Teaching Experience Teaching Statement

I have accumulated extensive teaching experience during my time as a PhD Student. The courses I have taught range from foundational economic theory courses, elective courses, and econometric courses; all at the undergraduate level. I have taught them in 4 week and 10 week modules, as well as in-person and online. Courses have varied in size from 30 to 90 students while I have also managed teaching assistants.

When possible and relevant to the course, I like to engage the class with in-class activities. For example, in my International Economics Course, I periodically have the class act as an international market with different productivity endownments and resources to simulate comparative advantages.

In order to appeal to make the material more accessible and approachable to students, I have created websites for each course with all the necessary content. You can find links to these at each course below.

Courses as Instructor of Record

EC 311: Intermediate Microeconomics

Summer 2023, Fall 2024

The objective of this course is to provide you with an introduction to, and overview of, the most important concepts in microeconomics. The material in this course provides the foundation for studying issues in a wide variety of fields in economics, including international trade, labor, development, and other fields, and is essential for further study in economics.

Building off of basic microeconomic concepts, students will develop the ability to examine models of agents’ decisions, including consumer utility maximization, firm profit maximization, and market equilibria. Most importantly, students will develop the ability to perform constrained optimization in both the economic and critical thinking sense.

  • “Jose has a way of teaching that is clear and easy to follow. He is a gifted teacher, and am grateful and blessed to have had him.”
  • “Jose made accommodations for me when I needed it, and made time outside of class to go over material which I found to be very helpful. Great guy and teacher.”
  • “Jose had an interesting way of teaching in which he was relatable and made the content he was teaching easy to learn. The learning experience was the best out of any other teacher i have had at the UO. I would hope he continues teaching!”

Complete Course Survey

EC 320: Introduction to Econometrics

Summer 2025

Application of classical statistical techniques of estimation, hypothesis testing, and regression to economic models.

  • “The slideshows were amazing”
  • “The thorough explanations as to why something is that way is very helpful.”

EC 380: International Economic Issues

Fall 2024, Winter 2025

Exchange across international boundaries, theory of comparative advantage, balance of payments and adjustments, international financial movements, exchange rates and international financial institutions, trade restrictions and policy.

  • “I have gone to Jose’s office hours for homework and midterm review. He is very understanding and thoughtful in his clarification. I appreciate his humor and honestly with the class. Jose wants everyone to do well and interpret economics theories in a digestible way.”
  • “Accommodating and creates an environment where it is easy to ask questions”
  • “The in-class activities where we had all simulated being countries with different resources were very fun and engaging to class material. Class was very straightforward and engaging at the same time.”
  • “Well structured with concise and organized information. Course had good flow, concepts explained simply but walked through thoroughly. Professor is engaging and includes relevant and recent research or literature in lectures.”

Complete Course Survey

EC 390: Problems and Issues in the Developing Economies

Fall 2025

Topics may include the role of central planning, capital formation, population growth, agriculture, health and education, interaction between economic and cultural change, and the “North-South debate.”

  • “I was a big fan of the term project of this course being a research proposal. It was a low-stakes (in that you didn’t have to complete an entire research project) way of exploring what beginning research in the economics field might look like, something I haven’t had the opportunity to do at this point in time and honestly didn’t know much about. It dove-tailed well with the econometrics class I was taking at the same time, giving me an idea of conceptual and practical ways to execute economics research. Very cool!”
  • “The fact that we are pushed to actually understand economics rather than memorize it has helped me immensely. I truly appreciate the actual learning that I have achieved this term.”
  • “Jose was an excellent instructor. His feedback on assignments was always so good. He has been one of the most organized instructors I have had, with his own website that made everything super easy to find. Always went above and beyond.”

Complete Course Survey