Matt L.

Matt's Bio & Tutoring Experience

I tutored extensively during my time as an undergraduate, both through the university and independently. The majority of my experience has been with walk-in tutoring rather than appointment tutoring. However, I feel that the skills and tactics mastered through many walk-in sessions has vastly improved my strengths as an appointment tutor. When students who I've never met and have no background information on walk in for a tutoring session, I have to quickly decipher what they expect from the session, their strengths and weaknesses, how they learn the best, and what types of teaching strategies will be implemented throughout the session. Additionally, students often come in groups which only complicates the situation. Being able to do this on the fly can only bode well for situations in which this information is previously known.


Coming from an engineering background, I have always felt that it is far more important to have a firm understanding of material at its most rudimentary level rather than memorizing the material and relying on regurgitation to succeed. Having a deep, core understanding of material has many advantages; you can use fundamental concepts to derive correct answers that aren't memorized (probably the best skill to have for the sciences), easily apply your knowledge to situations never before seen, and retain knowledge far longer than if it were simply memorized.


This methodology has resulted in far more 'Aha!' moments from students than I can remember. Students frequently come in with issues that the professor is either moving through content too quickly or the material is taught in a confusing way. Physics students are often astonished by how easy it is to derive complex formulas that they were previously trying to memorize by moving their efforts toward understanding the basic formulas. Thinking practically about situations and learning how to use units to your advantage are intangible skills necessary for mastering general physics. Furthermore, students in organic chemistry continuously tell me that understanding the reasons why molecules interact with each other a certain way is far more productive than trying to memorize every single mechanism. Understanding the knowledge behind the mechanisms gives students the power to develop their own mechanisms from given molecules.

Matt's Expertise

Matt's Education & Certifications

I graduated cum laude from the University of Dayton with a BChE in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Bioengineering in December 2014. My major GPA was 3.65 and cumulative GPA was 3.58.

Matt's References