Biology tutor with five years experience looking to tutor online medical student at UCL

Find out more about Parth

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

  I developed an interest in medicine when I was in sixthform, I remember undertaking work experience in an orthopaedic hospital and seeing surgeon operate and handle outpatients. Surgeons were tasked with handling patients who had severe pain or trauma. Often patients returned from operation theatres and had little to pain left and regained mobility following treatment and rehabilitation. Furthermore, doctors undertook a scientific approach to establish diagnosis. This experience inspired me to undertake a career as medic. My passion for teaching developed as I studied medicine and mentored juniors. I developed a passion to help others with subjects I once struggled with. The satisfaction from watching a mentee or tutee finally understand a concept they have struggled with drives me to tutor.

• 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 maths, chemistry and biology upto an A-level standard. Maths GCSE plays a foundation for many STEM subjects. In particular, I emphasise the role on forming equations using word problems and solving equations. This is because equations play an important role in chemistry and physics both at GCSE and A-level standard. Maths A-level relies on students having a solid foundation in algebraic concepts. Secondly, I emphasise trigonometry at maths GCSE because it plays a big role in Maths A-level. Maths A-level however has different challenges. I tend to emphasise concepts such as kinematic and forces as students do not have past experience with these topics. I also thoroughly go over the statistics component, the concept behind p value and standard deviation is difficult to grasp and understand how to maximise marks in the exam with these questions.
  
  With regards to GCSE chemistry I place an emphasis on high yield content such as acids and bases, electrolysis and environmental chemistry. This is also emphasised with basic principles such as moles and forming equations. Like with all STEM subjects I help students understand the basic theories rather than emphasise memorisation, this is crucial if students are to achieve top marks in the exam as exam questions often ask students questions in a practical context they may not have encountered. With A-level chemistry, I like to emphasise the mathematical component such as molar calculations and Kc calculations as these are the examiner's favourite. I also suggest students learn the organic chemistry synthetic pathways as they form a large part in the exam. Organic chemistry analytical techniques are also high yield as they make up the big mark questions.
  
  GCSE biology is one of the easier sciences to learn and understand however the different details to remember can be challenging and confuse students. In particular, meiosis and mitosis can be difficult for students to understand as well as inheritance (ie how to draw a punett square). I also emphasise that students understand the different diseases as these are easy 6 markers along with biodiversity. Students tend to ignore these topics. For A-level biology I often go through tricky concepts like the immune system, genetic engineering, transcription and translation control as these topics are often conceptly challenging. These topics also frequently make an appearance on exam papers. Unlike GCSE biology A-level biology is conceptually very challenging,

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

  Yes, every tutor I believe has a particular teaching style they have inherited from a teacher that once taught them! Personally, I tried to adopt my A-level chemistry and A-level maths teacher's style. Both of them spent many hours with me explaining concepts I struggled with and this taught me with resilience and patience any student regardless of their caliber is capable of learning difficult concepts and succeeding. My chemistry teacher also inspired me with his teaching, he would go into great detail about every topic and emphasise how important it is in real world. I aim to use his teaching style in classes.

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

  A good tutor must be have great communication skills, often as tutors we must explain and describe complex ideas and concepts to students. A good tutor is one who can simplify a concept into key steps and key parts removing any unnecessary detail. Tutors must also be good listeners, often students ask tricky questions and may not know how to word their questions appropriately. A good tutor is one who can understand a students ideas and respond to it in the best way leaving a student satisfied. Lastly, tutors must be flexible. Students often have many different activities timetabled and cannot always make it to classes, a good tutor must be able to respond to this and ensure students receive all the required teaching and have the capacity to accomodate.

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

  During the start of my A-levels I was applying for medical school as well as starting to learn A-level maths differentiation and integration. I remember having very little time to do much and struggling to grasp the complex integration techniques I was being taught and differentiation skills while trying to juggle my personal statement and entrance exam revision. Every exercise and exam question I did with integration was littered with mistakes. My first mock results reflected my poor progress with the topic, I only scored a low B! However, I was able to turn this around with the help of a private tutor. He had a Master in engineering and he taught me the basic concepts behind why each type of integration is used and under which context, this was particularly useful for exam questions and resulted in me scoring an A* in my A-level exams. This made me understand the importance of asking for help and acknowledging when things are not going well asking for help can turn things around! I encourage my students to ask questions and ask for support, even the best need a helping hand and there is nothing wrong about this!

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

  I found A-level biology particularly difficult, remembering key words and fine knowledge was hard - particularly understanding what key words to write and when to write them in an exam question was challenging. For example remembering all the steps and exact temperatures of the PCR cycle was a challenge! This continues to remain a challenge when teaching students. To make sure students receive each single detail of a biological concept I create lesson plans and ensure each slide and notes I hand out to students have key terminology and fine details written on them. I also struggled with A-level kinematics when I was studying for my A-levels, particular understanding how to draw force diagrams and use them to work out unknown variables was hard. Often, I struggled to draw forces and acceleration in the correct direction. However, I had a maths tutor who went through the physics laws which govern problems I found these questions very enjoyable and I use the same logical explanations to help my own students!

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

  I am most passionate about teaching students conceptual knowledge. For example, for A-level biology I enjoy teaching students the essential features of a good exchange surface. This topic then extends to various other subtopics and makes it easier to remember key concepts. I have noticed once students are taught 'guiding theories' they perform much better in exams and have greater confidence. I also enjoy teaching students how to problem solve in mathematical topics. Problem solving is like a puzzle and I find this greatly enjoyable. Moreover, most STEM subjects emphasise good problem solving skills.

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

  A superprof tutor is knowledgeable, reliable and passionate. I enjoy teaching the subjects I do and I use the knowledge I teach on a daily basis for my own work! I also never miss lessons and deliver high quality lessons on a daily basis. This is seen by my multiple positive reviews and the amount of hours I have taught.