Essays
College Math
College Physics
Computer Programming
Conversational Spanish
Elementary School Math
Engineering
High School Physics
JavaScript
MATLAB
Mechanical Engineering
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office
Middle School Science
Music
Other
Probability
SAT Subject Test in Spanish with Listening
SAT Subject Tests Prep
Scientific Programming
Social Networking
Special & General Relativity
Special Relativity
Statics
Statics and Dynamics
Structural Engineering
Study Skills
Study Skills and Organization
Technology and Coding
Thermochemistry
Thermodynamics
Visual Basic
Vocal Training
Voice
What is your teaching philosophy?
Learning can be fun and engaging. You just need to be creative.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
My first goal with a student is to find common ground, story tell a bit, and make each other laugh. Basically, I want to establish some rapport and trust. Then, I would like to establish our goal together. From there, I'll help the student set up achievable mini-goals for each week.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
I become independent in any skill by learning key principles and understanding how they apply to a few specific examples. From there, all that is needed is to spread your wings and fly.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
Encouragement, positive reinforcement and using interesting real life examples from topics that the student likes (football, dance, theatre, etc.).
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Keep them motivated, encourage them, reinforce their successes, and then deconstruct what is missing/wrong in their mental processing.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Ask the student to explain what we did in their own words. Another way would be to ask them to solve a similar problem so they won't just repeat something from memory.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
I use encouragement, positive reinforcement, a little comic relief, understanding/compassion, and explicitly pointing out their successes.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
First I find out what their explicit needs are based on the goals that we establish in the first session. I can get other explicit needs by simply asking what they think their strengths and weaknesses are in the subject. The rest is implicit. I'll encourage them to explain how they arrive at solutions so that I can deconstruct their thought process and identify their weaknesses. Some students will have anxiety/confidence issues that I'll read directly from talking to them and then encouraging/positively reinforcing them appropriately.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
Everybody is different, so I'll approach this by both asking students what they think their strengths/weaknesses are and secondly, I'll use my social intuition to assess what their motivation/confidence levels are at certain points and calibrate encouragement/positive reinforcement appropriately.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
This depends on the subject matter. For the new SAT Math, I'd prefer to use commonly available test prep books that I currently own. In addition, I use memory devices and spaced repetition software.