Statement of Teaching Philosophy Jongchan Lee Department of Economics University of California, Santa Cruz I think that the role of the economics professor is to help university students appreciate the merits of the perspective of economics. As a university professor, one of my goals will be to introduce economics as an intellectually challenging and rewarding field of study, and to guide students who wish to pursue economics in greater depth. I also hope to make my students aware of how economics plays such a crucial role in the world and in their lives. I use real world examples and visual analogies to help my students understand the conceptual ideas in a class. I also seek to create an exciting and supportive classroom atmosphere by strongly encouraging students to ask questions. I have had extensive experience teaching at the University of California, Santa Cruz and at Yonsei University in Korea. I have found teaching to be extremely gratifying. I strive to do everything that I can to make economics a class that my students will remember long after they graduate from college. I strongly encourage my students to ask questions because I know that students learn most effectively when they are actively engaged with the course material. I hope that when one student asks a question, it will stimulate the curiosity of the other students in the class. When I taught an intermediate macroeconomics class at Yonsei University in Korea, not a single student asked a question in the first two lectures. I said to my students that if they could not ask a question then they could not differentiate between what they understand and what they do not. I also encouraged the students in my class to ask any trivial question that they might have. My suggestion started to inspire some students in the class and students began to ask questions. This led to a more lively class and I was able to focus on subject matter that my students were having difficulty with. I prefer students do their assignments as a group since they can help each other and share each other’s insights. We live in a society, so I recommend my students to develop social skills in class. Based upon my teaching experiences, I have observed that some of my students are able to solve problems in economics by correctly using ideas from mathematics but they do not understand the simple economic ideas underlying their computations. I have also noticed that some struggling students have difficulty in both understanding the relevant economic ideas and in doing mathematics. I stress the simple intuition that underlies a mathematical computation before continuing on to the next step. I have also found that analogy is a useful tool to help students better understand the conceptual ideas underlying an economics problem. For example, in the Solow growth model in macroeconomics, I compare capital stock, investment and depreciation to water in the bathtub, speed of water inflow, and drainage speed. I have noticed that a simple analogy with visualization is a very effective tool to help students in their understanding.
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When I teach economics, I strive to emphasize the connection between the theoretical aspects of economics and real world examples. When I taught an intermediate macroeconomics class, I often showed the minutes of the central bank and explained that how the framework taught in class is relevant to this example. I think this approach is very useful for my students since many students who study economics will work in industry and they will need research skills in their profession. If I teach a course in international finance, I plan to supplement the course with news from the international financial market. If I teach an econometrics class, I will have my students apply regression theory in order to do real economic data analysis using an econometric package. I use patience, flexibility, and a sense of humor to be an effective mentor to my students. My goal as a teacher is to help my students realize their potential. I believe that any student can succeed academically if she or he has the will and has an effective teacher. One of my goals is to motivate and encourage the students in my class who are struggling the most. When speaking to a student, I am sensitive to their personality and to their understanding of the course material. One of my main objectives as a teacher is for my class to challenge all of my students, including the very strongest students. Finally, I care about what happens to my students after they leave my class. It gives me pride to write a recommendation letter for a student. I am always happy to provide advice to my students for finding a job in industry or applying to a graduate program. For me, teaching is a joyous activity. It has sometimes helped my own understanding of economics. For example, certain student questions highlighted certain subtleties that I had not considered. I was excited when this happened and studied the issue further before the next class. In the end, this question and the resulting discussion helped clarify a problem in economics for both myself and for my students. Teaching is a privilege for me and and I am committed to ensuring the success of all of my students.
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