Experience
When I was an undergraduate I would take up random tuition jobs to earn pocket money. I had no idea I would actually want to be a full time tutor until during the final semester of my engineering course in 2011. <br>
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After I graduated from NUS in 2011 with a degree in mechanical engineering, I decided to specially train in tuition teaching and duly joined Math Vision Pte Ltd. For a full year I worked hard to hone my teaching skills and knowledge in physics for A levels, O levels, N levels, International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement (American high school) and SAT. I also concurrently honed both my Math teaching skills from PSLE up to the O levels, and English reading comprehension and writing from PSLE up to the O levels as well. With these sets of skills, I have decided to come out on my own to start a free-lance tuition business.<br>
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I have also taught IGCSE english at international school at Le Centre Linguistique.<br>
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My philosophy:<br>
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There is no such thing as a bad student; there is also no dead end. Every student has different levels of interests in their subjects. This is responsible for the widely differing learning abilities and grades but do not mean some students are poor or bad.<br>
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It only means that the students have different learning speeds or need to be stimulated with a different set of teaching tools, this is where I am well able to truly make a difference to the lives of my students in their learning journeys using my range of experiences.<br>
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For already prolific and high scoring physics students, they can tap into my breadth of engineering knowledge to heighten their learning experience and get a head start in their future careers. <br>
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My style:<br>
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Before each lesson, I expect my student to try to finish the homework given in the previous lesson, and more importantly to mark out the conceptual problems encountered.<br>
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During the lesson, I take a conceptual approach to my teaching. I try to make sure that my students completely understand the topic concepts from the very beginning so that they can answer any question in the world even if they have never seen or done it before. This is where I stand out from the other teachers: I always try to use conceptual analogies from our everyday living experiences to help my students understand and use the concept.<br>
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Finally, I take a very hands on approach to learning. I make my students take important notes and also converse their knowledge with me, known as Quickchat. Every now and then, I will issue a random test to assess their conceptual readiness and mental agility, how well they have learned, so that they are prepared for anything in the exam.<br>
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Anecdotes:<br>
'Mark has been an amazing teacher for my son Mehar. He used to dread coming for physics classes and fail to finish his homework, but Mark has totally transformed his learning journey and made him sit up and pay attention during classes. I am glad that he has gained an interest in the subject which he attributes to the witty teaching style of mark's.' Mum of Mehar, IB student 1st year from UWC <br>
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'Nihal says he prefers Mark to teach him because he somehow has more chemistry with him that the rest of the teachers. Mark takes the time to explain and clear each of his doubts on the topics in a refreshing way without making him feel bored or bad about himself. Mark has the ability to motivate my son and instill in him a sense of confidence and trust, which has helped him to improve his grades by a lot. He got an A for his latest mechanics term test.' Mum of Nihal, IB 1st year UWC. <br>
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'Isshan's grades has improved tremendously since he started to be taught by Mark. In fact, I am totally shocked at how much better Isshan's grades have improved and regret not coming to you earlier. But still, it's better late than never, and I would like to sincerely thank Mark for sacrificing his time and effort to get my son to where he is today. He has a better chance to get into a renowned college now.' Mum of Isshan, 1st year IB student, OFS.<br>
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