Information About Alan - Dublin tutor

Personal Description:

Hi, I am a Theoretical Physics grad from Trinity, (graduated 2017), currently working in industry as a machine learning engineer. I am passionate about physics, maths, technology, and teaching.

I provide high quality, to-the-point zoom lessons for 5th and 6th year students, focusing on exam paper questions and exam performance.

Tutoring Experience:

I have 7+ years' experience giving grinds for leaving cert maths and physics. Over that time, I've learned that each student has their own specific needs, and that good teaching is about finding what works from them.

I stay up to date with the curricula from the board of education, and incorporate the latest teaching methods into my grinds. Teaching has changed a lot since I was a student, so it's important to meet the students where they are, and provide and familiar environment where they're best able to learn,

Approach to Grinds:

Grinds shouldn't be stressful, they should take stress off of students. I always ensure the learning environment is friendly and easy going, and that students feel comfortable asking questions and getting things wrong.

When you start grinds with me, I provide a spreadsheet of every leaving cert physics question for the last 10+ years. Then we go through the curriculum topic by topic, answering past questions. For example, if we're working on Circular Motion, we will do all the questions on this topic in the 2020 paper, 2019 paper, etc. Tackling one topic at a time builds a strong understanding.of the topic, which helps with retention. Students find it empowering and gain a lot of confidence watching the boxes on their spreadsheet fill out as the weeks go on, as they tick off the questions they've completed. And they know that once it's filled, they're about ready to tackle the exam!

The grinds follow a structure that is conducive to effective learning. At the start of the session we review some homework. We spend most of the class going through exam questions. Towards the end I give the student questions to solve, and we correct them in class together. Finally, I give questions for homework for the start of next session.

Of course, though, the lessons are tailored to the students. Some students might like to ask more questions. Some students might not want homework. Some students want to go over things they've already done in class, and some students want to get ahead of the class. I am happy to facilitate the student according to their needs.

I also focus on continuous development, and encourage students to provide feedback of what they liked and what they didn't like. That way the next lesson can be tailored more to their needs.