PrepNow Tutor - Tavish H.
Tavish has been teaching formally as an adjunct professor since 2014—he has researched cognitive science and educational psychology applications in the classroom ever since! He has tutored or taught the following subjects: physical science, conceptual physics, college physics I & II (algebra-based and calculus-based), engineering statics, engineering dynamics, mechanics of materials, thermodynamics, modern physics, astronomy, and various lab courses.
He earned an AS from Lewis & Clark Community College, a BS in physics from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, and an MS in physics from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He has also studied at the University of Missouri-Rolla and completed some PhD work at Missouri University of Science & Technology and University of Missouri-St. Louis.
In undergraduate and grad school, Tavish ran the department tutor rooms and physics labs. As a diligent graduate-level TA—he won "TA of the Year" two years in a row—he held lectures for advanced physics courses, which included students of various backgrounds and abilities. "I have taught for around 30 semesters and each of them included half a dozen courses spread across 2-3 colleges in 2 states," he says.
Tavish is extremely approachable and laid back. "I like to offer students lots of learning activities that focus on representational fluency between ideas (i.e. reflecting concepts using different representations like words, graphs, diagrams, or interactives)," he says. Students have a lot more intuition about physics than they realize, so Tavish aims to spark that intuition "in the service of connecting new ideas to real-world familiarity." He puts extra effort into asking the right questions to guide the thinking process and pushes students to engage with new concepts in fun, creative ways.
As a student, Tavish won Outstanding Physics Student, Outstanding Graduate Student, and Outstanding Research Assistant; he was also awarded several scholarships and a regular spot on the dean's list.
These days, Tavish loves gaming. "I am also fascinated by AI and how to implement it in ways that promote learning for students," he says. He has two dogs and eight cats.
