Methodology

There are many advantages to one-to-one tuition over classroom teaching, perhaps the major one being that the tutor is able to work out which method of instruction works best for a particular student. Therefore, I tend not to be overly prescriptive in my teaching methodology but have a variety of styles that I use and aim to fit the best approach to a given student.

Having said that, I do feel it is important, where possible, to teach a new topic to a student in a way that engenders a deep understanding rather than to simply describe the result. I feel that the majority of students that I tutor have the capacity for a thorough understanding of a given topic providing the teacher fully understands it himself and can work through the topic methodically from the bottom up. In fact, wherever appropriate I help students to discover a result for themselves through a shared investigation. I am reminded of a quotation from that famous polymath Benjamin Franklin:

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.”

I always encourage questions from my students and will patiently answer any questions they have. I like to think of myself as very approachable and friendly so that students are never afraid to ask me questions or pick holes in any argument that I might propose. I take all questions very seriously so that my students are never discouraged from interacting in the lesson, not forgetting that I was once a student myself with possibly the same difficulties at that time.

I tend to revise work that we have covered in previous weeks and even set short tests so that students constantly stay on top of all the work we have covered.

As we approach the exams, I place great emphasis on setting past-paper questions or even complete past papers. This is where we can focus more on examination technique which is extremely important, particularly in the sciences.