Teaching

Teaching is more than just knowing the material–students are putting their trust and their future in my hands. Every question and piece of feedback is an opportunity to align and better understand students. I can feel as time goes on there is the “professorial pull” away from relating to or caring about students, or treating teaching as a necessary evil of a research career. I feel that teaching enhances and deepens my research and identity as an economist, not detracting from it in the least. The most promising and genuine students bring so much joy into my life and work. Even the most difficult students are a window into the new world of learners and although it can be challenging, I try to learn from all my interactions with students.

Before my PhD, I taught test prep and academic courses with The Princeton Review (TPR) at several of their locations as well as high schools and tutoring centers all over Southern California. Later, I served as a Graduate Student Instructor at UC Berkeley in both the Mathematics and Statistics departments, and am serving as a Teaching Assistant at UCLA during the 2025-2026 school year in the Economics department. I will serve as the instructor of record for Economics 103 (Econometrics) in the Summer Session A 2026. See the UCLA Schedule of Classes for details.

Academic Courses

Instructor of Record

Teaching Assistant

Lectures Given

Athletic and Recreation Courses

Selected Comments from Past Students

“Jake has been the best teaching assistant I’ve had in my experience at UCLA so far. As a first-generation student, my resources are limited when it comes to finding tutoring so having him provide this information has helped me piece everything together. I bombed my Econometrics 103 class last quarter, but I have definitely seen better results which has also contributed to my confidence. He constantly checks in to make sure you are okay, and he also makes you feel like you can contribute to the discussion without belittling you for being unfamiliar with the material. His presentation slides during discussion are also top tier. He tells you why its meaningful and how we can apply it to our courses and future.” – ECON 104, Winter 2026

“Jake is genuinely one of the best teachers I have had the pleasure of learning from. He is hands-down the best TA I have had at UCLA. In the Economics department especially, no one compares to Jake. I found Jake’s most impressive trait to be his ability to relieve student anxiety in what was frequently a frustrating and challenging course. Jake listened carefully to student experiences of the course and clearly put in significant effort to develop materials that were digestible, which made the course feel much more manageable. Jake’s willingness to share stories about times earlier in his education when he struggled with the material we were covering in class made him feel approachable, and like a real person.” – ECON 104, Winter 2026

“Jake Anderson singlehandedly saved my grade and understanding of the course. As someone with very little knowledge of coding or data science, I did need the extra help. Jake always responded to emails very quickly, he held extra office hours, and was always open to questions. Going to Jake’s office hours was never a waste of time, and I felt as though even if I sat just to listen to other students’ questions I would learn more than what the course required. Jake understands that a lot of us have no idea what’s going on half the time, and knows how to create economic examples that are relatable and easier to envision so the only thing that’s new is the math/economic concept itself.” – ECON 104, Winter 2026

“I have had Jake for two quarters in two of the hardest economics courses, and I can confidently say I would not have done nearly as well without his help. Jake is extremely committed to student learning, and I found the website he created for the course to be extremely helpful. He built the website himself and filled it with his own explanations and lessons that walked through the material we were learning in class. Many of the chapters and lectures could be confusing or very dense, but Jake’s website broke the concepts down in a much clearer and more structured way. I am confident Jake would be a fantastic professor. He is by far one of the best educators in the economics department and clearly shows he genuinely cares about student learning.” – ECON 104, Winter 2026

“Genuinely, Jake is one of the best TAs to have entering statistics-based courses, specifically ones that integrate R coding. He also has a coach mentality that I appreciate, responding to questions with better questions to progress through their problem and figure it out on their own, rather than telling them directly or just repeating their question back to them. In addition to his dedication during TA sections, he shows that he cares about his students in subtler ways: answering to emails very quickly and smiling after you finish your midterm so you feel better about it! It would be an honor to have him as a professor.” – ECON 103, Fall 2025

UC Berkeley

“Jake was the best GSI I have ever had. Often, when teachers are so smart, they forget that not everybody has their base knowledge and skip over things. Jake broke everything down so well that it was easy to follow. He also gave us clear outlines of what we should do and study which was much appreciated.” – STAT 135, Spring 2020

“Jake brings enthusiasm to the course and values the students’ learning of the material. He fosters more of an active learning culture by having students search on their own before they have questions, and he carries a bright attitude throughout the curriculum.” – STAT 135, Spring 2020

“Jake Anderson was the best GSI I could’ve asked for for this class. He was extremely approachable and cared deeply about whether his students understood the material, even extending his office hours so as to accommodate students’ schedules. He was also very clear and used real-world examples to enhance understanding.” – STAT 135, Spring 2020

“Jake is incredibly passionate about ensuring that we are prepared for future math courses. He is always incredibly prepared; he happily and effectively answers all questions.” – MATH 1B, Fall 2019

“Jake was such a great teacher! He made section fun, explained things really well and brought a good energy!” – MATH 1B, Fall 2019