Meet our UCL Engineering Student Tutors: Alina-Cristina Chirila, Security and Crime Science BSc

What does being a UCL Engineering student tutor involve?  

Being a UCL Engineering student involves, most of all, a passion for encouraging and supporting others. In many cases, the role involves more than just explaining science and mathematics topics, you become a model and example for your tutees, who will often look at you for guidance, encouragement, and academic advice. You need to show patience, good communication, understanding and when your tutee achieves their goals, the best part is you get to share that joy with them! 

How has being a student tutor helped you? 

This role has helped me understand others better, taught me how to communicate efficiently and how to tailor my communication to the person I am working with, in order to achieve the best results. It also challenged me and made me look at mathematics in more creative ways in order to be able to explain the concepts successfully, which led me to gain an even better understanding of a subject I love. 

What's the best thing about being a student tutor? 

The best thing has to be the tutees! Engaging with them on a regular basis, teaching them but also learning from them, seeing their progress, and watching them achieve their goals. When you hear that they got a good grade on a test they were nervous about, or that they exceeded their teacher’s initial expected grade, or they passed their exam with a better grade and got into the school they wanted, you get to share their joy and get a feeling of achievement yourself. 

How has COVID-19 impacted upon your tutoring? 

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns and restrictions on physical interactions have heavily affected tutoring, as before this all the tutoring I was doing was face-to-face, in schools, which was no longer possible. However, the UCL Engineering Tutoring Team has been very fast at responding and establishing a very successful online tutoring programme. Teaching online, via video call, is certainly more challenging for me in terms of how I engage with students, how I explain things and how I can work with them. Right now I am using Zoom from my laptop with a camera so the tutee can see me, Zoom from my iPad so I can share my screen and they can see me write as I explain, and online resources such as BBC Bitesize for GCSE content. One positive side of this is that now you get much more one-to-one time with tutees having individual sessions, rather than the group sessions I was doing before. 

[Tutoring] is not the easiest thing to do, however, if you love supporting others, it is greatly rewarding!" “

What advice would you give to students considering taking part in tutoring/mentoring programmes? 

I would say it is important to come prepared for every tutoring session you hold and dedicate some time to that. Look over topics again to refresh your memory, prepare exercises and think of questions you could ask, in order to have a helpful, engaging session. But most of all, be open to challenges and having to adapt to your tutees’ needs, skills, learning style and engagement levels. It is not the easiest thing to do, however, if you love supporting others, it is greatly rewarding! 

Why are such tutoring programmes needed? 

I think these programmes are amazing because most students will benefit from having some one-to-one support in their learning, which is not easily achievable in a classroom setting, with 20-something students to one teacher. They get to have someone who gets to know their personal strengths and weaknesses in those subjects and fill in any gaps that might have been left after their usual school lessons. Having a tutor that is also a student themselves can be beneficial because they have a more recent experience of learning and going through the school system in the present day, and they can be more relatable because of the smaller age gap, and can also give them the most up-to-date university life experience information, which might help guide their future choices. 

Tell us something funny, unexpected or really special that has happened during your tutoring sessions?  

One of the most special moments has to be when one of my first tutees saw me as she walked in the school’s library with her class while I was tutoring a new group of students from a year below her. This student dropped her bags on the floor and ran to me with so much excitement while shouting my name, all to thank me for helping her pass her mathematics GCSE exam, and get accepted into her college of choice. Thinking back at it warms my heart every time and it’s why I do it! 

UCL Engineering student tutors are featured on page 6 of the UCL East Engagement Report 2019/20.

With thanks to Dr Elpida Makrygianni and Garance Mourgaud. 

Links 

• Security and Crime Science BSc programme page. 

Image 

• Credit: Alina-Cristina Chirila