In his 5 years as a teacher in Singapore, Tim Gan believes strongly in keeping explanations simple and to involve layman terms during lessons to make it more relatable to students and reaffirm his students’ basic knowledge of O Level and A Level Mathematics. Thus, he is able to teach students of varying academic abilities and help them achieve their fullest potential. He has 9 years of tutoring experience in A Level Mathematics and O Level Mathematics. 2 years ago, he was also asked to help students in IB Mathematics.

During his time as a public school teacher, Tim Gan was the overall teacher-in-charge of the Math Talent Management Programme in his school, a programme which provides students with the opportunities to take part in various Mathematics competitions, namely, Singapore Mathematics Olympiad (SMO), Singapore and Asian Schools Math Olympiad (SASMO), Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) and UNSW Math Competition. Apart from that, Tim Gan was also given the role of mentorship for beginning teachers. Through years of his experience in teaching and fine-tuning of his practices, he was able to develop a strong pedagogy in teaching which enables him to push his students to their maximum potential. All the classes taught by Tim Gan were able to exceed their expected grades (expected MSG) predetermined by the Ministry of Education.

Through his numerous years of teaching experience, he feels that the poor understanding of concepts is one of the key factors that severely hindered students from having consistent and effective practice with Mathematics questions. Therefore, he believes that everyone can excel in Mathematics, and excellent grades are possible to achieve in the O Level and A Level Examinations. As school curriculum can be demanding, what students need to excel in Mathematics is structured guidance and practices in place to help them make effective use of their time. Hence, he uses his lessons to first shore up his students’ foundations and conceptual understanding before moving on to more rigorous practice questions and conceptual tests.

He groups his resources and questions according to an increasing level of difficulty so that both weak and stronger students are able to pace themselves within the same class. Group tuition provides a competitive element towards learning, which is a great motivating factor for students to strive harder and learn from one another about how to avoid making common errors. Higher-order thinking questions will also be given at the end of each topic complemented with thorough explanations during lessons and also online, thereby allowing students to learn at their own pace.