Teaching

Teaching Experience

I am currently a Teaching Assistant (TA) for Math 102, Applied Linear Algebra, taught by Guershon Harel. My prior teaching includes the following, in reverse chronological order. All experiences are at UC San Diego unless otherwise specified. 

• Linear Algebra (Math 18) TA

• Intro to College Mathematics (Math 2) Associate-In (AI)

  • At UCSD, an Associate-In is a graduate student who is the instructor of record for a course. I taught Math 2 as part of the Summer Bridge Program.

• Junior/Senior TA (Math 500)

  • The Junior and Senior TAs are responsible for training the new TAs as well as other service in the math department, such as serving on the Graduate Affairs Committee, organizing the annual Open House, and facilitating communication between faculty leadership and TAs. During my time as Junior/Senior TA (1 year as each) I helped oversee the transition to coordinated classes with Lead TAs and prepare new TAs for the possibility of a union strike.

• Calculus I (Math 10A) AI

• Calculus for Science and Engineering (Math 20B) Lead TA

  • A Lead TA has a reduced teaching load but is responsible for creating worksheets, communicating with all of the course's TAs, and managing any logistical concerns for the course. I and a co-lead oversaw about a dozen TAs in a course with roughly 800 students.

• GOALS Workshop TA at Michigan State University (MSU)

  • I ran problem sessions for GOALS attendees in 2021.

• Introduction to Analysis II (Math 142B) TA

• Foundations of Real Analysis (Math 140B) TA

• Introduction to Analysis I (Math 142A) TA

• Calculus for Science and Engineering (Math 20B) TA

• Mathematical Reasoning (Math 109) TA

• Modern Algebra II (Math 103B) TA

• Modern Algebra I (Math 103A) TA

• Calculus for Science and Engineering (Math 20B)

• Tutorial Center Tutor at UWaterloo 

  • I mostly helped students with Calculus and Linear Algebra (Math 135, 136, 137, and 138)

• Advanced Linear Algebra II (Math 247) TA at UWaterloo

• Private Tutoring

  • I have tutored people ages 5-45 (roughly), mostly in math, at levels ranging from kindergarten to graduate real analysis. I've also tutored reading, Earth science, and ACT/SAT prep.

Testimonials

The following are all verbatim comments from students that I received in my teaching evaluations, roughly organized by theme:

• Conveying Understanding

  • He did a great job explaining the problems when I asked questions and got me to think on my own rather than giving me the answer directly.

  • The discussion sections for math 20B were part of our grade for the course. However, even without this incentive I would have attended the discussion sections. The discussion was genuinely helpful and explanations were readily available and easy to follow. Gregory was a great TA. Online discussions are always difficult, but he encouraged us to come with questions and had his own prepared if not. This was really helpful because we got to see what he thought was important to study as well as ask for clarification on the homework or lectures.

  • As many others students have said, this IA was better than the actual professor for this class, super clear and detailed solutions, he is definetly passionate about Math, and a good person in general

  • Greg was really really helpful and I always felt like I learned something whenever I attended his discussion sections.

  • He really helped me understand the concepts I couldn’t grasp from lecture.

  • Helps a lot. Makes the content easier to understand. Would be lost without Greg.

  • I would like to say that the discussion sections are something that I really look forward to every week. They are fun and interactive sessions where I can get a more thorough and solid understanding of the course materials. Any questions I have are answered accurately with examples and reasoning to back up the answers. Greg also is great at making sure everyone understands what he teaches and is just an overall fun person to interact with. I always learn new things every time we have discussion and hope to have more TA's and teachers just like Greg in the future.

  • Definitely knew the material and gave clear answers

  • Greg was a great TA. He always put up reminders and announcements at the start of section and was available to help me with the discussion worksheets. He helped me gain a deeper understanding of the content and I appreciate him!

• Classroom Culture

  • He's both very approachable and very knowledgeable

  • Greg has a way of allowing the students to feel comfortable asking questions. He is amazing!!!!!

  • Greg was a great TA. He always answered any question during any time of the day, whether it be during DI or outside of it. He ALWAYS answered my emails (even the ones at 10pm) which eventually led to me understanding the content better. It's not often that a TA/professor/teacher will answer emails this late. He is also just a very likeable person with his signigture big beard, glasses, and backwards cap (It is quite jarring to see him without two of these traits in his picture here). My only complaint is that sometimes he left his explanations intentionally vague (which frusturated me sometimes), but for the purpose of forcing us to learn which I understand.

  • Greg was really helpful throughout the quarter. He made discussions comfortable for all students to be able to freely ask any question they wanted to. He let students facilitate the kind of discussions they wanted --going over questions they didn't understand, and the appropriate solving methods. He always extended or added office hours to students that need the extra help, even near quiz days. Thank you Greg!

  • He's very chill.

  • I really appreciated the time you gave to let us ask questions about HW and other course materials. I think that was the most helpful part of discussion sections. Also, doing 4 hours straight of discussion sections is bonkers and I applaud you for the dedication and just wanted to appreciate that! Thank you!

  • Pleasant and helpful in zoom sessions, very patient.

  • As an IA, he was down-to-earth, which made class more enjoyable, in my opinion. He would crack some jokes in discussion which made the environment more loose and engaging. He helped clarify any questions I had over homework topics, and provided challenge questions to work on, in case a question he's answering to a specific student is something another student already knows well. I feel that his discussion periods are times worthy to be spent, and I'm sure his discussions have facilitated my performance on assessments such as the midterms.

  • Had a good mix of casual-ness and professionalism when instructing.

  • Very patient TA! Really help with my math study. Highly recommend!

  • Greg was quick to respond on Piazza and overall displays a great degree of proficiency over the concepts taught in this class.

  • Very helpful and patient! Gave insightful pointers in response to my email questions!

• Other

  • Great Guy

  • Great beard, nice guy, knows his stuff.

  • Great TA!

  • Greg is awesome! Very helpful during office hour too.

  • I really enjoyed having Mr. Patcell as my TA!

  • Epic beard

  • He did his job very well. I couldn't ask for more!

Instructor feedback I've received:

• One of, if not the best TA I've ever had the pleasure of working with. I have zero complaints. He was professional, hardworking, timely, diligent, engaged, motivated and more than competent. He went above and beyond in many regards, including being active on Piazza, offering additional office hours before quizzes, and creating excellent slide presentations for discussion with many unique problems (each week!).

• Greg was an absolutely super as a TA. He was very helpful in all respects for the class including helping write homework solutions, grading exams, holding review sessions, creating gradescope assignments, communicating with me an with students, etc. Greg was very active in answering questions on Piazza which was very helpful to me and the students.

• Greg is a fantastic TA.