I enjoy writing. What sets me apart from many writers is the fact that I am not a spontaneous writer. I do not conjure up writing pieces in my head and pen them down like most Economics writers do. This is the same reason why as an Economics tutor, I do not maintain an online blog.
In fact, I only started my Twitter account in January 2013, the primary purpose of which was to provide Economic news feeds and online consultation services to my Economics tuition students.
My style of writing
In short, I write only when I’m required to. This point may resonate among many of A Level Economics students who attend my classes to boost their chances of scoring in the upcoming GCE ‘A’ Level examinations.
While I’m not a self-professed expert writer, my self-discovered style of writing has led me on to
– straight distinctions in my ‘A’ level writing subjects (including ‘S’ Paper or H3-equivalent Economics);
– fourteen university awards throughout my course of study in Economics; and
– top honours in an international Economics essay-writing competition for two consecutive years, with total prize money exceeding $10k.
This includes, of course, the countless students who have benefitted from this approach under my 10-year Economics tuition classes.
I list the above not to impress, but to impress upon readers that writing well is not an impossible task. While you can’t develop the flair to write overnight, you can certainly master the skills necessary to generate a distinction-grade essay for your ‘A’ level Economics in a matter of weeks. <can insert link to student testimonials here>
What differentiates my approach from other Economics tutors is that I adopt a parachute and a risk-based approach. The aim is simply – to cover the entire ‘A’ Level Economics syllabus in the most fuss-free and efficient way possible.
Parachute Concept Approach
We all know how content-heavy the Economics syllabus is. As an Economics tutor, how my parachute approach works is that I distil each chapter into umbrella concepts (covering a range of related sub-concepts), which can then be EASILY parachuted into your essay answers. This is not just a time-saving skill which forces students to focus on the key concepts, but it is proving to be a crucial skill, given Cambridge’s shift towards critical-thinking questions in recent years.
E.g. the topic on market structure covers a wide array of concepts. My approach consolidates the chapter into three parachute concepts – features; behaviour; and performance.
Essentially, students should be prepared to use an understanding of the different features of market structures to explain their behaviour and performance.
Features – BICEPS is a mnemonic which I’ve created to help students remember the six important features of every market structure. Such mnemonics are often used in this book to aid information retention.
Behavior – This parachute concept captures other concepts such as price-rigidity, price discrimination and price/non-price competition.
Performance – By assessing market structure performance from firm, consumer or society’s point of view, we will delve into a discussion of other key concepts such as economies of scale, revenue benefits (firm); consumer surplus (consumer); and the various forms of efficiency (society).
In my Economics tuition classes, there will be worked examples (including past-year ‘A’ Level questions) to demonstrate application of these parachute concepts to tackle exam questions.
Economics tutor Mr Koh welcomes A Level Economics students to attend his classes to experience the difference that the Parachute Concept approach can make for them.
