Casual Academic
Teaching the Next Generation
University of Sydney·Sydney, Australia
Feb 2024 – Present
Synopsis
Tutoring and mentoring engineering students in machine learning, Python, and practical data science workflows.
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
- 1Tutored 450+ students in machine learning and Python workflows for practical engineering use cases
- 2Mentored students in applying AI/ML to real-world engineering datasets
- 3Achieved 95% positive feedback from students across multiple semesters
- 4Created inclusive classroom culture with 'no wrong questions' philosophy
- 5Provided detailed feedback after quizzes, ensuring thorough understanding
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