Teaching has been part of my life since High School, when I worked as an electric guitar instructor. Since going to graduate school is much more profitable than being a successful musician, I started teaching Economics as soon as I entered in the Ph.D. program at the University of Utah. I have mostly taught quantitative methods (Probability & Statistics and Econometrics) at the undergraduate level, and it has become one of my passions.
My teaching philosophy gravitates around three main principles: empathy with students, the need for intuition, and connecting economic/statistical theory with real-world examples.
You can download my Teaching Philosophy Statement here.
Some anonymous student evaluations for Probability & Statistical Inference and Principles of Econometrics classes:
“Marcio Santetti takes great pride in his work, and you see that in his teaching. He made sure we understood the theory and not just memorization. He took the time to make sure no question was unimportant.”
“Professor Santetti was extremely well organized and was capable of explaining the course content in a manner understandable for all students. He was extremely helpful when any students experienced any difficulties and encouraged participation. I genuinely wish to take more courses from you. Fantastic instructor in every sense of the word.”
“This was the most effective professor I’ve had at the University of Utah. He is very patient with students and is always willing to ask questions. Made my experience at the University of Utah much more fulfilling and it’s really nice to know that this professor genuinely cares about his students.”
“Marcio teaches not to give us a grade but to make us understand. I have learned far more in his class that has been applicable to my work than in any other class that was deemed, ‘more difficult.’ He cares about students understanding and teaches to them and not just to simply get through the lectures.”
The next two figures illustrate the average responses of students to instructor1 and course2 effectiveness. These questions refer to each semester that I was the course full instructor. These responses lie on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). The average scores for the Economics department are included for comparison.
The questions are: (1) “the instructor was organized;” (2) “the instructor presented course content effectively;” (3) “the instructor created/supported a classroom environment that was respectful;” (4) “the instructor demonstrated thorough knowledge of the subject”; (5) “as appropriate, the instructor encouraged questions and opinions;” (6) “the instructor was available for consultation with students;” (7) “overall, this was an effective instructor”. ↩︎
The questions are: (1) “the course objectives were clearly stated;” (2) “the course objectives were met;” (3) “the course content was well organized;” (4) “the course materials were helpful in meeting course objectives;” (5) “assignments and exams reflected what was covered in the course;” (6) “I learned a great deal in this course;” (7) “overall, this was an effective course”. ↩︎