Fun online science tuition. I have a Ph.D and 10 years' experience.

Find out more about James

• When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

  I've loved physics and science in general my whole life. I was one of those kids that loved taking things apart; toys, broken appliances etc. At university I got my first experience teaching, I taught seminars in logic to undergraduate philosophy students.
  
  
  
  During my Ph.D a friend asked if I could help out with one of her after-school tutees and gradually I started tutoring children after school, helping them with maths and science work. I loved it right away and after I finished my Ph.D tutoring quickly became my full-time job.

• Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).

  I teach the three sciences, maths and also more practical-focussed lessons in engineering and programming. I've also organised group lessons on robotics which were amazingly fun.
  
  
  
  My favourite area of any subject is the practical side which I've been delighted to see works well online! My students have done amazingly well organising their own experiments under my guidance and very often get more out of the experience because they have to do absolutely everything themselves.
  
  
  
  A recent example of this was a student of mine having to devise a way to measure gravity using only household items. She ended up using an iPhone to film a ball falling with a stopwatch in the background. This let us precisely measure how far the ball fell and how long it took.
  
  
  
  My least favourite part of teaching if when my students have to site a large number of stressful exams and possibly fall behind due to a crisis of confidence. It's a situation I see often and I'm used to helping students through these tough times but I do wish we could find a less stressful way to get them up to speed.

• Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

  I was lucky to have a lot of really great teachers throughout my life. My first thoughts go to the English teacher who could reduce the class to hysterics while marking our essays. My A-level physics teachers who cemented my love of the subject by their deep and yet measured lessons which would leave me exhausted but exhilarated. At university I encountered some of the brightest people on the planet who pioneered remarkable work in their fields, quantum teleportation for example.

• What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

  Patience, an innate love of your subject and Imagination. You'll need these things to keep your tutorials fresh and fun. Tutors spend a huge amount of time getting students to approach problems differently, encouraging them to take one more stab at a problem or get excited about a new challenge. When my students attempt science practicals at home they immediately encounter many awkward problems, it's unreasonable to expect anyone to buy all the typical lab kit a school would have so we both have to get creative and think carefully of our needs. I love the learning opportunities this affords us because students cannot avoid thinking hard about what the experiment is trying to test.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  My favourite recent project is one I completed with a 16 year old student. We wanted an electronics project related to boats and so we started a month-long project to make a radio-controlled boat. We dismantled a cheap radio-controlled car and removed the circuit boards that controlled the motors. My student got the chance to learn how to use a soldering iron as well as put his electronics knowledge to good use. I was delighted to see how carefully he worked to make sure nothing was damaged. Afterward we moved the motors and circuit board to a wooden hull the student made from balsa wood, this took a good degree of care and really developed his designing and woodworking skills. Finally we removed the wheels and attached paddles to make the boat go. The transition from radio-controlled car to boat took a lot of time and my student did a heroic job of diagnosing problems throughout the process but it was a fantastic and complex project which he had a huge amount of fun building.

• What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or still facing in your subject?

  We have faced a tough time since March 2020 but many parents are now embracing the opportunities that online education can bring, from the flexibility over teaching hours, to the ability to really focus on those areas that need further work. Adjusting to the logistical challenges that learning at home brings requires a lot of attention but is quite manageable. Really the most pressing challenges are the usual ones we faced before; keeping students excited about their education, finding fun ways to engage them and making sure that education is a positive and rewarding part of their lives.

• Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?

  I love building things. My love of practical projects on the intersection of engineering, education and sometimes art often inform how I teach. I maintain a website of fun, creative projects that includes building robots for under £2 and capturing the motion of object using long-exposure photography. These challenges are amazingly fun for me and are something I happily pursue outside of tutoring and alongside my career as a consultant physicist.

• What makes you a Superprof (besides answering this interview questions :-P) ?

  My emphasis, even online, is all about the practical side of education, I've been absolutely delighted by the effort my students put in to making their work a success. Many have messaged me late in the evening, still working on the project we began earlier in the day, with technical questions or simply an excited report that the experiment or project is now working as expected! It is this enthusiasm and joy of discovery which can take place independently of a tutor that most drives me.