What kind of students go to your tuition?
The students usually range from slightly above average to slightly below average. This is the group of students that has a very high chance of scoring an “A” after undergoing Dr Chang’s tuition program. If a student is extremely brilliant, perhaps ad hoc tuition will be more appropriate. On the other hand, if a student has been doing very badly, it may be advisable to undergo individual tuition for 2 to 3 months, and then join the group tuition when the foundation has improved.
My child results have been quite good, does he/she still need tuition? Will it be counter-productive?
A good student can join the group tuition if he wants it himself, otherwise it may be counter-productive. Usually such student joins to maintain his standard and have an additional boost to his morale. Normally they will also be given more challenging questions to work on once they complete the standard ones.
There are some extremely talented students whom Dr Chang suggested to come on an ad hoc basis, so they don’t have to spend unnecessary time on things that they are already very familiar with. Sometimes, he had students who came 2 to 3 times a year! They are happy because he can zoom in on their problems and focus on those particular topics. Dr Chang is also happy because he is able to offer targeted assistance. From a commercial standpoint, however, not many tutors would want to teach only 2 to 3 lessons a year! But Dr Chang would rather take it as a service to the scientific community in grooming the next generation!
At times Dr Chang has also given tuition FOC to existing students when he learned that their parents were retrenched and became jobless. It is extremely heartwarming to see these students do very well subsequently.
If you were not a school teacher before, how familiar are you with the syllabus? What is your experience?
MOE syllabi for various subjects are easily accessible online. As a professionally trained physicist as well as an excellent communicator honed from many years of consulting and business experience, Dr Chang provides a unique approach to understanding physics and mathematics. Over the years, many students who have undergone the tuition programs under Dr Chang have done very well in their “A” level exams, many of whom went on to become successful professionals in their chosen fields of practice.
Would practicing a lot of questions be helpful?
There is a slight difference in trying to master physics and mathematics. In general, mathematics require more practice than physics. Mathematics at “A” levels can be quite varied even on the same topic or concept, whereas most of the physics questions tend to vary only on its areas of applications. The important thing is for students to realize which physical concepts or theory to rely on. Most of the physics questions turned out to be quite simple once the correct concepts and equations are used. Solving them generally is quite straightforward. Mathematics questions, on the other hand, sometimes can be very tedious and very easy to make algebra mistakes, if not, it may involve very subtle or more in-depth analysis of certain concepts, but once the equation is established, solving becomes trivial!
It is generally recommended that students should practice at least the school tutorials. About 2 months before the “A” levels examinations, they should practice the TYS.
You had a PhD in Physics, would the students understand you or your teaching would be too complicated for them?
A good teacher is one who can break down complex ideas into simpler ones for every student to understand. In fact this is the strength of Dr Chang who can find simple explanations for seemingly complicated stuff. Students are always enlightened when they are able to break complex problems into smaller manageable ones and to link small little things together to form the big picture! Endowed with such skills allow the students to fully develop their potential in future!