Teaching FAQ
Rates
Rates for new students and clients from May 2010:
- Group tuition - £15 per person per hour.
- Individual tuition - £35 per hour (£25 for undergraduates or pre-university students).
- Programming for Artists workshop - £120 per person.
- Bespoke Processing or Java workshops - .
- Analysis, design and development - .
Discounts and other sources of funding
- Block bookings - if you regularly book several hours a day and can book in advance, I'm happy to work out a discount with you.
- Referral bonus - for every other student you refer, I'll discount 10% off your and their lesson rates while they are studying with me. Referral bonuses add up, so if you refer five people, you'll pay half price and each will have 10% off.
- Study support - if you receive any other kind of study support, for example Disabled Students Allowance, you may be able to have some or all of your fees paid. I can help you apply if you let me know what you're currently recieving.
- Assisted places - I have a very limited number of places available at reduced rates. If you are in difficult financial circumstances I may be able to offer you an assisted place or add you to my reduced rate waiting list. If you're keen to learn and are struggling financiacially, don't let money put you off getting in touch.
Cancellations and rescheduling
Non-attendance or cancelled with less than 48 hours notice are payable at full rate. There's no charge when over 48 hours notice is given.
Where possible, I'll reschedule within the same week for no charge.
Travel and remote working
In Brighton I can come to your home, workplace, university or college, or arrange a space for us to work in. There's no charge for travel within Brighton.
Outside of Brighton, I charge £15 per hour travel time plus travel costs.
I'm currently starting online tutoring. Working online has no travel cost attached and may suit you better if we're a long distance away. Please for more details.
Coursework or assignments
Can we work on assessed coursework or assignments? Yes and no.
I'll look at assignments with you and find ways to work on the underlying theory and techniques they involve. This helps you learn how to solve it for yourself; when the techniques are clear, the assignments will fall into place. I always respect and abide by univeristy plagiarism rules and don't work on assignments directly, but do feel free to ask if you're unsure what we can do.
My experience
I've worked as a Java programming tutor for six years, helping many students understand the language, enjoy programming and improve their grades. I work at the University of Sussex and University of Brighton, receiving many referrals and recommendations from faculty and previous students.
To compliment my teaching I have developed the Terrapin library software to help new learners, based on educational principles from constructivism, Piaget and my own experience. As well as university level Java teaching, I work with professional developers and bring programming to new audiences in the arts with Programming for Artists workshops, which I've delivered on the University of Brighton's MA Digital Media Arts and at Brighton's Lighthouse arts centre.
Sharing work with CodingBat
I recommend all students set up an account on CodingBat. The exercises on there are excellent for practicing core Java skills and can be useful to work on between sessions. You can share your work with me by visiting your preferences page and entering my email address.
Why do Java exercises? Here's a great reason from the site's author, Nick Parlante:
"To excel in Java, or any computer language, you want to build skill in both the "large" and "small". By "large" I mean the sweeping, strategic issues of algorithms, data structures, ... what we think of basically as a degree in Computer Science. You also need skill in the "small" -- 10 or 20 line methods built of loops, logic, strings, lists etc. to solve each piece of the larger problem. Working with students in my office hours, I see what an advantage it is for students who are practiced and quick with their method code. Skill with the method code allows you to concentrate on the larger parts of the problem. Or put another other way, someone who struggles with the loops, logic, etc. does not have time for the larger issues. JavaBat is all about building and practicing method code. The number of problems in each area is pretty large, so you can repeat and solidify your code skill in that area."
I'd add that building up some ability with the "small" method code is also crucial for getting by with Java, not just excelling!
If you've any other questions, please .