Swimley STEM Tutoring
About
When I was in college, my chemistry professor showed me how cool science could be, and I want to help others with that path! I have my bachelor's in Professional Chemistry and have taught lab sections with my University!
Currently I am working as an Analytical Chemist in Montana, and want to tutor as a preparation step for Graduate School
I also have won an awarding in creativity in chemsistry, demonstrating an ability to describe chemical phenomena in a varying amount of ways.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-swimley-a646821a2
Everything on our planet can be characterized by atoms and molecules. From the reactions of proteins in cells, to how we make plastics. All of it is how atoms interact with each other and how we can use those interactions to create wonderful things. Chemistry is vast and deep and the more yoy learn about it the less you seem to know
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Frequently asked questions
What is your typical process for working with a new student?
When I first work with a student, I like to just let them work for around 10 minutes as they would in a homework/study sense. This allows me to see how they work even when they aren't being tutored. After that, I ask them to explain some of the topics that they are working on to see how their mind connects the different parts of chemistry together. I think true learning isn't breaking down an understanding of a topic to rebuild it, but to shift how people understand a concept to better align with the science
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
Education wise, I earned my B.S from Montana State in Chemistry in 2021 and have been working as an analytical chemist for the past couple of months.
In terms of teaching, I worked as a camp councilor at Camp Equinox, a summer camp in Bozeman. This camp was a theater camp where I worked with groups of kids from 1st grade to 8th grade.
I was also approached by the department to teach a lab section of chemistry to some underclassmen, so I taught general chemistry at Montana State for college students
Do you have a standard pricing system for your lessons? If so, please share the details here.
I would imagine 1 hour tutoring sessions at a rate of $25 an hour.
How did you get started teaching?
Prior to college, I worked at Camp Equinox, a theater camp in town where I taught acting to choldren between 6-13. I interned there for 4 summers and then was a staff there for 1 summer. I worked with groups of ~15-20 kids.
I really started teaching chemistry as a way to help the chemistry department at Montana State, but it confirmed that I liked teaching and was even good at it. I want to go to graduate school to become a professor in Chemistry, so getting more experience teaching will help with that.
What types of students have you worked with?
I taught a chemistry lab section, so I worked with between 18-20 year olds that were taking Chemistry I.
Describe a recent event you are fond of.
Many times when I tell people that I study chemistry, they always tell me "I hated chemistry, the concepts all went over my head". I recently had an experience where a gentleman asked me what I do for a living (examine cellular media waste) and when he asked me questions about the specifics I could explain them to the point where he understood
What advice would you give a student looking to hire a teacher in your area of expertise?
I feel like a lot of people don't learn chemistry because the concepts are too small to imagine in their heads. I try to get around this by using analogies to help understand concepts and for the most part it helps. Analogies work well when teaching Chemistry
What questions should students think through before talking to teachers about their needs?
Why am I not understanding the concepts in front of me?
Are there any resources that I can use other than class time?