Yikai

I am currently working as a self-employed entomologist and scientific associate at the Natural History Museum, where I have been involved in the discovery of new beetle species. I studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge as an undergraduate, specialising in applied mathematics and organic chemistry. I completed my GCSEs and A-Levels at Westminster School, during which time I entered national maths and chemistry competitions, and consistently placed amongst the top 50 students in the country.

These lessons are mainly aimed at A-Level and GCSE students looking to consolidate and enhance their understanding of Maths and Chemistry; however all students who have a particular interest in the sciences and like to be challenged will find these lessons extremely rewarding. I do not tutor A-Level or GCSE Biology, but I am able to give specialist lessons on taxonomy, entomology or natural history.

In my spare time I enjoy watching films, painting and travelling abroad with my wife.

Tutoring Experience

I have a lot of experience when it comes to exam preparation or answering university interview-style questions, as I have been tutoring maths, physics and chemistry for over five years. When I was going through GCSEs and A-Levels, I always aimed to gain a thorough understanding in them, which was not always easy. Therefore when one of my tutees has trouble I usually know what s/he is finding difficult, as I've probably experienced it in the past as well! Due to my long teaching experience, I have a range of innovative methods of approaching problems, and explaining material in a way that is easily comprehensible.

Tutoring Approach

From my experience, everybody learns differently: whether it's the pace, the environment or the time of day people like to work. Therefore I don't rely on a fixed approach, and I tend to make an assessment of the student's current understanding and enthusiasm before embarking on the teaching. Lack of understanding is, in my opinion, the main cause for students disliking maths and the sciences. If I find a tutee has good understanding and is enthusiastic, I will prepare some more difficult problems to stretch his/her thinking; if on the other hand a tutee is struggling with the basic concepts, I will be able to explain the ideas with various methods that are both easy to visualize and understand.

I believe that the sciences are inseparable from each other, whether in cutting–edge research or learning the basics. Rather than studying the science subjects in isolation, it is often more beneficial to make cross-links between them and occasionally treat them as one discipline. I am also a firm believer in the importance of mathematics, for this wonderful tool is more than just an elusive abstraction: it teaches one how to solve complex problems using a set of simple rules, which is a skill much sought-after in our modern world. I also place particular emphasis on visualization, as I find it gives much more insight than blind memory or calculation.