Teaching

In each of my classrooms, I create a collaborative, inclusive environment where students develop critical thinking skills and the confidence to communicate their ideas. As a Teaching Fellow for the UChicago Center for Teaching and Learning, I have trained in evidence-based practices that optimize learning outcomes for all students. 

Below, you can find the courses I have taught. 

STAT 22000: Statistical Methods and Applications

Summer, 2026

This course introduces statistical techniques and methods of data analysis, including the use of statistical software. Examples are drawn from the biological, physical, and social sciences. Students are required to apply the techniques discussed to data drawn from actual research. Topics include data description, graphical techniques, exploratory data analyses, random variation and sampling, basic probability, random variables and expected values, confidence intervals and significance tests for one- and two-sample problems for means and proportions, chi-square tests, linear regression, and, if time permits, analysis of variance. exposure to 1-variable calculus helpful but not absolutely required. 

Responsibilities: Supporting students during in-class small-group activities and discussions, grading homework assignments and providing feedback to students, leading review sessions to reinforce course concepts. Instructor of Record: Kendra Burbank. 

PSYC 28620: How and Why We Win Friends and Influence People

Spring, 2026

People are often told to “be themselves.” The social world challenges them to do the opposite: Peers, family, and coworkers all find certain qualities desirable in a social partner, and they may even want different things from us. So, we must adapt our behavior to appease them. Many people struggle with this social challenge, as evidenced by the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” selling over 30 million copies worldwide. However, this book was published in 1936, before the modern science of social psychology truly began. This course explores how people learn to navigate the complex topography of the social world. We will cover topics such as self-presentation, social status, and friendship. Much of the work covered in this class will focus on childhood, when we form the cognitive building blocks for these processes, but we will also discuss the importance of these topics in adulthood, and also for our origins as a species. We will take a scientific approach to our learning, covering theories and empirical research from developmental psychology, social psychology, evolutionary psychology, and behavioral economics.

Instructor of Record: Katie Vasquez

CCTE 5000: Course Design and College Teaching

Winter, 2026

The aim of this course is to help graduate students and postdocs from across the disciplines prepare to teach in the college classroom.  Over the course of the term, we read literature on teaching and learning and use that scholarship to reflect on our own teaching practice. We read and discuss scholarship and practical advice on how people learn, how to create an inclusive and welcoming learning environment, how to design courses to promote learning, how to actively engage students, how to evaluate and apply different teaching methods, and how to assess student learning. Alongside this process of reading, reflection, and discussion, students are also engaged in designing a course of their own.  This endeavor takes the form of a course design project, which can serve as the foundation for a course students plan to teach, either in the College, at another institution, or in their first year as a faculty member.  Students also produce a statement of teaching philosophy that articulates their approach to teaching.  

Responsibilities: Teaching course content in cognitive and educational psychology, conducting weekly workshops with two small groups of students to developing course proposals and teaching portfolios, facilitating collaborative discussions amongst students with diverse perspectives, providing individualized feedback on course design, teaching strategies, and instructional materials. Instructors of Record: Mac Crite and Amanda Jungels.

PSYC 20600: Social Psychology

Summer, 2025; Fall, 2024; Fall, 2023

Can all people do evil things, or are there just a few bad apples who spearhead the atrocities of humankind? Why are people prejudiced and why do they discriminate? What qualities do people look for in a social partner? These are only a handful of the questions that motivated social psychologists to create and contribute to the field of social psychology — the scientific study of how people think about, feel about, interact with, influence, and relate to one another. Over the course of the term, we will discuss these researchers’ hypotheses, methods, and findings, as well as what this work implies for society as a whole. 

Instructor of Record Summer, 2025: Katie Vasquez 

Instructor of Record Fall, 2024: Shigehiro Oishi | Fall, 2023: Yuan Chang Leong

PSYC 20500: Developmental Psychology

Winter, 2025

This is an introductory course in developmental psychology, with a focus on cognitive and social development in infancy through early childhood. Example topics include children's early thinking about number, morality, and social relationships, as well as how early environments inform children's social and cognitive development. Where appropriate, we make links to both philosophical inquiries into the nature of the human mind, and to practical inquiries concerning education and public policy.

Responsibilities: Designing weekly lesson plans for small-group (20-person) discussions and review sessions, grading assignments and providing feedback to students, identifying trends in students' responses on exams. Instructor of Record: Kate O'Doherty. 

PSYC 25620: How Childen Think

Spring, 2024

The goal of this course is to help you understand how children's thinking develops from infancy on. We will discuss the content of children's knowledge across a variety of domains and evaluate the major theories and explanations of intellectual growth. We will review and evaluate both classic findings and state-of-the-art research on cognitive development. We will also apply classroom knowledge to real-world issues that pertain to children's cognitive development.

Responsibilities: Generating novel assignments and test-questions to assess learning objectives, designing weekly lesson plans for small-group (20-person) discussions and review sessions, grading assignments and providing feedback to students, identifying trends in students' responses on exams. Instructor of Record: Lin Bian.