Luke C.D. Stein — Teaching Feedback

The comments below were received from my students in Economics 50 (Intermediate Undergraduate Microeconomics) and Economics 202N (Microeconomic Theory for Non-Economics Ph.D. Students). Econ. 50 is the first of a three-quarter sequence in intermediate (calculus-grounded) economic theory. Econ. 202N is the first of a three-quarter sequence in microeconomic theory designed for students pursuing doctoral research outside Economics.

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Economics 50, 2009

“Great teacher and approachable. Really explains stuff in a way that is easy to understand even hard math concepts.”

“Fantastic instruction. Wouldn’t have taken the class if not for the instructor.”

“Great person to talk to after class (very approachable).”

“Great teacher, explains everything clearly and at a good pace. Also a nice guy.”

“Very good course. And I think it would be very reasonable to give 95% of the credit for this to Luke Stein. For me he made the course interesting, fun and useful. I have had many different teachers throughout my time as a student — Luke Stein is the best teacher I have ever had so far!”

“I really liked the class. I thought that Luke was engaged as a teacher. He seemed like he wanted to help us.”

“Luke Stein is truly a great teacher and provides his students with a very interactive and in depth learning environment.”

“Very organized teaching style. It is hard to get lost in lecture.”

“Very enthusiastic and positive.”

“Great job! One of the best instructors I’ve ever had”

“From the first minute he put himself in respect, but in a very natural and interactive way. First of all Luke is a brilliant instructor, who engage in his students and cares about the students learning. Then he asked to evaluate him after the first couple of lectures so he could improve if we wanted. The result of the evaluation was that everybody was very happy about his ability to communicate and teach. He was very kind to give feedback on problem sets, writing assignments and midterms and already offered us to write him now after the term is done if we would like to ask him any questions.”

“This was a wonderful class. I made many mistakes, but I never doubted my understanding of the material. Luke bent over backwards to see that we got things.”

“Great Teacher = Great course”

Economics 202N, 2008

“He is passionate and energetic about teaching! He is the best instructor I’ve ever had at Stanford.”

“I was very impressed by Luke’s overall teaching style — he was able to present the material in a coherent, understandable manner that made the course interesting and enjoyable. Probably one of the better instructors I have taken a course from.”

“Luke has exceptional enthusiasm for what he teaches and conducts class with exceptional energy. He explains things very clearly and is able to express the intuition of complex topics in a particularly insightful way.”

“Excellent energy! Lectures were very well organized. Material and handout were very useful. In a word, an exceptionally good class!”

“Luke is one of the best teachers I have ever had. He explains challenging concepts well, is very approachable, and is aware of which areas students need additional help with.”

“I very much enjoyed this course and have to admit that I am now much more interested in the material than I was prior to taking it. Overall it was a well organized/executed course with difficult material presented in a coherent and interesting manner.”

“The best course that I have seen.”

“In the classroom, he prompts for answers, encourages students to think, to make connections, to practice and reinforce, to learn from other students and to feel free to ask any stupid question. He answers all my questions on the spot, very clearly and is ready to answer questions anywhere, anytime. I have sent tons of email questions to Luke and I get excellent email replies very timely. Luke is very easy-going and approachable, which brings a relaxed and harmonious atmosphere to the classroom. And his office hours are just as outstanding as his lectures because every time he is so well prepared for every minute of his time with students.”

“Amazing instruction.”

“Don’t let Luke stop teaching this course.”

Economics 202N, 2007

“Luke is one of the best lecturers I have seen. Everything was explained clearly. Class was never too fast or too slow. He had a great understanding of when students were confused. He is a really terrific teacher. I am in awe of his teaching ability.”

“I can’t say enough positive things about Luke’s presentation of this material! Especially after comparing notes with students who have taken this course in the past, it is CLEAR that we lucked out this quarter with Luke at the helm. He obviously devoted a ridiculous amount of time and energy to preparing the lectures, and all of us believed that he was genuinely concerned about whether or not we understood the material.”

“Luke was amazing. I wish I could give him all excellents — the critiques I have of the class are mainly things that are out of his hands. In particular, I think he did a great job of: being accessible, trying to keep a good pace of a class with very disparate backgrounds and interests, explaining things both technically and intuitively. I have been dreading this class for over 2 years and I actually enjoyed every lecture.”

“Most enthusiastic, personable and helpful instructor I dare say I’ve ever had.”

“Luke is an amazing lecturer. He took material that is near incomprehensible and made it somewhat interesting. He also seemed to really anticipate what things students might struggle with conceptually. I felt like he never was taken off guard by a question about intuition (which is rare in the econ department).”

“Luke is one of the best if not the best professor that I had in my academic journey. He has simply a natural talent as a teacher. Nothing more nothing less.”

“Luke is an amazing teacher. He was the best teacher I had at Stanford thus far. The slides he created were amazing. They were by far the most concise and clear learning material presented. Its kind of redundant to say, because I’m sure you see it too, but I get the impression that no matter how someone knows this person, that he’s going to be a positive force in their life. A real gem to society.”

“Luke hands-down the best professor I had this quarter. Older students in my program who heard us talking about our Econ experience were, quite frankly, jealous. Good job, Luke!”

“Good understanding of the materials help convey unfamiliar concepts effectively; very concerned about the class and students’ understanding; responsive to questions.”

“Very eloquent and explained concepts very clearly.”

“Very effective teaching and made sure that students were following the lessons. For a difficult and theoretical topic, the instructor made the lectures engaging and relatively easy to follow.”

“Luke is amazingly nice to students and really cares his students. He makes great efforts in class to ensure that every student understand the stuff and his interaction with students makes the class a very enjoyable one.”

“Very very patient, took all our questions and responses and adjusted his teaching accordingly. Was very open and receptive to feedback. Great teacher who is truly concerned for his students.”