A wealth of instructional experience with a proven track record of helping kids learn physics

Instructor Introduction: Brandy Heflin, MNS

Academic Background

Yale University, B.S. Astronomy & Physics (2003)
Yale University, Teacher Preparation Program (2004)
Arizona State University, M.N.S. Physics (2012)

Professional Experience

Public & private school teacher in CT & OH (2004 - 2014)
Private tutor in person and online (2014 - now)
Online tutor with Tutor.com (2014 - 2016)
Online tutor with PrepNow (2015 - now)
AP Physics Test Developer with ETS (February 2024 - now)

Achievements

Adjunct faculty in University of Connecticut Early College Experience Program for dual-credit AP course (2008)

Selected attendee of National Science Foundation Summer Institute for Physics Teachers with University of Washington Physics Education Research Group (2010)

In short- Brandy is amazing! She works with our 16-year-old son, who was really struggling in Physics. I'm convinced she has the perfect temperament to work with teenagers. Our son went from feeling completely defeated with this class to feeling capable and successful. She has worked with our son both in-person and online. I wasn't sure what to expect with online tutoring, but Brandy makes it easy and seamless. Physics finally makes sense!

I always thought I was bad at math, and I knew physics had a lot of math, so I got a tutor to help me from the very start of the semester. By the end, I realized I wasn't bad at math at all; I just never had anyone who could explain it to me in a way I understood until I worked with Brandy! She kept finding ways to explain things until I got it, and she made me feel more confident in my abilities.

Before tutoring, I was frustrated and hopeless towards being able to understand physics. However, with Ms. Brandy's help I was able to turn around my negative attitude towards the subject and begin to truly learn. Her guidance was crucial to helping me go from wanting to drop my AP Physics class due to failing grades to me earning a 5 on the AP exam! I could not have changed my perspective in such a short amount of time without her help!

Brandy was really helpful in the subject I was struggling with. She made it less stressful and easy to understand. Her teaching method was extremely helpful with pictures and explanations that I could understand well. She taught me great ways to remember the material which was extremely helpful when it came time for an exam. My overall experience was extremely beneficial!

Courses Taught and Tutored

Conceptual Physics
General Physics
Honors Physics
AP Physics 1 and 2
AP Physics C: Mechanics
AP Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism
Algebra-Based Intro College Physics
Calculus-Based Intro College Physics
Physical Science, Regular and Inclusion

Fluids and Thermal Physics

Mechanics

Waves and Sound

Electricity and Magnetism

Light and Optics

Modern Physics

Learn more about my mission, history, and prior work with clients

My Mission

What I Stand For

Everyone Can Learn Physics

My mission as a personalized physics instructor is to empower beginning physics students as learners and to enhance their excitement and enthusiasm for studying physics by creating meaningful one-on-one educational mentoring relationships.
 
I believe everyone can learn physics. My deepest desire is to see as many students as possible feeling confident and successful while learning physics. It’s my joy to serve and to see my students feeling capable and accomplished!
 
As Lewis Carroll Epstein, author of Thinking Physics, wrote, “One of the secrets to doing physics is to keep in mind what you don’t know. The trick is to get from what you know, to what you want to know, without going through what you don’t know.”

Sometimes we get stuck, lost, confused, scared, frustrated, discouraged, or disappointed and we don’t know the way forward. What we need in those times is a guide who can find the right path, lead us powerfully from where we are to where we want to be, and help us avoid further pitfalls.

That’s where I come in. I can help you whether your problem is with understanding the concepts, translating the concepts into relevant equations, or developing stronger math skills.
 
I love physics and I love helping you! Find out if private physics tutoring with me is right for you by requesting a complimentary Needs Assessment.

What I Do

Instructional Excellence

I employ the research-supported most effective methods of teaching & learning physics

Maximum Flexibility

I provide a full complement of tutoring services to help individuals & groups anywhere on their path

Incredible Value

I ensure all students can access & receive the support they need with my complimentary offerings

A Brief Personal History

A Love For the Subject

I fell in love with physics in high school because it connected the mathematics I’d been learning with the observable, measurable real world. I loved it so much I decided to major in it, surprising everyone, including my teachers, because I was a better student of English and mathematics than I was of science and my academic passion to that point had been…Latin.
 
Truthfully, college physics kicked my butt! Eventually it turned into a bunch of abstract upper-level math I didn’t understand instead of concrete relationships I could work with in the lab. I considered changing majors to…(wait for it)…Classical Civilization…but I didn’t have enough credits. Instead, I toughed it out and decided to use my degree by returning to where I fell in love with the subject–the high school classroom. There were concepts and topics I didn’t understand well until I had to teach them. I constructed my own understanding of the subject through grappling with the material, and students get the benefit of that in my teaching. I truly relate to the struggles common to beginning physics students!

Academic Background

I earned my Bachelor of Science in Astronomy & Physics from Yale University in 2003 and my Master of Natural Science in Physics from Arizona State University in 2012. I completed the Yale Teacher Preparation Program and attained my Physics 7-12 certification in 2004, and I added Mathematics 7-12 certification in 2007. My master’s program focused on best practices for physics education, namely Modeling Instruction. Going through Modeling Workshops as a student in the process of learning how to implement this methodology changed forever the way I think about physics, not just the way I think about teaching physics! 

Professional Experience

I taught in public and private high schools in Connecticut and Ohio for ten years total before entering corporate America in 2014. My instructional assignments ranged from Conceptual Physics through AP Physics B. I was accepted as a University of Connecticut Early College Experience Program instructor (adjunct faculty), which meant the UCONN Department of Physics evaluated my AP Physics course as equivalent to their introductory courses and allowed my AP Physics students to earn dual credit. I also was selected to attend the National Science Foundation Summer Institute for Physics Teachers with the University of Washington Physics Education Research Group.
 
I have served as a private physics tutor since 2014 and as an independent contractor for PrepNow since 2015, with two years of service with Tutor.com that concluded in 2016. My work includes students at the high school and introductory college levels, including calculus-based courses and AP Physics C: Mechanics and Electricity & Magnetism. I have also tutored 8th grade and high school mathematics.

A Dedicated Educator

My mission as an educator was to find the most effective means of allowing students to develop both conceptual and quantitative problem-solving abilities. My Action Research project for my master’s degree studied the necessity of students developing conceptual understanding before they could become effective quantitative problem-solvers in an introductory physics class.
 
My tutoring approach brings in the best of what I learned about effective physics instruction in a decade as a professional educator. We’ll work together on developing your conceptual understanding through real-world examples of relevant physical phenomena and qualitative representations such as pictures, diagrams, and graphs, and we’ll help you come to see physics equations as relationships and as quantitative models of the concepts at hand.

I'm so grateful that Brandy was recommended to me as a Physics tutor for my high schooler. With her positive nature and mastery of Physics she quickly established a rapport with my daughter. Given her background in teaching, she was very familiar with what was being taught in class and she knew what would be next. Brandy is able to explain things in a very clear manner and created a safe space for my child to solve problems and build her confidence in Physics. Brandy is dependable and flexible to ensure that the sessions meet the needs of her students. I highly recommend Brandy!

I am happy to say that I got a 5 on my AP Test! I felt completely prepared for my tests and the AP Exam after tutoring sessions. During the tutoring, we would go over any questions I had and work out any challenging problems step by step. This allowed me to recognize problems and know exactly what to expect.

Having Ms. Heflin as my Physics tutor helped me to a great extent in understanding the physics concepts I was given in school. She is [a] great teacher and is very knowledgeable. She also patiently addressed all my physics related concerns. This was very helpful and helped my grades improve. I highly recommend her [as] a physics tutor.

Working with Ms. Heflin was incredibly impactful and helpful. Thanks to my work with her I was able to drastically improve my physics grade. She was readily available and always helped me in any way possible.

Brandy is an amazing tutor and has incredible teaching abilities. She could explain any subject and make it more approachable by relating it to previous studied sections or modern applications. It was a privilege working with her this summer and these lessons gave me a really profound understanding of physics. What an incredibly personal experience that prioritized my needs and made me a better student. Thanks so much! (This student scored an 800 on the SAT Physics Subject Test)