Shawn M.
Private tutor in Boston, MA
Education
Ph.D.—Harvard—History of Science MBA/M.S. Finance—Northeastern U. B.A.—U. of Texas-Austin—History (minor in astronomy) B.A.—U. of New Orleans—Philosophy
Experience
HIGHLY EXPERIENCED EDUCATOR THAT GOES BEYOND SUBJECT MATTER. My approach to tutoring takes a much more holistic approach to student success. My experience teaching highly intelligent and motivated students across a variety of subjects has taught me that often the biggest obstacle to success is not cognitive, but rather it is psychological. As a result, when I work with students I help them not only to improve their understanding of the subject, but I help them to develop the skills and mentality that they need to succeed in school and beyond. For example, when I was a graduate student at Harvard, I taught a variety of science courses for non-science majors. There is no question that the students were intelligent and motivated to succeed, yet many students still struggled in spite of the fact that the cognitive load was not overwhelming. What I discovered was that for many students the biggest obstacle to success was psychological. As soon as they saw numbers or a formula, they froze up. I worked with the students not only to understand the specific formulae, but to help them feel more confident and comfortable in the often intimidating world of math. Beyond these courses, I also taught courses in government and history of science. At the same time, I also taught history of science courses to advanced math and science students at M.I.T. This gives me the experience to help students who are on either side of the math/science & humanities divide and help them succeed in subjects where they are not immediately comfortable. I was also a fellow at the Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard, where I focused on pedagogy and worked with others to improve the learning experience for undergraduates. This gives me a level of insight and understanding about education that is not available with other tutors. In addition to teaching a variety of courses, I also advised individual students on their senior thesis. In this capacity I worked with the student not only with respect to content, but also with important skills such as how to develop a viable research project, creating a timeline, maintaining the discipline to stay with that timeline, and how to incorporate feedback effectively. After completing my Ph.D., I joined the full-time faculty at Northeastern U. where I worked primarily with international students. In addition to developing courses to enhance their knowledge of a given subject, I worked with them to develop the social and cultural skills they needed to succeed as a student in the U.S. My goal is to put students in the best position succeed not only in a specific course, but also in all of their classes and beyond.
Subject Expertise
10th Grade10th Grade math10th Grade Reading10th Grade Writing11th Grade11th Grade math11th Grade Reading11th Grade Writing12th Grade12th Grade Reading12th Grade Writing7th Grade7th Grade math7th Grade Reading7th Grade Science7th Grade Writing8th Grade8th Grade math8th Grade Reading8th Grade Science8th Grade Writing9th Grade9th Grade math9th Grade Reading9th Grade WritingACCUPLACER Elementary AlgebraACCUPLACER ESLACCUPLACER Reading ComprehensionACCUPLACER Sentence SkillsACCUPLACER WritePlacerACTACT EnglishACT MathACT ReadingACT ScienceACT with WritingACT WritingAlgebra 1Algebra 2American HistoryAP Comparative Government and PoliticsAP European HistoryAP Human GeographyAP MacroeconomicsAP MicroeconomicsAP U.S. Government & PoliticsAP United States HistoryAP US GovernmentAP US HistoryAP World HistoryCLEP American GovernmentCLEP College AlgebraCLEP Financial AccountingCLEP History of the United States ICLEP History of the United States II: 1865 to the PresentCLEP PrecalculusCLEP Principles of MacroeconomicsCLEP Principles of ManagementCLEP Principles of MicroeconomicsCLEP Social Sciences and HistoryCLEP Western Civilization I: Ancient Near East to 1648CLEP Western Civilization II: 1648 to the PresentCollege AlgebraCOMPASS MathematicsCOMPASS ReadingCOMPASS Writing SkillsCLEP HumanitiesASPIRE EnglishASPIRE MathASPIRE ReadingCivicsCollege EssaysEconomicsElementary AlgebraElementary MathEssay EditingEthicsEuropean HistoryFinanceGiftedGMATGMAT Analytical Writing AssessmentGMAT Integrated ReasoningGMAT QuantitativeGMAT VerbalGovernmentGraduate Test PrepGREGRE Analytical WritingGRE QuantitativeGRE Quantitative ReasoningGRE VerbalGRE Verbal ReasoningHistoryHistory Of ScienceHomeschoolHSPTHSPT MathHSPT QuantitativeHSPT ReadingHSPT VerbalIB Business & Management HLIB Business & Management SLIB Economics HLIB Economics SLIB Global Politics HLIB Global Politics SLIB History HLIB History SLIB Mathematics SLIB Philosophy HLIB Philosophy SLIntermediate AlgebraIntermediate AlgebraInternational BusinessLatin America HistoryMacroeconomicsManagementMicroeconomicsPCAT Quantitative AbilityPCAT Reading ComprehensionPCAT Verbal AbilityPCAT WritingPhilosophyPolitical SciencePre-AlgebraPre-CalculusPSATPSAT Critical ReadingPSAT MathematicsPSAT Writing SkillsPublic SpeakingReadingSATSAT Critical ReadingSAT MathSAT MathematicsSAT Subject Test in United States HistorySAT Subject Test in World HistorySAT VerbalSAT WritingSSATSSAT- Elementary LevelSSAT- Middle LevelSSAT- Upper LevelTest PrepTOEFLUS Constitutional HistoryUS HistoryVocabularyWorld CivilizationWorld HistoryWriting
Availability
Any day at any time
Can Meet
Up to 20 minutes away for no additional charge
Hobbies
I love to travel. I love the exhilaration, excitement, and challenge of being in a different culture. I am proficient in Portuguese and try to go to Brazil as often as possible.
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