Teaching Philosophy
To see my full teaching statement, please click here.
I believe learning is iterative and requires practice and confidence. This is why I strive to be a storyteller, coach, and cheerleader for my students. Storytelling is the most important aspect of my approach. I try to always intuit the material and reduce concepts to their most basic forms. I then reconstruct these ideas into stories that are relevant to my students. This allows me to engage with them by speaking their language and showing them how applicable these ideas can be in their everyday lives. I coach my students by starting with simple problems and gradually adding more complexity. Along the way, I usually ask the students to identify the differences across each problem. I challenge them to see the pattern and to understand the nuances, so they are not simply memorizing. I also strive to be a cheerleader. I have seen many students struggle because they think that they are not smart. I want to show them how to study effectively and encourage them to push through, to keep practicing, and after enough rest, to practice some more. I want my students to walk away from my class with the confidence that they can learn anything, even if the process is painful. I care about them as human beings. I believe my teaching philosophy is efficacious, as evidenced by my teaching evaluations.
Teaching Experience
University of California, Davis (overall teaching effectiveness 4.6/5; department average = 3.9)
Lead Instructor
Teaching of Economics (PhD-level course)
Teaching Assistant
Analysis of Economics Data
Economic Development
Econometrics
Game Theory
Health Economics
Math and Economics
Money and Banking
Principles of Macroeconomics
Principles of Microeconomics
The College of Wooster
Teaching Assistant
First-year seminar
Gateway to Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology
Student Evaluations
Here are some excerpts from my teaching evaluations. For a complete summary of all comments and scores, please click here.
"Kevin is an AMAZING TA. He really cares about the students and does his best to make sure we have a good grasp on the material. Discussion with him is sometimes even more clear than lecture with [the professor]. He always has a lesson plan and does a great job explaining the material in multiple ways to make sure we understand it."
"I can say this with 100% certainty that the only reason I and many others are doing relatively well in this class is solely because of Kevin. Kevin has been the one actually taking the time to explain concepts. He dedicates a lot of his time for this class and makes sure that we are learning."
"Kevin may be one of the best instructors I have had at UC Davis. He is able to break down complex material in a way that it is understandable and enjoyable as well. Econometrics can be daunting, but his sections and review sessions have made it the class that I looked forward to this quarter. I am very grateful to have an instructor that made me genuinely enjoy learning a subject I was told would be the hardest I take at Davis."
"One of the best TA's I have ever had. Kevin is so articulate, speaks slowly when discussing challenging material so that I can follow what he says, and he is always asking for feedback to make sure everyone is understanding each step to solving the problems on our homework assignments. I am so thankful for Kevin always coming to discussion sections prepared and for aiding us in completing the homework assignments by not giving us the answers but by doing problems just like the homework. Kevin also always has a positive, kind attitude, which I don't see a whole lot from both professors and other TA's, so I really enjoyed going to his discussions to learn from him. Thanks Kevin!"