Colin Mackinnon

I am a medicinal chemist by trade, which is a great job at the hub of cutting edge chemistry and biology. Out of hours, I love passing on my enjoyment of science to the next generation!

I have been tutoring for about fifteen years, covering Biology, Chemistry and Physics at GCSE level and A level Biology and Chemistry (being originally from Scotland I would be happy to consider Higher and Advanced Higher students too).

I am an online tutor these days and use Skype for basic communication and Microsoft Whiteboard so that me and student can scribble ideas/answers down and create doodles/ mind maps and calculations.

My lessons will be tailored to the student's needs: I am happy to go over the basics of science quite a few times if necessary-I wasn't the quickest learner myself, needing to write the formulae down many times until it stuck, so I am sympathetic and patient when people are struggling. On the other hand, I am confident at helping the high fliers get the best possible grades for university entrance and quite a few of my students went on to Russell Group universities to do science. I try to keep the lessons relaxed and informal, sometimes quoting from old pop culture references to help make things stick (for example: to remember that sound doesn't travel in a vacuum, I use the old tag line from Alien: In space, no-one can hear you scream...) and try to be generally as supportive and encouraging as possible.