Liam

Hi, I'm Liam. I'm an enthusiastic and motivated one-to-one tutor specialising in Physics and Maths; I additionally offer lessons in all Sciences to GCSE level.

As well as being an independent tutor, I also work for a support agency as a study skills tutor and mentor for autistic students in higher education; this is a role that I feel fits in well with my private tutoring and, whilst not a subject-specific role, has further informed my approach to the subject-specific tutoring I offer.

I am a graduate of the University of Liverpool, where I received an MPhys in Physics (upper second class) followed by a PhD in Nuclear Physics; during my doctoral studies I successfully applied for an Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).

Tutoring Experience

My teaching experience began as a Physics Outreach Assistant at the University of Liverpool, delivering and latterly developing a wide range of educational activities for young people (from reception up to and including sixth-form), as well as training new recruits to the Outreach group on the delivery of such activities. Such activities were delivered in a mixture of settings - on campus, in schools/colleges and at annual science festivals.

As a PhD student I was also a Graduate Teaching Assistant, demonstrating both in workshops (first year Maths and Nuclear Physics; 2nd year Quantum Mechanics and Nuclear/Particle Physics) and laboratory sessions (third year, specialising in the Radiation Detection experiments). It was through this work that I successfully applied for my AFHEA status.

I began one-to-one tutoring independently a few months after completing my PhD; whilst it was initially on an ad-hoc basis, within a few months I had decided to make it my full-time occupation. From the outset, I found that my HE teaching and outreach experience prepared me very well for becoming an independent one-to-one tutor. My work is now split fairly evenly between my independent tutoring and my aforementioned study skills tutoring and mentoring.

Tutoring Approach

I strive to make my tuition flexible enough to best meet the needs of the student. My general approach is:

• Each lesson begins with the student deciding what topic(s) they would like to focus on, unless this has been agreed prior to the lesson taking place.
• I give a step-by-step explanation of the topic, aiming to break the topic down into manageable chunks.
• During the lesson I will provide worked examples and exam-style questions for the student to attempt during the lesson; this not only allows me to assess their understanding of the content and concepts of the topic, but also allows for the ironing out of any issues with e.g. reading/understanding the question.
• I can also provide past exam papers in order to build confidence and improve exam technique; going through past papers also allows me to identify the topics a student may have particular difficulty with, and thus forward plan lessons based on that.
• Where appropriate and with the student's permission, I will often set homework questions for practice; I will usually begin the following session by discussing these with the student. This allows me to identify any particular areas to focus more attention on (e.g. particular topics, study techniques etc.) and for us to forward plan for future sessions.