Alexandra

Hello! I am Alex (she/her). I have a PhD in Biomedical Engineering and I am passionate about helping students realise their full potential in science and maths.

I grew up in the United States and moved to London about a year ago. I currently work as a postdoctoral researcher in the biophysics department at King's College London, where I study lung diseases like asthma and pulmonary fibrosis.

I am warm and friendly, and I prioritise creating a safe learning environment where students can feel comfortable asking questions without fear of judgement. I like getting to know my students personally to better understand their goals and to help them personally invest in their own learning.

Tutoring Experience

I completed my PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University (Chicago, USA). While in grad school, I developed a passion for teaching and mentoring. I developed my own maths (I’m still fighting the urge to call it math!) course for students entering university; I spent two years teaching that course while finishing my PhD. I also served as a teaching assistant for a physiology class, during which I led study sessions and offered one-on-one tutoring. While at Northwestern, I completed the Teaching Certificate Program. Through this program I learned and implemented evidence-based teaching methods for a range of teaching applications.

With the evolving digital landscape, I am enthusiastic about identifying best practices for online learning (I even published an academic paper on my findings!). Through trial and error, I’ve figured out a way to teach science and maths online that works well for me and my students.

Tutoring Approach

I believe a tutor's job is to help students fit individual lessons into the big picture of a course in a way that makes sense to the student. I am much more concerned with helping students understand themes than memorise minutiae. My approach centres around student-led learning as a way to empower students and create a personalised learning experience. It goes something like this:

1. Discuss and review recent assessments and identify problem areas.
   
   Together, we review assessments and discuss where the student feels they are struggling. I then curate lessons and problem sets that address this area.

2. Work through problems together using a scaffolding approach
   We then use those lessons to work through problems with help from me initially (i.e. breaking problems down to their parts, giving hints, talking through the problem); these support structures are gradually removed until the student feels comfortable approaching complex problems independently.

3. Teach material back to me
   I then have students demonstrate mastery by explaining a concept back to me– this approach assesses deep understanding of the material.

4. Re-assess progress regularly and continue identifying areas for improvement.
   We repeat this process with new material, while reinforcing material covered in previous sessions. By incorporating material from previous lessons in new problems, the student develops a deeper understanding of the course and field as a whole.