"Hi! My name is David. I was graduated summa cum laude from St. John Fisher College with a B.S. degree in Mathematics and earned a Ph.D. in Biophysical Chemistry at the University of Rochester. I taught a preparatory chemistry course at Monroe Community College and as a sabbatical replacement I taught general chemistry and biochemistry at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

I was an instructor for 24 years at the University of Rochester where I managed the general chemistry laboratories, was a teaching assistant for general chemistry lab sections, helped train other teaching assistants, responded to student emails, and led recitations for general chemistry lecture classes. I taught lectures, laboratories, recitation sections, and lab lectures for both summer semesters of general chemistry at the University of Rochester. I believe I am qualified to tutor students in high school, AP, and first-year general college chemistry. I am also well prepared to help students understand their laboratory experiments.

My student-centered teaching style assists students in focusing on chemistry. I engage students by directly asking questions and having them work out solutions. Using pictures and graphs makes ideas more concrete. I write many notes on the board. When students write down these notes, they are better able to remember and later review the concepts. I present information logically and patiently, and carefully explain ideas. Teaching in this way requires more time, but I hope my students learn more and apply it confidently.

I enjoy learning and teaching chemistry, and would like my knowledge and experience to help students learn in a calm low-stress way that makes sense to them. In my three months of tutoring, I have realized that I value and appreciate creating relationships with students. As we have more tutoring sessions together, I understand them better and am better able to encourage and support them academically. They also find it easier to ask me questions." less...