Teaching statement

My philosophy when it comes to teaching is rooted the belief that education is a transformative and empowering experience. I consider it a duty of mine to foster critical thinking, creativity, and a passion for the subject when I take on the role of an educator. Based on my own experience as a student I try to be sympathetic the myriad of challenges students face within and outside the classroom. Furthermore, I aim to create an inclusive and collaborative environment where students learn from the material and each other.

I owe a debt of gratitude to my colleagues and past instructors. One of my teachers once told me that stress is deeply antithetical to learning outcomes. I prioritise student-centered learning by tailoring my lecturing methods to accommodate their various learning styles. Students who don’t feel comfortable speaking in class are encouraged to come to office hours or send me an email. I hold regular review classes where students are encouraged to discuss confusing topics, and are free to email their questions beforehand, if they’d rather stay anonymous. Furthermore, since some students take some classes as a requirement, I try to get them interested by bringing up contemporary topics and discussing how they relate to the material they are learning. The most recent example that comes to mind is when my class discussed a clip in which John Stuart asked Thomas Hoenig why the US debt couldn’t be resolved by minting a trillion dollar coin?. It is a truism to say that today’s students will be the leaders of tomorrow. Thus I try to bridge the gap between theory and practice by incorporating real world examples, case studies, and practical applications into my curriculum and show how what the students are learning are relevant to their lives and careers.

Creating an inclusive and respectful environment is one of the cornerstones of my teaching philosophy, and I recognize the need to incorporate diverse perspectives and experiences in enriching the learning process. After all, the value of a good education is that like a long trip abroad, it challenges our world views and dislodges us from the mundane. From the world of business, to the world of arts and even academia, the demand for people with novel and interesting insights far outstrips the supply. An environment that harnesses the diversity of the students, their backgrounds, and their rich experiences is essential to addressing this gap.

I don’t just consider tests to be a measure of knowledge but a tool to learning as well. I return grades quickly and make sure that students feel comfortable talking about their performance by holding office hours that agree with everyone’s schedules. I make sure to communicate the expectations for the exams and give similar problems in the assignments so the students are never caught by surprise.

I am dedicated to continuous development to stay informed about pedagogical methods, emerging technologies, and advancements in my field. This commitment allows me to bring the most up-to-date knowledge to the classroom, and ensuring my students are at the cutting edge of the subject. My teaching philosophy is centered on empowering students to become critical thinkers, lifelong learners, and responsible contributors to society. I am passionate about creating an inclusive and engaging learning environment that prepares students for academic and professional success.

Summary of Quantitative Evaluations for Courses as instructor of record

At the conclusion of each semester, students are encouraged to submit evaluations for their enrolled courses. Each student can rate instructors on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being the highest) for the following questions:

• “Overall, the instructor was effective at teaching the subject matter ?”
• “The instructor was well prepared for class ? ”
• “The instructor stimulated student interest in the course material?”

The table below summarizes student responses to these questions for the courses I served as the instructor of record in. Average scores on a scale of 1 to 5 are presented for each course, with higher scores indicating more positive responses.

Fall 2022

Summary of Qualitative Responses for Courses as instructor of record

In addition to the quantitative responses, students are given an opportunity to qualitative responses. For Summer and Fall of 2022, students wrote:

• “The course challenged me to think and learn ”
• “The course will be (or has been) of value to me”
• “I would take another course with this instructor if I had the chance”

Summer 2022

Some comments:

• I thought it was a great, straightforward class. The teacher was great and very clear-no random changes or chaos. I love this class. I don’t think it needs to be improved.

• The instructor, Shankar Sarthak, was perfect. He did an amazing job of connecting the material to the real world which helped me stay engaged and take a lot away from his class. He also had super in-depth explanations for the concepts which helped me understand them, he’s really good at explaining. He has great in-depth knowledge of the subject and its applications and came up with the perfect real life examples of stuff we were learning in class.

• I really enjoyed the class and how it was taught. The instructor was very straight- forward and made the course very clear and easy to follow. The instructor made the exams very similar to problems discussed in the lecture and the problems given in the homework. Overall the class was taught well and I would take the course again.

• This class was structured exceedingly well and was extremely cohesive to my learning style.