Casual Academic (Tutor)
Teaching the Next Generation
University of Sydney·Sydney, Australia
Feb 2024 – Present
Synopsis
Senior tutor for ENGG2112, the machine learning unit every engineering student at USYD takes, whatever their discipline. Rather than lecture from the front, I walk the room, sit with each table and learn every student's name. That's what makes people comfortable enough to ask the question they're stuck on.
The Making Of
🎯 The Challenge
Engineering students often struggle with the transition from theoretical concepts to practical machine learning implementation. Many feel intimidated by coding and hesitant to ask questions.
💡 The Solution
Established a 'no wrong questions' classroom culture. Provided proactive check-ins and email support for project milestones. Gave detailed quiz feedback focusing on understanding rather than just marks. Encouraged peer collaboration and group work.
🚀 The Impact
95% positive anonymous feedback. Students reported feeling confident to apply ML concepts to their engineering projects. Many students continued to reach out for advice even after the course ended.
Key Contributions
- 1Taught machine learning to 530+ students across five semesters and nine classes, in classes of up to 160, earning 95% positive feedback on anonymous surveys I run voluntarily each semester
- 2Guided 50+ multidisciplinary teams through complete ML projects, from problem framing and dataset selection to model comparison, with weekly progress reviews for every student
- 3Tracked team health through weekly reflections and peer ratings, and stepped in early with targeted check-ins as the first point of escalation for teamwork issues
- 4Ran mock presentations with rubric-aligned feedback to build students' clarity and confidence before finals
- 5One of the only tutors to have studied the unit before teaching it, and kept the role by choice alongside full-time engineering work
Key Metrics
Student Reviews
Pratul understood that we had knowledge gaps and gave us advice to help us expand our knowledge. He did not just supply answers and made sure to revise where possible.
— Anonymous Student
Made it easy and assumed that not everyone knew everything.
— Anonymous Student
Gave lots of useful feedback especially after quizzes. Went through the questions thoroughly and really made sure the whole class was engaged.
— Anonymous Student
He was very concerned and even asked us to email him an update so that he can supervise our progress.
— Anonymous Student
Good class culture, no wrong questions/answers, made feedback lighthearted.
— Anonymous Student
Stimulated learning through constructive feedback not just giving the answer. Supported us in choices with project and made sure to help us understand what these objectives would be.
— Anonymous Student
Pratul had energy and passion to help others learn. He was easy to communicate with, effective in help/feedback and promoted a good classroom culture.
— Anonymous Student
He did not get angry on us for having bad score but instead questioning what was wrong with the current teaching method.
— Anonymous Student
I felt that he knew all our names individually and cared about our progress.
— Anonymous Student
The best tutor ever!!!!!
— Anonymous Student
Skills & Technologies
- PythonCore Language
- PandasData Analysis
- NumPyNumerical Computing
- Scikit-learnMachine Learning
Quick Info
- Company
- University of Sydney
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
- Type
- Part-time
- Duration
- Ongoing
- Complexity
- Mid