Stephanie

Tutoring Experience

Since 2018, I have worked as a post-graduate teaching assistant within UCL and Bikrbeck College teaching undergraduate students Biochemistry and Cell biology. During this time, I obtained a teaching qualification as an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. My responsibilities mainly involved facilitating practical sessions, and running small group tutorials. However, after showing a keen interest in furthering my teaching skills I was given the opportunity to help re-design and implement changes to a course, as well train incoming graduate students on how to deliver the tutorial sets.

In addition to my work in Universities, I have tutored students at GCSE and A-level primarily in Biology. One international student who I tutored this year, began our sessions feeling disempowered in their learning, however after a few weeks they confided in me that they had started to enjoy the subject and wanted to learn more. This feedback was a really positive moment for me as I had changed a young persons opinion and enabled them grasp a subject they previously struggled with. As this tutoring was online, I am adept at using virtual whiteboards and various media to create fun and engaging sessions. With respect to admissions tutoring, I recently tutored a student over 2-months to improve their medical application and GAMSAT scores. After 8 sessions, they had built confidence and could write critical essays on medical ethics and answer complex chemistry and physics problems adeptly. We are still awaiting their scores, but I am sure they will gain a place at their desired university.

Tutoring Approach

GCSE Biology and Chemistry: For GCSE I usually teach 1 - 1.5 hour slots, where the first 5-10 minutes we recap the previous session, or if first starting with a student I create an exercise to judge their current knowledge base.

After an introduction, I use online whiteboards, and interactive videos/online resources to cover a topics i.e. cell biology or respiration or the haber process. I then have a bank of exam question that I match to the student’s exam board and we do one or two practice questions. I usually set a short assignment or an exam question that should take 15-20 minutes to complete to consolidate knowledge.

For medical admissions tutoring, including entrance exams such a BMAT and GAMSAT, I usually gauge what the client would like to achieve and what they think is achievable in the time we have. As admissions is a diverse topic to tutor, I believe these sessions really have to be tailored and be flexible. For instance, one student may have excellent BMAT scores, but struggle with putting together a convincing story in their personal statement to catch an admissions tutor’s eye.

Having been through the medical admissions process, I am aware of different university requirements and can tailor sessions according to which institution a client prefers. For example, if they are applying for Oxbridge we can create an academic personal statement and practice tutorial style interviews.