About
Welcome!
My name is Ethan. I'm a recent graduate of Iowa State University, where I received my Bachelor of Science in Physics with a minor in Astronomy. During my time at ISU, I tutored math and physics courses, and discovered a passion for education. My love of teaching was supported by strong positive feedback from my students, who told me that they were able to learn concepts much more easily from our sessions than from their classes. I believe that this may be because in my own educational career, I frequently found myself struggling with concepts that many of my classmates picked up more quickly. In order to keep up, I had to learn simpler ways to visualize problems and teach myself tricks to make concepts more accessible. My hope with tutoring is to share these strategies with students who, like myself, can find themselves feeling lost in math and physics classes.
Education in these subjects today tends to focus mostly on problem-based learning, in which students are taught to recognize what type of problem is being given to them and follow a certain set of memorized steps to solve it. This approach has merits, especially in STEM fields, but can lead to confusion when students are presented with familiar problems that contain slight variations, which turns out to be how most physics and math tests are written!
Velocity Tutoring emphasizes Concept-Based Problem Solving, through which students are taught to cultivate a holistic, conceptual understanding of the material, so that they can develop the ability to design solution methods instead of just memorizing them. This leads to better retention and greater flexibility and adaptability when solving problems. Concretely, this instruction involves a 3-step process:
Predict: When given a problem or experiment, students reason towards their best prediction of the solution or outcome, based on their current knowledge. They are encouraged to obtain some solution, even if they are almost certain it's incorrect.
Explain: Students describe their thought processes in each step of their work, which encourages self-awareness. Students cannot effectively change their worldviews unless they are aware of them.
Compare: Students compare their solution to the correct solution, and are able to see (with the instructor's help) which aspects of their thought processes were correct and which need to be improved upon.
By iterating this process with variations, students can develop a broader understanding of concepts and their applications. Head over to the Schedule page to set up a first meeting so we can discuss your needs and set up a plan for your academic success.
I'm looking forward to meeting you!
-Ethan