Amy H - Tutor in Grahamstown
Hi! I'm Amy, a 25-year-old Zoologist/Microbiologist currently working towards achieving my Master's degree. I spend my mornings doing research, my nights crawling into bat caves for that research, and my afternoons sharing my passion for the sciences with my students. I believe that science should be exciting, accessible, and applicable to real life, and these are the things I aim to emphasise in my teaching. In my free time, I love being outdoors, so you can find me cataloguing species (everything from birds to scorpions), paddling, hiking, or building campfires and cooking everything from kebabs to cookies over them. At school, I studied A-levels in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. I then qualified as a Game Ranger before I started university and spent my undergraduate years studying as widely as I could - covering everything from French to Economics to Botany and everything in between. I graduated with a double distinction in Zoology and Microbiology and continued to achieve my Honours degree in African Vertebrate Biodiversity. I took a year off to work in implementation support for a travel and tourism company and then took the opportunity to work on Hornbills in the Kalahari Desert before beginning my Master's degree. What makes me a good tutor? I have a fair amount of experience in transferring knowledge, having tutored grade 8-12 Biology, Chemistry, Physics, PhysChem and Life Sciences for 6 years, as well as undergraduate courses at Rhodes University in Biology (1st-year students) and Zoology (1st, 2nd and 3rd-year students) for 2 years. Experience with numerous students over the years has taught me various methods of information delivery, and has allowed me to be well-versed in figuring out which learning methods individual students respond to the best. In addition, I myself spent my school years balancing my own studies with part-time work, competitive sport and volunteer work, which has allowed me to develop good time-management skills and time-effective study techniques which should be a fundamental part of the Secondary Education System. I try to include these methods with teaching subject material to provide lifelong skills and study techniques which are transferable to other subjects.
Tutor basics
Teaching places
Online
Languages spoken
Amy speaks English
Experience
Tutor - Zoology
Employer: Rhodes University | Reason for leaving: End of contract Remote (due to Covid-19 regulations) supported instruction of first, second and third year Zoology classes, providing feedback, grading papers and assignments, and keeping track of progress of undergraduate students.
Research Assistant
Employer: HotBirds Research Project | Reason for leaving: End of contract Assisted with experimental set-up and data collection for Ph.D. student Nicholas Pattinson’s research on Southern Yellow-Billed Hornbills (Tockus leucomelas). Duties included building and erecting nest boxes and feeders, carrying out nest checks and supplementary feeding programs, assisting with capture, ringing and PIT-tagging birds, taking morphomentric measurements of birds, recording lay dates and egg weights, and data handling. Ad-hoc duties included setting up solar panels and batteries to power PIT-tag readers in-field, setting up and maintaining camera traps in field, observing individuals to find natural cavities, and modifying feeders to prevent use by other species.
Implementation Support
Employer: Rhino Africa | Reason for leaving: End of contract Involved in supporting the Go Live efforts for Rhino Africa during the migration to a new CRM-based quotation system. Worked extensively with Kaptio platform within Salesforce CRM System. Responsibilities included data migration, source and reference document compilation, user acceptance testing, design and implementation of data import sheets to facilitate efficient data entry, content creation, supplier/vendor contact to establish relationships and collect information, verifying data accuracy, consultant sales quotes/query support.
Tutor - Sciences (Part time)
Self-employed | Reason for leaving: Covid-19 Lockdown One-on-one and group sessions teaching physics, chemistry, biology (grades 8-12) and maths (grades 8-10) at the Discosean School for Girls, St Andrews College and Westerford High School.
Laboratory Demonstrator
Employer: Rhodes University | Reason for leaving: End of contract Supported instruction of undergraduate students in laboratory sessions for first-year Cellular Biology and Zoology. Weekly laboratory supervision and assistance of a group of 12 students. Graded papers and lab reports.
Data Capturer
Employer: People Matters, Lesotho Skill Search Project | Reason for leaving: End of contract Preparing source documents for data entry, data transcription, formatting, filing and preparing documents for the client, uploading data to recruitment database (Intelligence), extensive use of MS Excel and MS Word.
Personal Assistant
Employer: Metallogenic Mining | Reason for leaving: End of contract General office admin, preparing and filing expense claims, organising personal events, accounts and communications, producing template documents (including, but not limited to: ABC Policies, Consultancy Agreements, IC Agreements, Disciplinary Procedure Guidelines, Job Evaluation Reports) for Plinian Capital LTD.
Education
MSc Zoology - Rhodes University
In progress - currently registered as an MSc candidate in Zoology and Microbiology.
A2 Biology, Chemistry and Physics - The Judd School
A-levels in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics
BSc (Hons) African Vertebrate Biodiversity - Rhodes University
Modules in: Avian Biology, Endotherm Ecology and Evolution, Trophic Ecology, Invasion Biology, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Ecology of African Mammals Involved in 2 research projects: 1. Diet and feeding ecology of aardvark (Orycteropus afer) in the Great Fish River Reserve. Supervisor: Dr Nokubonga Mgqatsa 2. Weather conditions predict sustained activity but not emergence in the Cape horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus capensis. Supervisors: Dr Ben Smit, Prof. Mark Brigham
BSc Zoology and Microbiology - Rhodes University
• Distinctions in Zoology and Microbiology • Additional courses: Economics, Cell Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Botany, French • The Matthew Jones Shield for Zoology 2017 • ZSSA Best Final Year Student in Zoology Rhodes University 2017 • Academic Half Colours and Dean’s List 2015-2017
Subjects taught
-
Chemistry
I have studied Chemistry up to 1st-year Varsity level, passing with distinction. I have also studied A-level Chemistry and tutored Grades 8-12, for 6 years, which has allowed me to become well-versed in a variety of syllabuses. Chemistry can be a challenging subject, and I like to combat this by providing real-life applications and examples, as well as a variety of study methods that can be utilised.
Amy teaches Chemistry at High School and Primary School level(s)
-
Biology
From Microbiology to Zoology, from molecular cycles to life cycles, I love every aspect of Biology. I have dedicated most of my adult life to studying the natural world, and I have an unrivalled passion for all things Biology - from working in the desert sampling Hornbills and dodging Cape Cobras to wearing the lab coat and mask and working with human diseases, I've done it, loved it, and I can't wait to get you as excited about this field as I am. I have tutored Biology from Grade 8 through to Matric for 6 years, as well as at 1st-year University for 2 years, working with numerous students from different schools, backgrounds, and learning abilities. I believe that biology is a particularly multi-faceted field that requires a number of skills, including researching, essay writing, interpretation and application of learned principles, and as a result my teaching approach aims to develop both understanding of the subject matter and the necessary skills to express that understanding.
Amy teaches Biology at High School, Primary School, University/College, and Adult level(s)
-
Physical Science
I think that this subject, in particular, requires teaching that relates the concepts to real-life to make it more accessible and engaging, which is what I try to do. I have tutored Physics and Physical Sciences for 6 years, Grades 8-12, and I myself have studied it up to 1st-year Varsity level. With this experience, I am well-versed in finding various understandable ways of explaining complex concepts, as well as giving background to where these concepts are derived from. This is my favourite subject to tutor because it is one of those subjects where understanding the fundamentals (which are often neglected in school teaching) leads to massive improvements and enjoyment of a subject which is generally thought of as quite challenging.
Amy teaches Physical Science at High School and Primary School level(s)
-
Physics
I think that this subject, in particular, requires teaching that relates the concepts to real-life to make it more accessible and engaging, which is what I try to do. I have tutored Physics and Physical Sciences for 6 years, Grades 8-12, and I myself have studied it up to 1st-year Varsity level. With this experience, I am well-versed in finding various understandable ways of explaining complex concepts, as well as giving background to where these concepts are derived from. This is my favourite subject to tutor because it is one of those subjects where understanding the fundamentals (which are often neglected in school teaching) leads to massive improvements and enjoyment of a subject which is generally thought of as quite challenging.
Amy teaches Physics at High School and Primary School level(s)
-
Grammar
I am passionate about English grammar as it can completely alter the meaning of a sentence. For example, take the well-known phrase about the panda: "Eats shoots and leaves" which describes what type of food the panda consumes. But, put a comma in the wrong place, and you get: "Eats, shoots and leaves" and all of a sudden, you are talking about a panda who enters an establishment, and once he finishes his meal, he draws a firearm, fires it, and then leaves. I thoroughly enjoy teaching English grammar to both avoid and understand these types of grammatical inconsistencies and try to include amusing annecdotes to help make my lessons more enjoyable.
Amy teaches Grammar at High School, Primary School, and Adult level(s)