I enjoy teaching the usual ``intro'' class in American government, as I get the opportunity to encourage students to evaluate the government as a political scientist would. I especially enjoy teaching methods and research design at both the graduate and undergraduate level. I also regularly teach classes on American institutions. I received research leave through the New Faculty Semester Release from Teaching Grant in Spring 2019. I have also created some additional resources (Shiny apps and rdrr.io code), which are available here.
Sole instruction: I have had the opportunity to teach several courses.
Auburn University
POLI 1090: American Government in a Multicultural World. Each section averages between 100-200 students. Behavior and institutions in American government from a scientific perspective. Fall 2016: one section (syllabus). Fall 2017: one section (syllabus). Spring 2018: one section (syllabus). Fall 2018: one section (syllabus). Fall 2019: one section (syllabus). Spring 2020: one section (syllabus). Fall 2020: one section (syllabus).
POLI 3000: Research Methods for Political Science I. We cover basic quantitative research approaches to scientific research questions. This culminates in a scientific examination of the 2016 presidential election as a group project. Summer 2017: one section (syllabus). Fall 2017: one section (syllabus). Summer 2018: one section (syllabus). Summer 2019: one section (syllabus). Summer 2020: one section (syllabus). Fall 2021: one section (syllabus). Spring 2022: one section (syllabus). Fall 2022: one section (syllabus). Fall 2023: one section (syllabus).
POLI 3290: The American Presidency. We cover personal approaches to the presidency and then transition to evaluating the institution of the presidency in context with other American institutions. The course is taught from a scientific perspective with an emphasis on practical political science research. It concludes with a simulation of the challenges of presidential involvement in policymaking in American government. Fall 2016: one section (syllabus).
POLI 3310: The Legislative Process. We cover the constitutional foundations and responsibilities of the U.S. Congress before transitioning to a political science perspective of the actual performance of Congress. Special attention is paid to the challenge of lawmaking, how that process has evolved over time, and the unique roles of the House and Senate. The course concludes with a lawmaking simulation. Spring 2017: one section (syllabus). Spring 2018: one section (syllabus). Spring 2020: one section (syllabus). Fall 2021: one section (syllabus).
POLI 3400: Political Parties and Interest Groups. We start from a perspective of the need for organizing in politics. From there, we turn to parties and interest groups as organizing actors in politics. Special attention is paid to the contemporary effects of the group-based nature of party identification in particular. Spring 2022: one section (syllabus).
POLI 3980: Undergraduate Research (independent study, undergraduate). Spring 2020: one section on Congressional Politics and Divided Government (syllabus). Fall 2021: one section on Congressional and Presidential Interaction (syllabus).
POLI 7000: Research Methods for Public and Nonprofit Organizations (graduate). This is the required methods course for the MPA program. We cover basic probability theory, introduce frequentist approaches to testing hypotheses (focusing on substantively interesting tests and confidence intervals, not just the null hypothesis), apply regression (especially from a practical perspective), and learn some basic data visualization, all from an applied perspective. Spring 2021: one section (syllabus). Spring 2023: one section (syllabus). Spring 2024: one section (syllabus).
POLI 7960: Special Problems (independent study, graduate). Summer 2019: one section on Income Inequality and Tax Policy (syllabus). Spring 2021: one section on Survey Design and Analysis (syllabus). Spring 2021: one section on Parties and Polarization in the US (cross-listed with POLI 8970) (syllabus).
POLI 8010: Research Design and Analysis (graduate). We build the foundation of scientific thinking: science, the process of inference, and the challenge of designing research to maximize the validity of those inferences. We then survey a variety of research methods to build familiarity with political science research. Spring 2017: one section (syllabus). Fall 2018: one section (syllabus). Fall 2020: one section (syllabus). Fall 2022: one section (syllabus, Shiny and rdrr.io resources).
POLI 8130: Quantitative Methods (graduate). We cover basic probability theory, introduce frequentist approaches to testing hypotheses, cover regression extensively (especially from a practical perspective), and conclude with a tour of extensions and addendums to the classic regression model. Fall 2019: one section (syllabus). Fall 2023: one section (syllabus, Shiny and rdrr.io resources).
POLI 8970: Special Topics (independent study, graduate). Spring 2021: one section on Parties and Polarization in the US (cross-listed with POLI 7960) (syllabus). Spring 2023: one section on Partisanship and Policy (syllabus).
Texas A&M University
POLS 206: Introduction to American National Government. Each section averages around 225 students. Behavior and institutions in American government from a scientific perspective. Spring 2015: two sections (syllabus). Summer 2015: one section (syllabus). Summer 2016: one section (syllabus).
POLS 209: Introduction to Political Science Research. It is the required undergraduate methods course for all political science majors. The course aims to build scientific literacy and culminates in an original research paper. Spring 2016: one section (syllabus).
Graduate: I have been the Supplemental Instructor for POLS 602, the first graduate-level statistics course at Texas A&M University. I designed and graded homework assignments as well as held office hours for students. In the summer of 2013, I was the Teaching Assistant for Maximum Likelihood Estimation for Generalized Linear Models (First Session) and Longitudinal Analysis (Second Session) at ICPSR, which required daily office hours, as well as construction of keys for homework assignments and grading.