Teaching

Melo - Summary of Teaching History

My teaching philosophy can be summarized in 3 concepts: Passion, Science, and Inclusion

Passion

The single best way to teach someone is to inspire them. I love economics because it helps us answer many of the most important questions one could ask. Why are some countries rich while others are poor? Why is it safe in some places and incredibly dangerous in others? Why do people live long lives in some places but much shorter in others? Economics can help us better answer these questions, as well as many others. 

Everything I teach surrounds these questions. I try to always start with "why". For example: we want to understand why some nations are wealthy. Thus we need to be able to measure how wealthy a nation is. That's why we study GDP. Before going into details, I will always do my best to inspire my students. 

Selected Quotes From Students (Passion): 

Science 

(Evidence-Based Teaching)

There is a lot of research on the best ways to teach. I invested a lot of time studying this research before teaching my first class. I then carefully designed my classes to incorporate practices scientifically shown to be effective. The primary approaches I incorporate in my teaching are active learning and spaced repetition.

Passive learning is instructor-centered. This means the student would attend a professor’s lecture and then internalize the material through re-reading notes or highlighting large chunks of information when reviewing. However, this often leads to a surface-level understanding of key concepts, creating an illusion of knowledge. Active learning is student-centered. Students internalize the material through hands-on and interactive engagement such as teaching the material to someone or using the Anki (flashcard) method. 

Here are a few ways that I incorporate evidence-based methods into my teaching: 

Selected Quotes From Students (Evidence-Based Teaching)

Inclusion

Being Latino and a first generation student, my academic career had many roadblocks that others didn't face. For example:

It took me a while to learn things that others learned from their families long before coming to college. I grew up in a different culture and there is nothing wrong with that. Many students today are in similar situations. They may be from difference races, ethnicities, cultures, genders, and family backgrounds. Not all students are the same. I know I wasn't. So I do my best to create an inclusive environment in my classes where all are welcomed and respected. An environment where students are not judged but are instead met with empathy and understanding.

Selected Quotes From Students (Inclusion):