Information about Tom - Canberra tutor -

(8 reviews)

Personal Description:

I'm Tom and I'm a maths, physics, and engineering tutor. If you're struggling or just plain fed up with a maths-based subject, I've been helping people like you for over a decade. I've tutored at Oxford University while researching applied maths for engineering, and I've written about science professionally.

I have an MEng and an MSc(Res), both from Oxford, and I am especially interested in helping people who are afraid of maths, who never really liked maths, or who just don't get the concepts… yet.

I moved to Australia after finishing my postgrad MSc(Res) degree, where I spent my time building computer models of the aerodynamics inside jet engines and developing algebraic techniques for quantifying engine performance. My undergrad MEng degree was a mix of mechanical and electrical engineering.

I teach with enthusiasm. I simply love talking about science and engineering, and getting to pass on this curiosity is the best part of my job. I spend my spare time playing with cars and synthesisers, and going on camping adventures with my wife.

Tuition Experience:

I've been active on FirstTutors in the UK and Australia for several years with dozens of previous students and a perfect 5-star rating.

During my postgrad, I taught undergrads in the Oxford college tutorial setting. I also taught lab demonstrations for the engineering department, including both undergrads and groups of Year 12 students in outreach programmes.

As a private tutor, I have worked with various types of students, including:
-- Year 11 and year 12 students in maths and physics
-- Undergraduate engineering students
-- Professionals sitting engineering qualifications
-- Armed Forces members undergoing engineering training.

During the pandemic I switched to remote teaching using shared whiteboards and a drawing tablet. Thanks to the technology, I was lucky enough to have no disruption to the work, and my students and I have enjoyed seamless online tuition ever since.

Tutoring Approach:

When it comes to understanding a technical concept, there is no substitute for one-on-one dialogue.

In a classroom, it's too easy to miss out on understanding something before the class moves on. Private tutoring is a way to identify concepts that the student has been made aware of, but hasn't had the chance to truly understand.

In my tutorials, I push for the core concept behind a science or maths question as the best-value way to remedy areas of shaky understanding. I'm not cheap and I owe you concrete results from each hour. My strategy for this is:

1) Put the student in charge. Private tuition can be collaborative in a way that classroom teaching cannot, allowing the student to express their view of what's not working yet. Our learning can proceed according to the student's real needs with no time wasted.
2) Now ask "why?" Break the problem down until each aspect follows from another, insisting on a rigorous critical view of the problem. Before long we'll get to the core of whatever system we're struggling to understand.
3) Cement understanding with a graph. Mathematical relationships are understood by seeing them, not by reading symbols on a page. New students are often scared of graphs because they draw them wrong at first. Then they realise drawing graphs wrong is the whole point, now being able to visualise what's incorrect and fix it.

I am flexible around times of tutorials and I'm happy with long-term or just one-off arrangements. I can drive to anywhere around Canberra, and I also offer tutorials from my own office in Watson, which I recommend as a quiet teaching environment with access to textbooks.

Prospective students are advised of the following terms:
1) Fees shall be waived for any tutorial cancelled more than 24 hours in advance.
2) Travel to clients is subject to a fee of $20 per total travel hour.
3) An overtime rate of 1.5 times standard rate shall apply for a) tutorials at weekends, and b) unplanned extensions to booked tutorials, subject to the availability of such times. Students will be notified when a booked tutorial has reached the end of its allocated time.