Impact – Evidence of Effective Teaching

I have had extensive experience serving as teaching assistant, course mentor, and teaching scholars in numerous courses at Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University. The lack of coherence from course evaluation formats makes it difficult to present useful descriptive statistics. Instead, I provide select feedback from my course evaluations, observation feedback, and mid-course review feedback categorized by discipline.

I have had the most experience teaching in statistics and biostatistics courses, serving as teaching assistant and section instructor for seven different courses. Students and observers have frequently praised my clarity, enthusiasm, and availability as an instructor. Select comments include:

    • “The TA was excellent (Mike). His feedback and help were also excellent. It’s not often we get such a good TA.”
    • “My TA is very helpful and spends extra hours tutoring me so that I am able to succeed in this class.”
    • “My TA (Mike He) was amazing, and made this course bearable.”
    • “My TA, was extremely helpful during sections. His help is definitely why I did so well in the course.”
    • “Mike He was amazing!!! So good at presenting and reviewing the material in a sensical fashion and he really cared about us learning it and enabling us to do our best!”

As a laboratory instructor in biology, I was praised by students for my patience and diligence. Select comments include:

    • “Mike made the lab fun and easy to understand. He had clear answers for all our questions.”
    • “Mike was one of the best TA’s I have ever had. He was always willing to help when my group was confused. He always went the extra mile to make sure we understood the material and were prepared for the tests.”
    • “Mike He was my TA and was very patient and attentive. He never lost his temper or talked down to students like some TA’s.”

As a teaching scholar in public health courses, I have received consistently positive feedback about my effectiveness as a lecturer and course facilitator. Select comments and feedback include:

    • “When Mike was more enthusiastic, the class became more engaged and enthusiastic. The class was always attentive, and this was especially true when Mike was the most animated. Mike’s enthusiasm was at no point distracting or too grandiose. He spoke clearly throughout the class.
    • “Mike’s conscientious availability to the class created an environment in which students appeared to feel comfortable asking questions and displaying confusion.”
    • “Mike excelled at being attentive to his students, especially during their group work. His enthusiasm was contagious is a productive way.”
    • “Mike started with clear objectives, which were recapped over the course of lesson and clearly at the end. These objectives were covered in different forms over the course of the lesson, and I think all the material was presented concisely, in an intelligible and organized fashion.”

Full copies of teaching evaluations are available upon request. Details about specific courses that I have taught can be seen in the “Teaching Roles” tab.