Teaching Philosophy

As an instructor of Economics, my goals are to nurture students’ curiosity and help them develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. I believe that Economics as a social science discipline is propelled by the drive to understand and solve real-world problems. As such, students’ intellectual curiosity serves as the best motivator for them to persevere and succeed when faced with challenging problems.

Teaching Assistant

Teaching three discussion sessions (practicum) for 75 undergraduate students per semester.

Principle of Microeconomics

Fall 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

Average overall teaching evaluation scores 4.76/5 (Economics Department Average 4.06)

Principle of Macroeconomics

Spring 2018, 2020

Average overall teaching evaluation scores 4.83/5 (Economics Department Average 4.1)

Survey of International Economics

Spring 2017, 2019, 2021

Average overall teaching evaluation scores 4.68/5 (Economics Department Average 4.07)

Other Teaching Experience

Review of Principles of Economics

Teaching assistant for a review course for master’s students at the Elliott School of International Affairs, taught by Professor Michael Moore (GWU). The course covers both introductory Microeconomics and Macroeconomics.

Summer 2018, 2019

Review of Intermediate Microeconomics and Macroeconomics

Teaching assistant for two review courses for master’s students at the Elliott School of International Affairs, taught by Professor Michael Moore (GWU). The courses cover intermediate Microeconomics and Macroeconomics.

Summer 2018, 2019

The Grand Narrative Project

Participated in the design of two undergraduate-level courses for Professor Rahul Simha (Department of Computer Science, GWU), which aimed to introduce coding and statistics to engineering undergraduate students using historical data from Anthropology and Economics to explore the “Grand Narrative” of the human story.

Summer 2020

Anonymous Student Reviews

Steven Chen, our TA, was absolutely amazing at explaining economic concepts to students. There are people who call themselves teachers and then there are people who can ACTUALLY TEACH. This is someone who can actually teach. I am so grateful that I got him as my TA. He helped me understand difficult economic topics and he also taught me how to apply the concepts to problems. I hope he considers teaching full-time one day because he is that great. If you’re reading this Steven, know that you are the MAIN reason I passed this course *fingers crossed* Also, forget to mention that he was enthusiastic and he UNDERSTOOD that this course was hard for students. Seriously, please consider teaching full-time!

“Loved my TA! He was super helpful! He explained concepts multiple different times in different ways until it was understood. He was patient, made time for his students, and was knowledgeable and passionate about the subject, as well as very encouraging!”

This discussion really helped solidify my understanding of the content taught in the lectures. Steven was AMAZING; very helpful and enthusiastic about the subject. He motivated me to come to discussion every week!

Steven, thank you so much for your availability both in-person and online. The lesson plans and problems were excellent and your feedback was always on point. Great discussion sections and very well explained subjects. I learned a lot.

For more student reviews and overall teaching evaluation scores by course, please click “Read More”. Detailed teaching evaluations are also available upon request.