Student Evaluations
How would you evaluate Simone Paci's teaching effectiveness?
Responses from end-of-semester evaluations. TA positions without a teaching component only included grading and occasional office hours.
Student Engagement
"Simone made coding interesting and exciting. His passion made section enjoyable and entertaining, and because of him, I paid much more attention to a topic I don't consider myself particularly interested in."
(Fall 2019 - Research Methods)
"Simone has been one of the most dedicated, organized, and involved TAs I have had. He crafted fun, engaging, and innovative ways to explore theories that may be hard to grasp. I really appreciated his creativity."
(Fall 2022 - International Political Economy)
Teaching Effectiveness
"Simone was a great TA. He had a great capacity to connect the discussion section material (which were software-based) with what we had covered in class and gave examples to better illustrate the process."
(Fall 2019 - Research Methods)
"Simone taught very clearly, with visuals, and was sure to be engaging, letting students arrive at conclusions themselves through participation rather than feeding us the answers. He was able to effectively boil down the main points of the readings so that we all understood them."
(Fall 2022 - International Political Economy)
"He wants all of his students to have a strong understanding of the material and is happy to re-explain concepts. He is always available and flexible, which I truly appreciated. One of the best TAs I've ever worked with!"
(Fall 2022 - International Political Economy)
Grading & Student Assessment
"Simone is an incredibly helpful teaching assistant. Although I struggled with formulating a historical argument in the beginning of the course, Simone met with me to provide feedback and improve my quality of organization. By the end of the semester, I felt confident that I could deliver a clear argument with a mix of historical information and analytical grit."
(Spring 2021 - American Urban Politics)
"Approachable, nice, available for all office hours and on time. Understood the topics well and would work with you however much you needed to make sure you too understood."
(Fall 2018 - The Logic of Collective Action)
Peer Evaluations
The following are excerpts from teaching-observation reports and mid-semester reviews conducted by the Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning.
Student Engagement
"Thanks to Simone’s preparation and deft in-class facilitation, student participation was extremely high (18/20 students spoke during the hour I was present). Students engaged in genuine dialogue with the instructor and each other, yielding an intellectually vibrant course environment."
(Spring 2023 - European Union Politics, Teaching Observation #1)
"Simone has been one of the most dedicated, organized, and involved TAs I have had. He crafted fun, engaging, and innovative ways to explore theories that may be hard to grasp. I really appreciated his creativity."
(Spring 2023 - European Union Politics, Mid-Course Review)
Teaching Effectiveness
"It was a great pleasure to observe Simone, an instructor at the top of his game. I was particularly impressed by his strategies for fostering student engagement and enthusiasm and by his practice of varying modes of engagement over the course of the seminar. Students seemed challenged and inspired by the course material and by Simone’s instruction."
(Spring 2023 - European Union Politics)
"The students had glowing reviews of Simone and the course. One of the most remarkable comments were students’ perception of the mutual respect and trust between themselves and Simone. In general, the environment of the course was lighthearted – students were thoughtfully listening to one another and were engaged (verbal confirmation and nonverbal nodding), and there was a sense of ease/comfort."
(Spring 2023 - European Union Politics, Mid-Course Review)
Grading & Student Assessment
"Students very much appreciated the timely, meticulous, and concise feedback provided by Simone on their capstone project assignments. Students also felt grateful for the new directions Simone pointed them towards through his feedback. "
(Spring 2023 - European Union Politics, Mid-Course Review)