Today I observed Katreen and her student as they worked on financial maths questions, through which she helpfully guided her. In cases where there were multiple strategies for calculating an answer, Katreen asked her student to first try using the ‘easier’ technique – this encouraged her student to be efficient when approaching questions and will serve her later in exams when she needs to save time. However, the tutor also ensured that her student understood the second method as well, which will aid her in case she forgets the intitial method or needs to check her work. Katreen consistently encouraged and used positive reinforcement with her student as she worked, which will contribute to the student’s confidence and motivation particularly in a subject that many find hard. Before moving on from a set of questions, Katreen ensured to ask her student whether she had any more questions, which gave her a chance to voice any issues before they left that particular topic behind. Giving a student the opportunity to speak or try to express concerns they think they have is incredibly important as that’s often when clarity is needed the most for them.

Katreen also expanded the kinds of questions they worked on together, turning their focus onto more ‘wordier’ questions. This is really helpful as it is often the word problems that students struggle with the most, and word problems require extra interpretation in order for students to understand so showing them how to comprehend them is essential, particularly as these often appear in exams. As financial maths often introduces new terms students are unfamiliar with, Katreen made sure that her student understood what things such as ‘GST’ meant which is key in helping students be able to attack these questions with confidence and understanding. Asking the student many questions also allows them to engage more with the topic and area of maths and promotes discussion, also making them more comfortable with conversing about the content as they are being more involved. Overall, it was great session to observe and I appreciate the chance to, thank you.

Sofala Vogt