Maths tutoring from a chartered engineer and PhD graduate, from year 5 up to year 11, focusing on the fundamentals of the subject with over 500 hours taught

Find out more about Mike

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

  As I say in my bio, I developed my first interest in my field as soon as I heard about climate change in year 3 environment lessons. As I progressed through school I naturally gravitated towards maths and physics, and I preferred being able to apply the principles from these subjects rather than studying the theory alone which led me to engineering. It then seemed natural to become an engineer in the field of clean energy. I developed my interest in tutoring in 2014. I had just started to work as an Outreach mentor at my university and I really enjoyed engaging with students and tutoring seemed like another great option to do this, and I've loved doing it since.

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

  My core subjects are maths and physics, although I do teach chemistry as well. I certainly enjoy teaching mechanics and thermodynamics the most as it aligns so closely with the fundamentals of what I do as a mechanical engineer. My least favourite subject is maybe electricity, but I've found the more I've taught it the more it's helped me to understand it (which is one of the wonderful things about teaching) and as I've understood it more I've found I've also enjoyed it more.

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

  I had a real mix of teachers throughout my education, as I'm sure anyone has. One of the best was my Russian teacher from year 9 to year 13, his enthusiasm for the language was infectious, he was brilliant at explaining difficult aspects of the subject and he really brought out the best in me. It's that sort of attitude that I always try to emulate in my own teaching.

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

  One of the most important qualities is patience. Everyone learns at their own pace and what may seem obvious to one person can take some time to get through for someone else, and that moment of realisation for the student is one of the most satisfying things about being a tutor. In a similar vein, it is very important to develop an understanding of how others think differently to oneself and try to cater the teaching style to the student.

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

  One of my greatest moments of realisation was in my early days of studying calculus. Our teacher had taught us how to differentiate a function and use it to find a local maximum or minimum, and initially I just followed the process blindly. Eventually I had a light bulb moment and realised what the differentiated function produced (the gradient function) and why a gradient of 0 leads to finding a maximum, minimum or point of inflection. It certainly sounds obvious now but at the time it was a revelation!

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

  I struggled with maths through IB and university, the more advanced topics really did take some getting used to and perhaps I wasn't in quite the right environment to try and learn them to the best of my ability combined with everything else that needed to be done at the time. I found revisiting them through teaching later on after I'd finished my degree to be enjoyable, especially as I was able to guide someone else through that process.

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

  My greatest passion is wanting to see humanity be the best it can be. We are a race with so much potential for greatness and if I can contribute to that in any way, whether it through being an engineer or guiding others to their own success, I will be very satisfied. For something completely different, my personal love is archery. I absolutely love shooting, it's very mindful and is a brilliant platform for continuous self improvement. I have made my own bow and plan to focus more on bowyering in the future alongside my other commitments.

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

  I have a decade's worth of experience, I love my subjects, I am patient and kind and genuinely draw so much from helping others and seeing them grow.