Mingyan

Academic History

2001 – 2010: Ph.D. in Computer Science, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

1996 – 1999: M.Sc in Computer Science, Shandong University, China

1992 – 1996: B.Sc in Computer Science and Mathematics, Shandong University, China

Since 2015, I’ve held teaching roles at schools including St Paul’s, St James and North Bridge House Senior.

Recent tuition

Edexcel GCSE Computer Science

I tutored this student (Highgate School) at the beginning of his GCSE Computer Science study. Without any prior knowledge of programming, this student found programming very confusing. I explained the basic concepts clearly and designed programming activities to help him swiftly get the idea of programming. In two months time, he gained so much confidence and improved so much in programming that he got 96 out 100 in his school assessment.

OCR GCSE Computer Science

This student was my school student. During his GCSE study with me, He was inspired by my teaching and developed an exceptional passion in Computer Science. After his GCSE exams, he came back to school and asked me to explain the classic cryptography algorithm, RSA, to him so that he could develop the program. He studied Computer Science and Maths in Imperial College, and graduated this year (2024).

Edexcel GCSE Chinese (Mandarin)

From 2024-2025, I taught a Year 11 student Mandarin. He only decided at the beginning of Year 11 to take the GCSE exam, so I delivered the full GCSE curriculum to him within this accelerated time period. By using strategic lesson planning and setting clear, weekly vocabulary goals, the student achieved a Grade 9.

Edexcel GCSE Maths Higher

I have been tutoring this student in his Maths since he was in Year 9. With special education needs (ADHD), the student found it difficult to follow instructions. I use yoga breathing exercises (HeadSpace) to help him calm down, which turned out to be the game changer of our lessons. Problem solving questions are one of the learning barriers of the student. I patiently guided him to decompose the questions into smaller tasks, demonstrated sample answers when necessary, and encouraged him to work them out step-by-step independently. At the end of his Year 10 exams, this student achieved a strong score and grade 8.

AQA A-Level Computer Science

I tutored this student who decided to retake his A Level Computer Science. I helped him improve from C to A. He is a bright student, but lacks deep understanding of the theory topics and has yet developed sufficient programming skills in handling the skeleton code. During the seven months tutoring, I explained to him the theory topics clearly and guided him to build strong revision skills. He constantly achieved 95% of the theory papers at the end of our tutoring. I pair-developed programs of the skeleton code with the student, which is extremely effective in helping him make rapid progress. He gained tremendous confidence at the end of the tutoring.

Edexcel A-Level Computer Science

I tutored this student during his two years of A Level Computer Science study at his 6th form. Due to the shortage of subject teachers in his school, I taught his Theory topics at home. He got a A* in Computer Science and continued Computer Science at Edinburgh University.

Hobbies

Hiking, Reading, Yoga

Testimonials

“Mingyan has been a fantastic tutor and my son gained so much confidence in both maths and computer science over the past two years. She is very organised with lesson plans and homework. She also focuses on specific topics which need further simplification.