UW Madison Math Tutoring
“Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.”
— Albert Einstein, in a 1943 letter to a schoolchild
Students studying STEM topics often run into this problem around their freshman or sophomore year of college: there is an (often well-deserved!) societal perception of their subject matter being arcane and difficult, and yet simultaneously, these students are expected to be the best-and-brightest, able to effortlessly crack open any problem set before them.
This dangerous double standard leads many students to believe that it would be inappropriate to ask for help. Math departments around the world are steeped in this attitude of machismo or suck-it-up-itude. I myself suffered in university because few of my peers would open up enough to admit that they needed help — and I followed suit.
One of the things I can do as a tutor to help change this environment is to remind you and your classmates that yes, math majors need math tutors, too! In fact, math majors may need the extra help more: classes like linear algebra (UW Math 341) or real analysis (UW Math 521) require not only knowledge of the subject matter to succeed, but training in whole new techniques and perspectives: mathematical proof, problem-solving skills, formal logic, and other things that you don’t learn in any lecture.
How can I help you?
Unlike many other local tutors, I have both deep content knowledge in higher mathematics and training and experience teaching it. You may run into other tutors in Madison, WI with (sometimes advanced) math degrees but no teaching credentials, folks who will just mystify you with their big words. On the other hand, you may also run into talented math teachers who have simply never been called upon to teach mathematics past Calc II. I am neither of these. My experience teaching at the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics attests to my proficiency in communicating complex higher-mathematical concepts to students, as well as the proof and logic skills needed to analyze them.
Specific classes
Analysis: I’ve worked with several university students taking Math 521 (Real Analysis I, the “hardest math class on campus”), and in fact another local tutor has referred students my way for the purpose. I can help you with the tricks of the trade (point-set topology, delta-epsilon proofs, using the heck out of the Triangle Inequality) as well as understanding the intuitive basis of the subject.
Linear Algebra: I can help you get a handle on both the delicately abstract and powerfully practical aspects of the art of transformation. Math 340, 341, 443, 542 — they wouldn’t offer so many versions of it if it weren’t important!
Abstract Algebra: My true love among the mathematical sciences, algebra is a general theory of symbols and structure. Grok groups and fathom fields in Math 441, 541. Master modules, matrices and more in Math 542.
Discrete Math: Despair not, compsci majors! I can help with Math 210, 475 or CS 240, 475. Learn about combinatorics, graph theory, and the other mathematical foundations of computer science.
Even if your course isn’t listed above, chances are I can give you a hand. Just send me a message and ask — we’ll figure out a plan that works for you.
Contact Me
Want to give my services a try? Want to learn more first? Send me an email at my Teaching page and let me know how I can help.