Tag: Physics

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What to look for in a tutor

I have been tutoring privately since 2013 and teaching mathematics and physics since 1996. I have tutored well in excess of 100 students since I started and have covered all manner of syllabi in both subjects. I have taught GCSE, IGCSE, A-level, Pre-U, International Baccalaureate as well as AP Calculus AB (the American syllabus).

In my experience, the most important factor which is overlooked is the tutor’s subject knowledge. A close second is the tutor’s enthusiasm and ability to motivate the student. If I am not totally familiar with a syllabus, all the information that I need is available online. But if I don’t understand the topics covered, it is not going to be much use even if I know the syllabus inside out. All maths and physics syllabi share a large amount of common material. You can be sure that 80% of the material is the same.

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I have been listening to physics podcasts

Physics World Magazine of the UK Physics community

Physics has a plethora of applications and that is what fascinates me. From the way sparrows fly in flocks (murmurations) to the explanation for how liquids behave in thin films just to give two examples. I like listening to stories about the people involved and the human aspects too, for example what motivates people in their research. I attach below some links from the American Physical Society for you to find out for yourself.

Who was Enrico Fermi?

Supernova neutrinos

Radioisotopes in medicine

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My favourite resources for tutoring maths and physics

Here are a few of my preferred resources.

Desmos Graphing Calculator is a web-based calculator. It is very versatile and can plot functions in Cartesian, polar and parametric form. It is very intuitive. You can switch simply between degrees and radians and it is web based so there is no need to download any software.

 

 

 

 

Mr Barton GCSE Maths Takawayย is a GCSE site of course with a lot of resources arranged conveniently by topic. It is a free resource and very popular.

Exam Solutionsย offers video instruction (short video clips) which are tailored to specific syllabuses. For those students who really need to see it done in real time rather than learn from the book, this is excellent. Many of my students have said that they like this website.

I tutor the International Baccalaureate Diploma in maths and physics. An excellent WordPress site isย IB Physics Notes. It is very detailed and offers detailed revision material on all parts of the syllabus broken down by topic.

I also recommendย Hyperphysicsย because it offers a clickable concept map showing all topics within Physics. It’s great for revision too.

Also thoroughly recommended is the inspirational siteย Physics Footnotes. This offers a large range of explanatory video clips that bring to life the principles in Physics.

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People I admire

Some of these people are known for their academic brilliance and others for their bravery in standing up for what they believe is right. There is no particular order to the list that I present below. It is just as it comes.

Paul Erdล‘s was a brilliant and eccentric Hungarian mathematician who had a long and productive career. He spent most of his adult life living out of a suitcase and worked ceaselessly. He was truly single-minded in his devotion to the subject.

Paul Erdรถs Paul Erdรถs

Albert Einstein revolutionised physics in the twentieth century. He was responsible for shaking up its foundations and introducing relativity. The idea behind special relativity theory is very simple. The laws of physics must be the same as seen by any observer in the universe.  He was also a respected social commentator. He believed in compromise as the best approach to any problem.

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein

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