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Physics
Tutorial Center
Tips for Tutoring
- Be approachable--many tutees find it easier to talk to tutors than
professors. It pays to take a moment to introduce yourself.
- Let your interest and enthusiasm for physics come through; inspire
the tutee.
- Keep it simple, help the tutees decipher PhysicsSpeak; “A force
is applied along the vector parallel to…” means the same
thing as “We pull on this rope.”
- Have the tutee explain their approach to you. When they make mistakes,
ask leading questions to help the tutee recognize the solution on their
own. Use positive feedback; let the tutee know what portions they are
doing correctly. Focus on similarities between different problems.
- Try to identify the areas that give the tutee difficulty; they may
have trouble with math, or vectors, or may find a particular concept
esoteric. Many tutees understand force; far fewer understand energy.
Draw analogies to topics the tutee may already be familiar with.
- Never trivialize a tutee's difficulty by commenting on how easy a
problem or concept is. Remember that physics isn’t easy. Students
try to learn in a few semesters what the rest of the human race learned
over a period of thousands of years.
Physics Tutorial Center Main Page
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