By LUKE VOOGT
WALLINGTON local and new mother Amelia McCutcheon launched a free online tutorial this month to help VCE students improve their chemistry.
“I want to reach students who need a little bit of extra help on top of what their teachers can do,” she said.
“Teachers are so busy.”
Amelia worked at the BioLAB in Belmont from 2012 until last year, running short chemistry courses for students while completing a Master of Teaching.
Before that she worked as an environmental scientist for Shell and Dow Chemicals, as well as a private tutor after completing her Bachelor of Science.
“I decided that education is where I wanted to be,” she said.
“I want to demonstrate my expertise to people who haven’t heard of me.“
Amelia said the lecture series also allowed her to work while looking after her three-month-old daughter.
“I’ve got a lot less time now so hopefully I can generate some online resources that people can access whenever they want,” she said.
The trial webinar series began on 10 January and will continue at 7.30pm each Sunday, at least until the end of this month. Her first webinar got 100 hits.
Amelia hopes the lecture series – which she says is worth more than $500 – will reach thousands of Year 12 Chemistry students in their homes.
“If I’ve got enough interest I want to run it for the rest of the year,” she said.
“Eventually I want to make an online academy.”
The topics for January’s webinars include Preparing for Year 12 VCE Chemistry, study tricks, revision of key topics from Year 11 Chemistry, and a live Q&A.
Students can sign up to the free webinars at www.zenofvcechemistry.com.
