Cheryl Kaunds

In our first session we will go over your preferred learning style, and open up specification of the exam board studied. In my experience in both teaching and learning the subject, the most efficient method of undertaking the Biology course, is by identifying and targeting weaknesses head on.

I find it most effective to take a creative approach to learning scientific content; methods backed by psychology research, such as art-based learning and divergent thinking exercises, are proven to boost memory and conceptual clarity, two ideas which allow students to ultimately excel when tested on content in their examinations. In previous teaching roles, students found that learning and employing the strategies I use to be highly useful, adopting skills that are favourable not only in biology, but also in several other subjects at various levels of education.

In terms of lesson structure, each session will begin with a recap of the previous, ensuring consolidation of key concepts that will allow further progression into the course specification- as with any subject, confidence in the foundational topics of biology are essential to achieving a better grasp on more difficult concepts.
The teaching portion of the session will involve solely active listening and conversational methods of understanding biological process, with opportunity to make small notes. Questions are very much favoured! Questioning ideas show curiosity and passion, but are also key to ensuring maximum efficiency during lessons by clearing doubts and makes the process of acquiring a solid understanding significantly faster.
At the end of each session, we will spend 5-10 minutes using active recall to evaluate how much was understood, and plan to fill any gaps via homework and during recap portions of future sessions.
The majority of homework given will be to create Cornell notes (or notes in their preferred format) from the small notes taken during the lesson. Additionally, there will be pre reading for the next lesson- giving opportunity to develop research skills, highly favourable to any future career path. After every few lessons, when a whole topic is complete, I will hold a session purely to examine content understanding in the form of a mini-exam under exam conditions, and mark the exam with them during the session.
In more advanced classes, question sheets or essays will also be given to encourage active recall outside of lesson time, as well as chances to refine exam technique.

This comprehensive teaching style has proven to improve student confidence and grades, and I hope to share this with you too!