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Copyright © Frank Padikkala 2010. All rights reserved. No part of this maybe used without author’s written permission. For details
write to frankap@gmail.com
Copyright © Frank Padikkala 2010. All rights reserved
Tutoring Tips for Chemistry in Higher Grades 1
Frank Padikkala
28 September 2010
which is quite so many times called ‘The mystery of Chemicals’ remains to be one of the
difficult subjects encountered. Tutors who are proficient in chemistry are therefore presented
tutoring Chemistry.
Chemistry as a subject is a highly conceptual subject. Unless high end lab facilities
are given to the students visual understanding of the subject is very difficult. Another
common issue with learning process is that school teachers and personal tutors are all
bound by the time restrictions which leaves us with the very difficult scenario of having to
impose rote learning or more commonly , the ‘learn it somehow’ attitude as opposed to
1) “I am not able to remember what was taught in class inspite of paying attention”
2) “I understood everything that was taught in the class but couldn’t recall anything
today”
3) “I remembered the portion of the class from which the question in the exam was
asked. I was not able to give a definite answer though. Couldn’t remember the
exact answer”
These may seem as very common answers. Teachers mostly respond to these
issues by re teaching that portion or in some instances state that the students need to spend
more time studying. This may seem very frustrating to the student who has put in ample time
Copyright © Frank Padikkala 2010. All rights reserved. No part of this maybe used without author’s written permission. For details
write to frankap@gmail.com
Tutoring Tips for Chemistry in Higher Grades 2
the following section. Methods listed are not definitive and will need to be improvised and/or
When tutoring Chemistry it is always essential to ascertain the topics that are difficult.
It must be understood that different topics will be met with different levels of understanding
and a unique pattern of difficulty should be identified for each individual student. Some of the
tools from which such information can be gathered are existing test paper/examination
results, parent feedback and so on. An ideal way of ascertaining the students level of
difficulty is always go through an overview of the topic before actually starting the lesson is a
good idea. Questionnaire’s or simple questions from the lesson maybe used to gauge the
student’s response. Visual indicators for difficult topics would be yawning, fidgeting or even
If a communication channel can be established with the regular school teacher of the
student, the information and feedback that they provide can be quite valuable to the teaching
process.
All this information has to be used while devising a lesson plan with additional time /
During the course of my teaching I have found it most effective to break up a 1hour
tutorial session into 15-20 minute modules after which the student is given a 1-2 minute
allowing them to mentally playback the lesson that was taught. Such teaching methods have
Careful attention has to be given to the student during each learning section. Questions in a
Copyright © Frank Padikkala 2010. All rights reserved. No part of this maybe used without author’s written permission. For details
write to frankap@gmail.com
Tutoring Tips for Chemistry in Higher Grades 3
re-affirming tone such as “Would you like me to go over that again with you?” and so on
students have understood the concept. A simple nod or ‘Yes’ does not mean that the student
has understood. Basic Chemistry concepts have to be taught with extreme care with the use
of visual aids and simple examples. For example: Using ping-pong balls to show the atomic
structure and the movement of electrons or the comparison of the atomic structure to the
solar system. Another way of explanation would be the use of white boards to actually draw
It is very important that tutors come up with a regular plan where there is space for
daily revisions, weekly and monthly tests. Students who understand certain topics have to
spend time revising the topics. The lack of practice is one of the main reasons why good
students end up getting grades lower than their expectations. It would be ideal to get the
parents/guardians involved in this process as they can provide the necessary motivation for
Constantly monitoring the student’s scores would give us a fair idea of the progress
and would also point towards areas that would require more effort and time. This is also
Summary
The techniques mentioned above are meant like little pointers in the direction of ideal
tutoring. Chemistry is a vast and beautiful subject. In order to become successful as a tutor,
one has to start understanding and seeing the subject from the perspective of a student.
One of the unfortunate things that I have noticed is that teachers at-times are themselves not
Copyright © Frank Padikkala 2010. All rights reserved. No part of this maybe used without author’s written permission. For details
write to frankap@gmail.com
Tutoring Tips for Chemistry in Higher Grades 4
fully conceptually clear on the subjects they are tutoring and hence resort to a “I Read – You
Learn” style of teaching as opposed to the more strong “We Learn” philosophy. Tutors have
to understand that inspite of being experts in a field tutors will still need to hit the books and
it is not embarrassing to admit that to a tutee. It rather emphasizes to the student that
A special thanks to all my dear students who with their efforts vindicated my findings.
Copyright © Frank Padikkala 2010. All rights reserved. No part of this maybe used without author’s written permission. For details
write to frankap@gmail.com
Tutoring Tips for Chemistry in Higher Grades 5
Works Cited
(http://crins08lerberg.wmwikis.net/file/view/Sirhan.pdf)
Grow, Gerald O. (1996). "Serving the Strategic Reader: Reader Response Theory and Its
Implications for the Teaching of Writing," an expanded version of a paper presented to the
o Cognition (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognition)
o Chemistry (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemistry)
o Learning (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning)
Copyright © Frank Padikkala 2010. All rights reserved. No part of this maybe used without author’s written permission. For details
write to frankap@gmail.com