By Oliver Maynard, Statistics Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2026 Concepts of Probability, Stat 134, equips students with a probabilistic toolkit. The core skill of the course is not computation but, rather, selection: given a problem, which tool applies? Over three semesters as a GSI, I have watched performance…
By Dev Desai, Molecular and Cell Biology Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2026 In the first third of MCB102 (Survey of Biochemistry), a course notorious for its steep learning curve, two recurring concerns emerged from students during my discussion sections: the expectations for the upcoming midterm were unclear, and…
By Kieren Rudge, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2025 As a Graduate Student Instructor at UC Berkeley, I have encountered many challenges when teaching courses on environmental issues. While serving as a GSI for both ESPM 163: Environmental Justice and ESPM 100: Environmental Problem…
By Neel Modi, Physics Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2025 Physics, as a field of study, lives somehow at the intersection of two contradictory paradigms. On the one hand, it is highly abstract and technical–arguably one of the most math-heavy STEM fields you can choose to study in college.
by Katherine Blackford, Chemistry Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2021 Each time I have taught organic chemistry, students have come to me wondering why, even after memorizing all of the necessary content, they still struggled to solve exam problems. They have mentioned running out of time after realizing too late…
by Chitraang Murdia, Physics Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2021 Remote teaching has come with its own challenges for everyone. One major challenge faced by most instructors is the lack of student participation and engagement. Traditional teaching styles like lectures and supervised problem-solving sessions have not been successful at mitigating…
by Ashwin Mandakolathur Balu, Public Policy Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2021 Using experimental methods to establish causal relationships has been the holy grail of research in social sciences. However, it is a challenge to teach these concepts since it requires knowledge about sampling methods, statistics, and probability, as well…
by Adam Uliana, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2019 “I studied, like, forever on everything we learned except what was on the exam. And I just got unlucky with dumb math mistakes.” Such overly simplified explanations echoed the room as I passed out graded midterm exams in…
by Victor Reyes-Umana, Plant and Microbial Biology Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2019 A game of hot potato, borrowing a book from the library, and how a crowd of people enters a room may not sound like relevant topics to bring up during a Biology 1A discussion—but for my students, these…
by Kevin Lin, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2019 Students learn computer science (CS) by doing. In CS 61A, a highly-rated introductory CS course at UC Berkeley, students are introduced to new concepts in lecture, go hands-on to learn the solution process in lab and discussion…