About Me
Hi there! I'm Bill. I've been teaching and tutoring mathematics and physics for over ten years. In college, I had side jobs of tutoring small groups of students in Mathematics and Physics through the respective departments as well as one-on-one sessions with individual clients.
While getting my Ph.D., I continued taking individual clients for Physics tutoring while also serving as a teaching assistant. I ran labs, discussion sections, and office hours for courses ranging from basic Physics and Astronomy courses to upper-division and graduate astrophysics courses. I then spent a couple years in the Phoenix, AZ area where I continued my research in stellar astrophysics at ASU while teaching Introductory Astronomy at Chandler-Gilbert Community College and taking on several tutoring clients.
Today, I spend most of my time working as a professor at the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire teaching Physics as an assistant professor. In my spare time, I still take tutoring clients via remote tutoring via video chat and shared digital whiteboard spaces.
For a more formal self-description, check out my resume. For more information about my career in astrophysics research or my coding projects, visit my personal web page.
Education and Work
University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire (2017-Present)
- Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy
Arizona State Univerity (2017-2019)
- Postdoctoral Research Associate at the School of Earth and Space Exploration
University of California Santa Barbara
- Ph.D. in Physics, 2017
- M.A. in Physics, 2013
Eastern Illinois University
- B.S. in Physics, 2010
- B.A. in Mathematics, 2010
Teaching Philosophy
In college, my academic adviser would often say that his job as a professor was not just to explain concepts to students. Rather, he needed to be able to explain a concept in two, three, or four different ways so that students could learn material in whatever way made most sense to them. When it comes to tutoring, this mindset is crucial: what makes the most sense to me, the teacher, often will not be what makes sense to my students. This is a welcome stumbling block, as approaching a challenging topic from multiple directions and wrestling with the confusion rather than running away increases comprehension.
My goal is to get students to think critically about the topics they are grappling with so they gain a deeper understanding. With a solid foundation of analytical thinking skills, new concepts come more easily while homework and test prep become an afterthought (though the student will improve in these areas). After a few months, the student becomes less reliant on the watchful eyes of their tutor.
This approach can be frustrating for the new student who just wants to get the current assignment done, as it takes time and effort to recalibrate from problem solving via "equation hunting" to a deeper understanding that allows the student to arrive at their own conclusions without the need for following a strict framework shown in class or a textbook. However, the struggle is well worth it as the student is set for success in studying quantitative subjects and in approaching analytical problems in everyday life.
Click below to see what sort of instruction you can expect if you hire me.
My goal is to get students to think critically about the topics they are grappling with so they gain a deeper understanding. With a solid foundation of analytical thinking skills, new concepts come more easily while homework and test prep become an afterthought (though the student will improve in these areas). After a few months, the student becomes less reliant on the watchful eyes of her tutor.
This approach can be frustrating for the new student who just wants to get the current assignment done, as it takes time and effort to recalibrate from problem solving via "equation hunting" to a deeper understanding that allows the student to arrive at her own conclusions without the need for following a strict framework shown in class or a textbook. However, the struggle is well worth it as the student is set for success in studying quantitative subjects and in approaching analytical problems in everyday life.
Click below to see what sort of instruction you can expect if you hire me.