Undergraduate Courses
As a Ph.D. student at Georgia State University I have taught three courses as the instructor of record, served various appointments as teaching assistant, and supervised two undergraduate internships. Below, I discuss the courses I have taught or assisted teaching and provide select samples of teaching materials. For a comprehensive summary of student evaluations click here.
Instructor of Record
1. Introduction to Political Research, POLS 3800
Fall 2017: Course size 25, Student evaluations (Overall: 4.4/5.00)
Fall 2018: Section A: Course size 25, Student evaluations (Overall: 4.7/5.00)
Fall 2018: Section B: Course size 21, Student evaluation (Overall: 4.4/5.00)
- This course introduces students to the empirical study of political science and basic quantitative research methodology. The first unit of this course covers concepts like defining a research question, theory-building, and hypothesis testing. The second unit of this course introduces students to common methods of analyses including bivariate/multivariate regression and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Students are required to submit a full-length research paper featuring their own data collection and original analysis.
2. Voting & Elections, POLS 4155
Spring 2018: Course size 46, Student evaluations (Overall: 4.7/5.00)
- In this course students learn about the institutional, behavioral, and technological factors that influence contemporary American elections and political campaign strategies.
3. Introduction to American Government, POLS 1101
Fall 2015: Section A: Course size 16, Student evaluations (Overall: 4.5/5.00)
Fall 2015: Section B: Course size 46, Student evaluations (Overall: 4.7/5.00)
Spring 2016: Section A: Course size 34, Student evaluations (Overall: 4.5/5.00)
Spring 2016: Section B: Course size 150, Student evaluations (Overall: 4.7/5.00)
Spring 2020: Section A: Course size 121, Student evaluation (Overall: 4.9/5.00)
Spring 2020: Section B: Course size 144, Student evaluation (Overall: 4.8/5.00)
- I have taught multiple super-sections of Introduction to American Government at Georgia State. To overcome some of the pedagogical obstacles of a class this size I chose to utilize Soomo Learning’s innovative webtext in American Government.
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant
1. Zoukis Research Collaborative, POLS 4190
Mixed-Methods Instructor & Family History of Incarceration Research Team Leader
Summer 2019
- As a group instructor, I led three research teams which examined the impact of familial incarceration in the United States. The team primarily built upon survey research conducted by Peter Enns (et al. 2019) which investigates how American families are affected mentally, emotionally, and financially by a family member’s incarceration.
2. Zoukis Research Collaborative, POLS 4190
Director and Documentary Team Leader
Summer 2018
- As a group instructor, I worked with a team of undergraduates to film a short documentary on the mission of the Zoukis Research Collaborative. I also oversaw the filming and post-production editing of a short-length feature entitled “Juvie Talk” based upon the work of Richard Ross which illustrates the stories of incarcerated juveniles.
3. Zoukis Research Collaborative, POLS 4190
Experimental Methods Instructor & Solitary Confinement Research Team Leader
Summer(s) 2016; 2017
- As a group instructor for the Zoukis Research Collaborative, I worked with a team of undergraduates to develop hypotheses, specify regression models, and interpret results from survey data on attitudes toward solitary confinement.
4. Zoukis Summer Institute and Research Collaborative
Quantitative Methods Instructor
Summer 2015
- At the inaugural Zoukis Summer Institute and Research Collaborative (before becoming incorporated with POLS 4190), I conducted an intensive one-week seminar teaching students how to collect and interpret public opinion data and how to perform statistical analyses using STATA.
5. Supplemental Instruction Leader for American Government, POLS 1101
Fall 2012 – Spring 2014.
- As an instruction leader with the Office of Supplemental Instruction I conducted weekly recitations of the course material. I also learned the value of multimodal teaching strategies to accommodate the unique educational needs of each student.
Undergraduate Internship Supervision
- Diamond Qualls, Internship with CP Law Group, Spring 2019.
- Tyler Lewis, Internship with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Fall 2018.
Graduate Courses
I served as the teaching assistant and lab instructor for all three graduate-level quantitative methodology courses. I have also worked closely with and received training from GSU’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) to develop interactive digital content for faculty teaching online graduate courses in political science. Below, I discuss these positions in more detail with links to the digital portfolios I created for online graduate courses.
Lab Instructor
1. Intermediate Statistical Methods, POLS 8810
Teaching Assistant & Lab Instructor
Georgia State University, Spring 2015
- In this position I was primarily responsible for holding weekly lab hours to teach graduates how to utilize the statistical software package STATA for their weekly assignments on ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. I also assisted the professor in creating course assignments and conducted STATA Workshops for political science graduates students.
2. Advanced Quantitative Methods, POLS 8830
Teaching Assistant & Lab Instructor
Georgia State University, Fall 2014
- In this position I was primarily responsible for holding weekly lab hours to teach graduates how to utilize the statistical software package STATA for their weekly assignments on maximum likelihood estimation (MLE). I also assisted the professor in creating course assignments and conducted STATA Workshops for political science graduates students.
3. Introduction to Quantitative Research, POLS 8805
Teaching Assistant & Lab Instructor
Georgia State University, Fall 2014
- In this position I was primarily responsible for holding weekly lab hours each week to assist graduate students with weekly assignments on the fundamentals of research design and statistical analysis (descriptive statistics and bivariate regression modeling). I also assisted the professor in creating course assignments and conducted STATA Workshops for political science graduates students.
Graduate Teaching Assistant
4. (Online) Seminar in Effective Teaching- Post-Secondary, Special Focus: Teaching American Citizenship, POLS 8997
Teaching Assistant & iCollege Digital Content Developer
Georgia State University, Summer 2018
- This position allowed me to work closely with faculty in the College of Education and the staff at GSU’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) to develop creative digital course content for online graduate courses in both the Department of Middle and Secondary Education and the Department of Political Science.
- Access this course’s Digital Portfolio for video samples.
- Access this course’s Digital Portfolio for video samples.
5. (Online) Campaigns and Elections in the United States, POLS 6158/8980
Teaching Assistant & iCollege Digital Content Developer
Georgia State University, Fall 2016 & Summer 2017
- This position allowed me to work closely with Political Science faculty and the staff at GSU’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) to develop creative digital course content for online graduate courses in the Department of Political Science.
- Access this course’s Digital Portfolio for video samples.
Dr. Kristina M. LaPlant 