PrepNow Tutor - Ryan M.
Ryan has experience as a course assistant in college, where he fell in love with teaching, and he says, "I like to dive deep into learning about things I enjoy." Ryan holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from Stevens Institute of Technology. After college, he worked as a Test Automation Engineer for Entech Consulting, testing and editing automated scripts for software. Now he has pivoted to tutoring.
Ryan started teaching and tutoring in college; he realized he did very well in the Data Structures course, and was curious about becoming a Course Assistant. "After working as a Course Assistant for a few months, I realized how much I loved helping people out, working through their problems, and helping them have a better understanding of topics that were difficult for them by approaching the problems from different angles, to see what worked the best."
In his capacity as an assistant, Ryan worked with students both one-on-one and in small groups. "Several students have come to me post-tests and in later semesters, thanking me for the help with the course and saying I helped them pass the class," he offers.
"I tend to lean more on visuals and diagrams when possible, because that's the easiest way for me to explain my process in figuring out certain problems," says Ryan about his teaching approach. Breaking down problems into separate visual components has been a successful strategy, especially with certain abstract topics (like binary trees or program efficiency and complexity). When these methods don't work, or the student's own attempt has not been successful, Ryan pivots his tutoring approach: "So in these cases I try to learn how the student approaches the problem, where they have trouble, and figure out a way for them to try the problem in a new, different way." Ryan notes that many students have a hard time learning purely by lectures, so giving them the opportunity to try different strategies during recitations or office hours made a huge difference for them.
When Ryan was in high school, he was consistently on the Honor Roll. He is a huge fan of video games. These days, he enjoys art and design, and likes collecting figures and trinkets.
"I have many different favorite animals, but for the number one spot, it's a tie between the red-eyed tree frog, and the three-toed sloth," Ryan shares.
