Math to the People

I am able to tutor most high school, college, and university math courses. This includes calculus, linear algebra, statistics, precalculus, probability, abstract algebra, analysis, differential equations, business math, and logic. I also teach part-time at the University of the Fraser Valley so I am not available every day for tutoring. Usually, I will only schedule regular tutoring appointments on weekdays, although in exceptional circumstances, weekend appointments can be made.

Tutoring Rates:

I live in the Capitol Hill area of Burnaby, and charge different tutoring rates depending on how far I have to travel. My regular rates are $30/hour for tutoring at one of two convenient locations: (1) SFU Burnaby Campus, (2) the Waves coffee shop in Burnaby Heights (Hastings and Carleton). If I have to travel outside of those two locations, I charge extra: $40/hour for tutoring in elsewhere in East Vancouver, Burnaby, or New Westminster, and $50/hour elsewhere in Metro Vancouver. I also offer a bulk discount which means that if you’re willing to pay up front for 10 hours of tutoring, it costs you $10 less per hour. You don’t have to schedule all 10 hours up front, but you have to pay up front, and the hours are not transferable to another student or another course. In order to help this make more sense see the table below:

A Typical Tutoring Session

I ask my students to come prepared for tutoring. This means that they’ve figured out which part(s) of the course they need help with, and have tried a few problems from that section so that we have something to start from. I usually look over these problems, or read over the student’s notes and try to identify their particular difficulties. Then, I try to work around these difficulties, and offer different explanations of the material, or more examples to show how similar problems are done. Depending on the student, I sometimes ask them to do problems while I watch and point out mistakes, or spend more of the time giving explanations and doing examples – it depends on the student’s individual learning style. Finally, at the end of a session, I tend to assign homework for next time. Tutoring is only effective if the student puts one hour into homework outside the tutorial sessions for each hour that we spend together.

As it is impossible for me to carry around with me every textbook for every course, I expect students to come prepared with their textbook and a calculator for each section. For some courses, a textbook is not available or not necessary. In some cases if a student is in need of a textbook which they do not have access to, I can bring one from home, but will not lend textbooks to students.

I will not give students answers or do problems for them, if they are assignment problems that are not yet due. I will not help students plagiarize. However, I can make up similar problems as examples, or go over assignments or tests after they have been marked.

My Cancellation Policy

An appointment booked by email is not booked until you receive a reply from me. Appointments booked with less than 24 hours notice must be booked by phone. If you wish to cancel or reschedule an appointment, you must give me 24 hours notice. Otherwise, I will charge you for the time booked. In case of emergency, I may allow last-minute cancellations at my own discretion.