When it comes to physics and education, I have more than enough love. Indeed, friends, who endure my random "fun physics moments", might rather I restrain my physics love a little more. I'm currently trying to decide if I should pursue a PhD in physics education research or simply do a masters. I have no doubt that I would thoroughly enjoy the experience - I love the learning environment of the university, I love the research and I love the teaching opportunities. It would most definitely be a lot of fun to work on a PhD.
But I have to admit, love isn't the only factor in my decision. Tuition is higher and funding is lower than I'd planned for, and my practical brain can't help but wonder if a PhD would really be a financially sound decision.
So this semester will be an experiment. I just finished making advertising posters (using my sketch of the learning student, pictured to the left) for my physics tutoring services. I very much enjoy tutoring, so if I find it possible to break even this semester with some additional funds from tutoring, then I expect I'll be confident in diving into a PhD.
The key will be finding students who want regular weekly tutoring, not just cramming before the exam. I will try to be fairly strict about this anti-cramming policy. It's nearly impossible to learn physics in a short period of time just before the exam - it's like learning to play the piano - a student needs to work at it regularly and consistently throughout the semester in order to be successful. It would be terribly unethical for me to charge for tutoring if I didn't have sufficient time with the student to tutor effectively and consistently. As an aside, I do wish companies such as "CourseCram" felt the same way.
Now I know you're probably thinking, "Fabulous! As long as we don't hire her as a tutor, Anneke will finally stop inflicting her physics demonstrations with accompanying jazzy-hands on us." But you should know, I couldn't stop teaching physics to innocent bystanders if I tried. No one is safe from a fun physics moment! I'll try to differentiate between random free physics teaching and paid tutoring though through the degree of planning/preparation, building of ideas upon ideas and of course the direct connection to course material. Here's to hoping I have the heart to request pay to do a job that I enjoy perhaps even more than the customer...
