ALEKSANDR VASHCHILKO

aleksandr.vashchilko@vanderbilt.edu

cell: (814) 308 - 4581

fax:  (615) 343 - 8495

Teaching Statement in PDF

TEACHING

As a teaching assistant for a wide range of economics classes, I have come to appreciate that an effective teacher actively engages students for gaining knowledge of theoretical concepts and practical application of those concepts to real-world situations. This approach seems to contribute to students’ university experiences by expanding their understanding of the complexity of the world and, thereby, render them better prepared for future academic or professional careers.

Understanding that every school has its own mission, I believe that I will need to adjust my teaching style accordingly to fulfill my role as a teacher within the school’s broader vision of a faculty member’s responsibilities, and to better serve students’ interests. Adjusting teaching style does not mean changing my teaching philosophy that stresses active engagement of students in classroom and research projects, accommodation of students’ different backgrounds, and providing high-quality theoretical and empirical knowledge of economics in combination with real world application.

At the undergraduate level, the most important aspects for students to grasp are the broad concepts of economics, the ability to apply appropriate econometric/game theory tools to explain economic phenomena, and actual research experience through involvement in projects according to each student’s motivation.

At the graduate level, the instructor’s task is more challenging, since graduate students develop their own research agendas (mostly at the PhD level), and/or build more advanced set skill-sets (mostly at the Master’s level). At the graduate level, the most important aspects for students’ attention are knowledge of cutting-edge research, construction and extension of this research by identifying existing gaps or/and puzzles that have not been solved, configuration of  a research problem to answer a specific research question, and  use of advanced techniques to solve that problem.