Teaching

Teaching Philosophy

When I teach, my goal is to create an environment where students feel comfortable asking questions and encouraged to do their best, and where students learn why a method works and not just how and when to use it. I strive to be clear, organized, empathetic, and responsive, which I believe helps to build trust and create a classroom in which students feel seen, heard and supported.

To this end, I always welcome feedback from students as the course progresses. I send anonymous surveys halfway through, typically after midterm exams, to check in on the class, areas in which they feel strong or weak in, and any feedback they have for me. I also actively encourage students to meet with me one-on-one if they would like to review their exams or assignments and strategize how best to succeed in the class. 

I also believe it is crucial for students to understand why certain methods or concepts work so that they develop their critical thinking skills, can apply these methods to new settings and problems, and feel confident questioning and investigating future information given to them. Besides going through examples and derivations step-by-step and emphasizing key moments, I also bring up both recent news and research articles to discuss with students that are related to the class. This has been great to increase student engagement at the start of classes, build rapport, and build inquisitive minds.

Courses Taught and Evaluations

As Primary Instructor

Econ 41: Probability and Statistics; Summer 2024 and Summer 2025

Econ 103 and 103L: Introduction to Econometrics; Summer 2024, Spring 2025 and Summer 2025

As Teaching Assistant

Econ 41: Probability and Statistics; Spring 2024 (Received UCLA Teaching Assistant Award)

Econ 101: Microeconomic Theory; Winter 2024 and Winter 2025

Econ 133 and 133L: Intergenerational Poverty in America; Fall 2023 and Fall 2024

Selected Comments from Student Evaluations

"James is a kind and intelligent TA. He was generally helpful in answering any questions-- sometimes he did not fully know the answer, but he would always make an effort to answer. He has great communication skills; he would always respond to emails in a very timely manner. He was a fair grader, and gave helpful feedback on how to improve. He was open to feedback from students, and I saw this feedback implemented in his section. I am grateful to have learned from him this quarter, and would happily enroll in a course with him as my TA again."
- Econ 133, Fall 2023

"James is THE dai lou dai. Attending this section and James’s office hours is the best way to learn and understand concepts. The discussion material was very useful in digesting material that was not clearly explained lecture. During office hours, James was very helpful with questions about problems sets and practice midterms. He also very friendly and approachable, making the learning environment very laid-back! Overall, this was a great discussion selection and I enjoyed having James as my TA."
- Econ 101, Winter 2024

"James is by far the best TA I've had and the one who most exemplifies what it means to be a TA. He would be a great professor as he fully understands the topics and makes the material understandable for those new to the topics. he uses analogies to convey information and he is FUNNY. It is now of the only classes I look forward to because of the TA and he makes a strong effort. I know leaving the discussion that I will know the material better. His work needs to be recognized because it is outstanding and he clearly shows his dedication to students. Amazing job James keep it up!"
- Econ 41, Spring 2024

"James is an excellent instructor–in fact, one of my favorites since coming to UCLA. Econ 41 is an incredibly difficult and stressful course, especially considering it's often what makes or breaks one's chances at being admitted to the Bus-Econ/Econ major. However, not only does he do an amazing job of breaking down the material into easily digestible pieces (especially for this being a summer session!), he also prioritizes uplifting his students and doing anything possible to make them feel confident in the course, their performance, etc. He makes students feel comfortable about asking any questions they need and will attack topics from different angles to try to find a way that appeals to them best. He will make an excellent professor one day, and I really hope to have the opportunity to take more classes with him (either as an instructor or TA) before I graduate!"
- Econ 41, Summer 2024

"I have had James as a TA before and have really enjoyed him for both that class as a TA and this course as the instructor. His biggest strength is his communicative skills, im not sure if it's that his delivery is 'friendly' enough that students are engaged and want to listen to him or if it's his ability to break down concepts in a way that is easier to understand, but I feel that I have learned more from him than most other professors I've had at UCLA. He clearly understand the topics very deeply, but he is not so far removed from us that it feels like we are being taught rather than told by someone who doesn't understand us. The biggest weakness of this class, which is of course nothing James could have done about was the pace of the course, I felt that it was incredibly hard to fully understand the topics in this class just because we were moving so fast. With that being said it was clear that James did the best he could in making it digestable for us, while also not providing too much homework/assignments for us to feel overwhelmed."
- Econ 103, Summer 2024

"James was a great TA. He made his discussion sections a welcoming space to ask questions and engage in meaningful conversations. He also provided very clear and thorough feedback on our assignments so it was easy to know how I could improve."
- Econ 133, Fall 2024

"Lee did a great job explaining and breaking down complex topics from the lecture, making course content much more manageable. He was also great at clarifying any questions I had and explaining errors I made on exams."
- Econ 101, Winter 2025

"James was very receptive to students who asked for help via CampusWire.  His frequent, in-depth responses made it clear that he was dedicated to helping students process the material.  Also, he took student feedback very often throughout the course (even using a survey) to ask how he could change/improve his teaching style. He also implemented changes halfway through the quarter based on this feedback, which was very impressive and shows that he is attentive to student needs."
- Econ 103, Spring 2025