At TutorsLoop, we have many lessons on everything from how to speed up your WordPress install to lessons in basic algebra, but just as we have many courses on offer, we also have hundreds of tutors and, of course, students.
Every course is different, every tutor is different and every student is different. Which is why finding a tutor that suits your style of learning is important.
Here are five tips for finding the perfect tutor:
1. What is their experience?
If you can’t contact your tutor directly, be sure to read about their background and experience. You’re here to learn and you can only learn from someone who is experienced in the field they’re teaching in. So, be sure to look at their practical experience in the area as well as any previous teaching experience they may have had. Experience truly counts when it comes to teaching any topic!
2. Check your tutor’s references
While TutorsLoop is all about online learning, when it comes to face-to-face tutoring, take the time to do a little due diligence before handing over your money. Ask your tutor for references and take the time to check those references. It may just be a via a quick email or a two-minute phone call, but check to see what sort of experience your tutor’s former pupils have had. Don’t forget to ask about whether they met any learning goals they would have set when they started.
3. Male vs female
While a tutor’s gender doesn’t have anything to do with their ability to teach, or their overall knowledge in an area, it may make a difference to the student, especially younger students, so when searching for a tutor, if their gender does make a difference, be sure to specify that when putting out feelers for the right tutor.
4. Ensure your tutor’s teaching style matches the student’s learning style
This is a big one. Experienced tutors can match their teaching style to the students they’re teaching. Not every student learns the same way. Some like to learn by rote, others require a more hands-on, first-hand teaching experience and your tutor will have to be able to match their student’s style. If they can’t, well, as good as they may be, you’re not going to learn with them as well as you will with someone who understands how you need to be taught.
5. What level do they teach at?
It’s probably overkill to hire a tutor with a pHD in Economics if you just want to learn tenth grade economics and, equally, there’s no point hiring a high school student with an A-average in Mathematics to tutor a university-level Maths student. While the high school tutor may be a whiz at their level, they’re probably not going to be able to cope with teaching the level of discrete mathematics needed by a computer science student. Not only will their approaches to their students be quite different, they’ll, likely, have very different methods of teaching.
