1^st lesson free

Kevin

Rate $60
Response 1h

$60/h

1^st lesson free

Mathematics
Precalculus & Calculus
Calculus
Precalculus

Math PhD with 14 years experience: Calculus and Precalculus: learn confidence through precision

Mathematics
Precalculus & Calculus
Calculus
Precalculus

Lesson location

- online

About Kevin

While I did my PhD at UT Knoxville, I had the opportunity 5 years to teach my own calculus and precalculus classes in many different styles, and learn what works and what doesn't. I had planned on doing research, but enjoyed working with students much more. Since then I've become a full-time tutor, allowing a more personal connection and making it easier to help students to unlearn bad memories with math and make new habits for a better relationship with math. It can be easy if you don't learn the wrong rules!

About the lesson

I focus on tools to make problem solving straightforward: a simple reductionist approach to concepts (e.g. calculus I only has 2.5), insistence on fundamentals, and helping students to be kind to themselves. Students’ main obstacle is not conceptual, but assuming math is complicated, having learned a long list of processes instead of the short list of fundamental laws. That causes sloppy “bookkeeping,” then losing track of if you’re right (the student’s job). I’ve been teaching/tutoring for eight years: seven calculus and precalculus, full-time tutoring for four. Students who stick to my approach consistently report improvements of one or two letter grades. A fundamentals approach also applies to all material, so it adapts well to students of different strengths. Do math like the big kids. My main goal is to make the boring parts of math quick and painless so students have more room for the cool parts. By learning flexible techniques to apply the right rules to any problem, and writing efficient, clear solutions that make mistakes less likely, we can handle problems without the stress and eliminate the urge to do millions of useless practice problems or searching for deeper meaning that isn’t there. Confidence comes through competence. Competence comes from knowing the rules of the game. You don’t need a “deep” understanding of things to get started (calculus is broad not deep), all you need is the safety net of fundamentals so you can explore. I focus on making sure you: - Graduate from "The Steps": Use fundamentals to handle new problems. No more "we haven't done this problem type before". Only problem type is “follow the directions.” Communicate solutions, not incantations. - Develop Agency: Knowing if your work is right is your job, not the teacher’s. Experiment, get your own feedback, answer your own curiosity. Math is your sandbox. - Solve Word Problems Systematically: Strip context, convert to math as you read, solve like any other problem. No more “read the problem multiple times to understand it.”

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10h: $600

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$60/h

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This first lesson offered with Kevin will allow you to get to know each other and clearly specify your needs for your next lessons.

Math PhD with 14 years experience: Calculus and Precalculus: learn confidence through precision

Lesson location

About Kevin

About the lesson

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

online

free lessons

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Math PhD with 14 years experience: Calculus and Precalculus: learn confidence through precision

Lesson location

About Kevin

About the lesson

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

online

free lessons

Other tutors in Mathematics

Aaron

Marianne

Braxton

Sarah

John

Cyril

Priyankaben

Sara

Harper

Mahdi

Ashley

Shahab

Alina

Pooja

Dhivya

Kavita

Isaac

Arhmia

Kyle

Claire

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