Varsity Tutors can help you connect with skilled genetics tutors. Whether you need regular sessions to review the curriculum in your course or you want specific help with an upcoming test, your private instructor can provide one-on-one academic support.
If you're taking an anatomy class as part of an undergraduate or graduate degree, or you're a high school student in an advanced science class, the amount of technical and scientific knowledge required in the study of genetics can feel overwhelming. This is especially true for students who do not have a primary focus in the field but are taking a class as a requirement for another type of degree program. Fortunately, personal genetic instructors can help students of all ages and academic levels to make the material more personally accessible. Continue reading to learn more about genetics and the concepts and skills you'll need to be familiar with as part of your genetics courses and how Varsity Tutors can assist you in connecting with experienced genetics tutors.
What is Genetics?
Genetics is not a new field of scientific inquiry, although modern methodology is more technologically advanced. Genetics is simply the study of how various traits are inherited from one generation to the next. This includes the biological processes that take place when parents pass down specific genes to their offspring.
Some of the earliest recorded genetics work was done by Hippocrates around 400 BC, but his work may have been built upon the older work of Anaxagoras and others. Most early genetics work was based on clinical observation. During the 9th century, Al-Jahiz noted the impact of the environment on a specimens survival. In 1000, CE Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi was able to accurately establish that hemophilia was a genetic condition passed down through bloodlines. In 1140, CE Judah HaLevi deduced and explained recessive and dominant hereditary traits. All of this was accomplished long before modern science had a foothold.
This type of research is the foundation of modern genetics studies. Children inherit genetic traits from each biological parent. The expression of these genes can culminate in a wide variety of characteristics. Some of these may be physically obvious such as skin color, height, hair color, or eye color. Other traits may not be initially evident such as a genetic heart defect.
Modern genetics can be traced back more recently to the genetic hybrids created in plant and animal species through selective breeding and hybridization processes. The usefulness of statistical modeling became evident with the work of Gregor Mendel who traced inheritance patterns to identify recessive and dominant traits. Unfortunately, much of his work was overlooked for nearly fifty years as the distribution of scientific discoveries was not as easily accessible as it is today.
Once DNA was discovered in the early 1940s, a new era of genetics research rapidly exploded. This gave way to genomics research beginning with the sequencing of a gene in the early 1970s which culminated in 2003 with the completion of the Human Genome Project.
A great deal of recent genetic research has been focused on determining how likely it is that specific diseases will be genetically passed down and how other diseases can be genetically modified or combatted as part of new treatment protocols. As more advances are made in this field, the research is likely to grow and develop in unimaginable ways that have the potential of revolutionizing the way we interact with the world around us.
There are numerous career fields which require knowledge of genetics. Some of these include the following:
- Genomics Science
- Pharmacology
- Immunology
- Geneticist
- Physician Associate
- Genetic Counseling
- Scientific Research
- Epidemiology
- Science Writing
- Laboratory Technician
From the origins of genetics studies to modern high-tech research being performed in outer space, the field of genetics is a complex and fascinating subject.
What are some of the skills genetics tutoring can help me learn?
Working with an experienced genetics tutor can help you learn more about the different concepts, skills, and terminology found in various anatomy courses. Private sessions can also help you navigate challenging courses in the field of genetics.
It is essential to understand the terminology you will encounter as part of your genetics studies. Many familiar words will have unfamiliar definitions as they relate to genetics. You may want to review standard genetics vocabulary terms as part during your review sessions. Some of the terms you will need to be familiar with as you study genetics include allele, site, phenotype, recessive, additive, diallelic, polyallelic, monoallelic, mutation, multifactorial, monogenic, transmission probability, epistasis, pleiotropy, probit, penetrance, scale of measurement, identity in state, phase, allelic association, gametic phase disequilibrium, gene, locus, genotype, dominant, codominant, phenoset, multiallelic, monomorphic, polymorphism, complex trait, polygenic, mixed model, transition probability, interaction, quantitative trait locus, logit, transformation, identity by descent, Haplotype, multilocus genotype, and linkage disequilibrium. As you can see from this small vocabulary sample, the study of genetics requires learning an almost entirely foreign language. With the help of a private instructor, you can work on your subject area fluency, which can help you more fully understand the various topics and concepts you will be studying.
Some of the topics you may review with your personal instructor include mitosis, gene regulation, chromosome structure, cytogenetic techniques, genetic heterogeneity, mitochondrial inheritance, metabolic disease, non-invasive prenatal screening, heterozygote screening, molecular genetic techniques, meiosis, DNA structure, oogenesis, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, chromosome abnormalities, Mendelian inheritance, single gene disorders, multifactorial inheritance, acquired abnormalities, and ethical issues of genetic counseling. This is not a comprehensive list of topics you can review with your private instructor. When you encounter concepts and topics that are difficult to understand, your genetics tutor can offer new ways of looking at the material and different explanations that may make the content more accessible.
There are many types of genetics courses you may take depending on your degree path. Some of these include Principles of Genetics, Bioinformatics, Molecular Genetics, Analytical Genetics, Genetics Research, Genetics Orientation, Genetics Lab, Microbial Genetics, Evolutionary Genetics, Social Topics in Genetics, and Biotechnology. As you work your way through the many different types of genetics courses, genetics tutors can help you every step of the way.
Not only can genetics tutors help you review the content of your individual classes, but they can also help you prepare for final exams and other standardized exams such as the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG) General Exam.
How is working with a genetics tutor different from taking a class?
Taking a genetics class and working with a private instructor is quite different. When you take a class, your teacher has to cover all of the curricula for the course in a limited amount of time. Each class builds upon the knowledge of previous classes, so your teacher expects you to have a baseline level of understanding on the very first day of class. If you do not have this for any reason, they do not have the freedom to go back and provide additional instruction. Similarly, if you miss classes or fail to grasp concepts as they are presented, classroom teachers cannot stop the progression of the course to teach the material again. Private instructors have no such limitations. If you find yourself underprepared for your current class, your personal instructor can go back and review previous content with you to help fill in any knowledge deficits as you review the material for your current course.
Classroom teachers tend to have a preferred teaching style that they become comfortable with. This makes it easier to cover large quantities of information within the confines of the course and present the information in a way that is generally useful for a diverse student population. Unfortunately, not all students will learn well from every teacher. When you work with a personal instructor, they can change their teaching style to match your learning needs. Your private genetics instructor can take the time to discover your learning style, academic strengths and weaknesses, and your educational goals. This information can then be used to created engaging study sessions that target your specific learning needs. As your academic skills and needs change, your instructor can modify your lesson plans to meet your current learning needs.
Another key difference between taking a genetics class and working with a private instructor is how each is scheduled. When you register for a course, you must choose from a small selection of options. This may mean rearranging your work, academic, and personal commitments to attend class. When you schedule your private genetics study sessions, you can prioritize your other obligations and work with the instructor to find times that are best suited to your personal schedule.
How can I get started with genetics tutoring?
Varsity Tutors makes it easy to get started with genetic tutoring in a couple of ways. You can work with private instructors in person or online by utilizing our Live Learning Platform. Regardless of which method you choose, you will receive the same personalized instruction and face-to-face interaction. Contact Varsity Tutors today to get started quickly with a highly qualified private genetics instructor.
