TEACHING

classroom_dumlao_unsplash-1024x305Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

“Kris is amazing! Probably the most kind, empathetic, and open-minded professor that I have had at UW! He focuses on content and people are genuinely engaged.”

I have completed a year-long program in teaching, which required reading about teaching methods, testing, and ethics but also provided extensive on-site training at a high school. To reach and support students who face challenges, I draw on years of experience working with people with disabilities and drug abuse problems. In my courses I emphasize training skills, such as writing, presenting, critical thinking, meta-theory, and data analysis. To that end I use scaffolded active learning sessions and assignments that move students from understanding to application, evaluation, and innovation.

List of courses I’ve designed and supervised, or assisted in:

Full Courses

  • Institutions, Groups, and Society
  • Introduction to Research Methods
  • Social Psychology
  • Sociology of Morality and Politics
  • Classical Sociological Theory

Short Courses

  • Learning for School, Science, and Life

Teaching Assistant

  • Modern Sociological Theory
  • Sociology of Education

Please feel free to schedule a meeting if you have questions about my courses or teaching.

STUDENT FEEDBACK

“I enjoyed taking this course! The Professor made it fair and interesting for all! Overall, it was one of my favorite classes I have taken at the university!”

„The instructor is really encouraging and values students’ progress throughout the course. The instructor also cares a lot about the mental state of the students and is willing to adjust according to students’ needs or weaknesses identified in the class.“

„Kris is really a kind and knowledgeable professor. And he is also a cool friend to talk with. I indeed learned a lot from him in this course. One of the best instructors I have ever met at DKU!“

“I had heard mostly not great things about soc theory prior to taking it (mostly that it was dry and reading-intensive) but, this teacher did a great job at making the content more interesting and easy to follow.”

“Although I do wish this class would have been in person, since I have had this professor before. He still had the same amount of energy that he did in person, as he did online which was extremely helpful.”

“Kris has been one of my favorite teachers to date at UW Madison. I thought he did a really good job encouraging learning from within. He didn’t force ways of thinking upon us but rather presented us with materials to derive our own thoughts. He also encouraged critical thinking quite a bit which I really enjoyed. Loved him and the TA. This was a great class.”

„Kris is an amiable, accessible and empathetic professor. Through a range of activities, he makes students the key role in every class, which makes the course extremely engaging. He intends to push us think hard and enhance our group work ability under time pressure in class activities, he really cares about not making students feel stressful. He is always passionate and willing to help, even beyond the course content. I really enjoyed every fruitful and inspiring office hour session with him.“

“Kris was amazing with a focus on content, not simply rote memorization for exams.”

„Kris is an absolutely fantastic lecturer and professor who cares about his field in sociology and his students. Classical Theory can be a dull and difficult subject, but Kris made huge efforts to make the class engaging and useful for our learning moving forward in sociology.“

“I don’t feel too pressured about my grade in this course. This has caused me to become more interested in the course material. I do the readings more because I’m interested rather than for a grade.”

“I really enjoyed how this course was set up. This is one of the few courses where I actually read all of the assigned materials. I felt that the professor and TA did a great job at creating a learning space for social psych. I’d gladly take a course like this again. I also think other courses may want to try and reflect this style.”

“Really enjoyed how you taught this class – with a focus on improvement. I love how there were not exams but other measures of learning.”

“This was a really excellent course. I learned a ton, and appreciated your orientation and flexibility towards making content and assignments helpful, useful, and tailored. […] Often I find that mentions of marginalized figures in history feel sort of tokenizing or cursory, but the way that you strongly incorporated all voices […] felt genuine and was an incredibly rich learning opportunity.”

„I really appreciate the patience and support of the instructor. He is really approachable after class either in the office hours or by appointment. He never hesitates to care for the students.“

„I love the mini public and I haven’t had the chance in any other courses to have so many opportunities to speak in front of the class. The instructor created a really comfortable class atmosphere that I could freely express myself in class without feeling too nervous, and I exchanged a lot of great ideas with my classmates.“

“This was genuinely my favorite class I have taken at UW. Kris was so receptive to students and helpful in making sure we stayed engaged and also learned a TON!”