I take pride in teaching. There is no satisfaction greater than seeing the face of a student light up after grasping a difficult concept for the first time. Inspired by my teachers, both good and bad, I have learned that teaching is not merely about regurgitating the material at hand, but about engaging students in critical thinking consistent with the Socratic method. I believe that a successful teacher should be able to find effective means of teaching students the course material, and teach students to question and explore instead of taking everything at face value. Therefore, I view my role not only as someone who explains to students concepts and ideas, but also as someone who guides them to ask the right questions and helps them to understand the answers.
Courses Taught
- Washington University in St. Louis:
- CSE 311A: Introduction to Intelligent Agents Using Science Fiction (Fall 2018, Spring 2020, Fall 2022)
- CSE 412A/511A: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022)
- DCDS 499: Introduction to Graduate Research in Computational and Data Sciences (Fall 2019)
- DCDS 500: Computational and Data Sciences Research Exploration (Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023)
- New Mexico State University:
- CS 475/505: Artificial Intelligence I (Spring 2014, Spring 2015)
- CS 479: Introduction to Intelligent Agents Using Science Fiction (Fall 2014, Fall 2015)
- CS 479/579: Advanced Topics in Agents Research (Spring 2016)
- CS 479/579: Distributed Constraint Reasoning (Fall 2013)
- CS 479/579: Heuristic Search and Its Applications (Spring 2013)
- CS 479/579: Introduction to Smart Grids (Fall 2016)
- CS 483/503: Introduction to Robotics (Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2016)
- CS 575: Artificial Intelligence II (Fall 2012, Fall 2014)
Teaching Awards
- Excellence in Teaching Award, Emerson (2022)
- Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award in Mentoring, Computer Science Graduate Student Organization, New Mexico State University (2015, 2016)
- Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award in Teaching, Computer Science Graduate Student Organization, New Mexico State University (2013)
- Teaching Assistant Fellow, Center for Excellence in Teaching, University of Southern California (2009)
- Award for Excellence in Teaching, Center for Excellence in Teaching, University of Southern California (2008)
- University Outstanding Teaching Award Nomination, University of Southern California (2008)
- Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, Computer Science Department, University of Southern California (2004, 2007)