My teaching philosophy balances theory and application. Economics provides a stylised framework to understand complex relationships. Equally important to learning these theories is applying them to real-world problems. My goal is to uphold the rigorous learning objectives while also keeping students engaged and motivated.

Instructor

In Summer of 2021, I instructed a high-level elective economics class ARE139 “Futures and Options Markets”. The class focused on the mechanics and economic functions of markets, including price formation and risk management. In student evaluations, my teaching effectiveness was rated 4.7/5 with most students rating my teaching effectiveness as excellent (5/5). I was rated highly in overall educational value of the course (4.6/5), my presentation of the material (4.6/5), preparation and organisation (4.7/5), and enthusiasm (4.8/5). See student evaluation summary and comments.

Teaching Assistant

In Winter of 2019, I was a teaching assistant for the class ARE172 “Financial Management of the Firm”. In student evaluations, I was commended for being approachable (5/5), organized (4.9/5), and for helping students understand course concepts (4.9/5). See student evaluation summary and comments.

Selected student feedback

The instructor presented difficult material in lectures clearly and included many great real-world examples. This helped my understanding of the material immensely.

Actually, I didn’t do well on ARE 100A/B [introductory microeconomics classes] which are all theoretical materials and felt those boring. However, it’s amazing that I become interested in the reasoning to inter-temporal price relationships and spatial price relationships, even explaining them to my friend!

I was very happy to find that the material you present to us was not only enjoyable to listen to but that you genuinely care about how we feel about the concepts. Thank you for that.

[I am] curious about how the world is changing and how they link to the theories I learned.

This last week I’ve been explaining the basics of futures market to every family [member] in my family. That was pretty cool.

I liked the instructor’s passion for teaching this subject. I can tell they love what [they] do which got me excited to learn more.

I appreciated how the course was formatted to ensure student learning and retention of information.

Sarah was an amazing TA and probably my favorite TA from all my classes so far. She was incredibly helpful and accommodating. I attended discussion and office hours regularly because I was motivated to understand the content because her teaching style was so effective.