Gagandeep Sachdeva

Over the course of my PhD, I have been actively involved in teaching and mentorship. My teaching philosophy focuses on creating a supportive, inclusive learning environment where students are encouraged to engage critically and analytically with topics typically taught in economics courses, but with an emphasis on economics as a quantitative social science.

You can read more about my teaching philosophy here, and you can find my statement of teaching effectiveness here.

Graduate Pedagogy Fellow, UCSC Teaching and Learning Center (2022-Present)

• Assisting in developing teaching strategies for graduate students in their role as teaching assistants.
• Conducting professional development workshops for graduate teaching assistants in using active learning in economics classrooms.
• Workshops focused on defining learning goals for each lecture, creating active-learning based teaching strategies for introductory and intermediate courses, and giving effective feedback.
• You can find feedback from workshop participants here.

Peer Mentor, Summer GSI Peer Support Team, UCSC (2024)

• Mentored and provided peer support to first-time graduate student instructors (GSIs) in STEM fields.
  • Developing equity-minded course learning outcomes, assessment plans, and an engaging course structure.
  • Leading discussions on effective teaching strategies, giving feedback to students, and navigating classroom challenges.
  • Facilitating peer feedback on lesson planning, syllabus design, and reflective teaching practices.

Graduate Student Instructor, UCSC Department of Economics (Summer 2024)

• Intermediate Microeconomics (Online Asynchronous Modality)
• You can find students' evaluations here.

Teaching Assistant, UCSC Department of Economics (2019-Present)

• Applied Econometrics I (Masters, Fall 2024)
• Introductory Microeconomics (Winter 2020, Winter and Spring 2021, Winter 2025)
• Introductory Macroeconomics (Fall 2023, Spring 2025)
• Intermediate Microeconomics (Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Winter 2024, Spring 2024)
• Industrial Organization (Winter 2022)
• Applications in Microeconomics (Masters, Spring 2022)

Selected Feedback

• "Gagandeep was extremely helpful in guiding us through the homework material and the general course. His mannerisms, presentation of information, and how he explained it were top–notch. He was extremely helpful during office hours and went out of his way to help. His section material supplemented the class very well."
• "Gagandeep is super friendly and approachable. Felt like I could ask a question whenever. And whenever I did, he was helpful."
• "Gagandeep had a very targeted approach to helping us refine our understanding of the material. Primarily by making sure we understood what was expected through assignments."
• "The TA was great at explaining the material! I particularly appreciated how they explained the why behind the material and covered it all very thoroughly."
• "I appreciated how interactive Gagandeep made sections. It was helpful that he encouraged every student interact instead of letting one or two students answer everything. Being somewhat put on the spot, or expected to engage helped me learn and engage with the material."
• "Everyone in section was asked at least one question or another pertaining to the slides, which greatly helped with feeling engaged! If we got an answer wrong, Gagandeep was very encouraging and patient til we were able to find the correct solution– this was very much appreciated, it made the environment a lot less daunting. Additionally, the week of Thanksgiving when sections didn't meet, he sent us a recording of the material from the week on his own time, which was very helpful and appreciated as well! It was definitely the most engaging and enjoyable section I've been apart of."
• "Makes class engaging by encouraging questions. Calls on students and if they don't know the answer, he'll work it out with us. Cracks jokes to get the students to laugh, good atmosphere."
• "Gagandeep is extremely good at teaching intermediate microeconomics. His sections are well structured and he cultivates a welcoming environment that encourages student participation. He seems invested in his students and to genuinely care about their success. His teaching methods helped boost my confidence and helped me succeed in this class. He was able to break down concepts in ways to where I actually understood course material instead of just going through the motions of solving problems using set equations."
• "Gagandeep Sachdeva also made us pass around a talking stick to answer what step/ method of the question we do. This made me stay on my toes and be engaged with the material even if we would say the wrong thing Gagandeep would help guide us and learn our mistakes in a way that didn't make us scared to make mistakes."
• "The format of sections were very well organized – going through a slideshow every week to study concepts, which were outlined at the beginning of the slideshow itself. It helped very much to understand what our learning goals were, and the practice examples themselves were very informative!"

You can find my full set of teaching evaluations here.