Spring 2021
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Professor: Kathleen Bawn

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Selected Students' Comments:

As someone who has dealt with one too many professors who are too smart for their own good, I must say that Fernando is not only clearly well-educated and specifically seasoned in game theory, but also is a very good teacher. This is important. Many people are extremely knowledgeable, but that does not mean they are good at explaining what they know. Fernando doesn't speak to us like we're kindergarteners or colleagues. He speaks to us like we are college students, learning something for the first time--because we are. His pacing is perfect (not too fast, not too slow), he is straightforward, and he doesn't spoon-feed his students' answers. He insists on having us speak up at every step because he wants us to reason through it on our own AND together. This is great prep for homework and exams. I never walk away from a section confused; nor do I ever regret going (it's never a waste of time. He teaches for the whole 50 minutes). I also appreciate his energy level for someone who is teaching from 9-9:50 P.M. in his time zone. He is also nice. He positively reinforces correct answers and never singles people out when they're wrong; he just gives the class time to think again/more about the answer.

 

Fall 2020

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Professor: Michael Thies​

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Selected Students' Comments:

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I really like how the TA engages students with the discussions. Rather than condemning them and
telling them that they are wrong if they try to participate, he encourages them to get the right answer
and tells them that it is a part of it. I know some TAs just straight up tell their students that they are wrong
and that can be very morally discouraging especially when the class grade requires participation
grades. He is very helpful during office hours and does respond to emails. Thank you for your hard work this
quarter!

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Mello is super knowledgeable about this topic and is super friendly and personable in discussion
sections. He is inviting and asks us a lot of questions to make sure that we understand the material. He
was one of my most prepared TAs. Discussion group was always engaging and he sometimes made us
interact with other students' ideas.

Fall 2019

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Professor: Michael Thies​

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Selected Students' Comments:

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Fernando Barros De Mello is an excellent TA. By far the best TA I have had. His discussion sections not
only reinforced and clarified the lecture and reading topics but expanded on both with insights about the
field and potential jobs in the field.
 

Fernando is an absolutely instructor fantastic. He is extremely engaged, and understanding, and works with
students to ensure that they understand the material. He makes a very comfortable environment in the
discussions, where debate is okay, and so is being wrong, and this allows students to take chances,
guess, and experiment with different ideas. It was extremely useful to be able to process the course
material in more detail in the discussion, and I enjoyed it very very much. He is very strong in his knowledge
of the course material and can expand on it per student questions. This course was enriched for me
because of Fernando's help.

Fall 2018​

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Professor: Michael Thies​

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Selected Students' Comments:

My TA is an overall great person. He has a real zeal for Political Science, particularly apparent in his
interest in data and statistics, which was helpful for our papers (the bulk of the grade) focusing on data
analysis. He is not a native English speaker, but I noticed good improvement in the clarity of his speech
in the course of the ten weeks that I have been in his section (which I thought/think was/is really cool).
He is very good at explaining the massive amount of terminology and concepts within the course, which
is why I think he is a good communicator. I went to his office hours... one time, but I thought he was very
helpful. He also makes time for students outside of those hours. I think the strength of the section lies in
Fernando's cheerful disposition, leadership, and ability to guide students in a very confusing topic of
study. I think the section was one of the strongest points of the class, and I don’t think there were many
weaknesses except maybe running out of time occasionally

Winter 2018

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Professor: Daniel Treisman

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Selected Students' Comments:

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Clearly spent a significant amount of time to understand the topic to help the section, especially since it
wasn't his area of interest.  Very open and friendly. If he chooses to become a professor someday, he
will do a very good job at it. 

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Fernando is incredibly knowledgable about the material and is very helpful in explaining things about
the readings and/or lectures. Although he's difficult to understand at times, he always explains himself
and is really good at communicating in terms of e-mails and updates about the course. I did not really
enjoy the texts assigned for the course, but Fernando really helped me understand them while trying to
make them more interesting. I really enjoyed his sections and to be quite honest, they got me through
the class.

Winter 2021

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Professor: Daniel Treisman

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Selected Students' Comments:

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Fernando’s sections were always very well-organized and connected back to the readings and the
lecture material. Fernando was clearly very knowledgeable and prepared for the sections, and I felt as though he was always very concerned with student understanding. The way he broke down the readings to get students to understand the underlying argument and evidence was very helpful to me in both grasping the readings and also applying them in the exam.

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I was initially very scared for this discussion section because of the requirement to speak in class, but
Fernando made the class feel very welcoming. I was not so afraid of being wrong or expressing my
opinion which was great. I also think the format of the discussions was really helpful to prepare for
writing the midterm and final essays.

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Fernando is a great TA! I think he did a good job of expanding on and emphasizing important ideas from
the course, and the way he had us approach the readings was really helpful for writing the papers. I always felt welcome seeking help outside class.

Winter 2020

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Professor: Michael Thies​

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Selected Students' Comments:

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This teaching assistant has been the most knowledgeable T.A. I have had on the course content. He is extremely professional and interested in the course material. His discussions elaborate and expand on course concepts and delve deeper into other topics related to the course. He is also patient when
students struggle to answer questions and does not simply give us the answer. Rather he guides his
students toward the answer. I enjoyed the discussions in class although sometimes the material
presented was rather boring. I would have liked more clarity in the grading of assignments as I felt like
they sometimes rushed with no real feedback. I enjoyed how he implemented data to highlight concepts within the material allowing students to visualize them rather than just read or hear about them. My teaching assistant was very knowledgeable about class content and would be able to effectively run the sections. I enjoyed this section overall and would like having him as a T.A. for another course only if more organization, clarity, and adequate workload from the professor is available.

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Winter 2019

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Professor: Chad Hazlett

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Selected Students' Comments:

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By far my favorite TA. Always cared about helping the students and took his time to make sure we understood the material. Fernando did his best to explain a boring subject to a class full of disinterested students and I thank him for it. He explained ideas clearly, more so than the professor, and remained enthusiastic about the material. I can tell that he's truly interested and invested in data analysis.

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Mr. Barros De Mello was a lifesaver as a teaching assistant. I can't think of any weaknesses he had. He
was thorough, easily understood, and although sections were always fast paced in this course given the
time limits, he made great use of the little time we had and made everything seem simple. He was also
very caring and understanding that this is a difficult course and gave a lot of help to those who sought it.
You can tell he's passionate about the subject and it made sections entertaining

Spring 2018

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Professor: Kathleen Bawn

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Selected Students' Comments:

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The teaching assistant did a fantastic job ensuring that students understood the material being covered
in the video lectures and class workshops. He very easily explained any questions that students may
have had and gave very helpful examples in his lessons. 

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Fernando is a great TA who is very knowledgeable on game theory. It's always nice and refreshing for
us students to have a TA who is passionate about what he studies and is eager to help his students. He
often lets us know his availability, to ensure that he is available to provide a deeper understanding and
comprehension that the course covers. In addition, his caring demeanor makes it easy for us to ask
questions; he is extremely helpful! His worksheets/assignments during section has been a great tool in assisting students on learning about game theory.

Fall 2017

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Professor: Daniel Posner

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Selected Students' Comments:

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Fernando seemed passionate about making his section meetings worthwhile. He always came
prepared with relevant discussion material, and he often explained concepts better. I felt my time was justified. I would recommend him to a peer. 

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Fernando is the best TA I have ever seen! I give him a score of 100 out of 100

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​He was an absolutely awesome TA. He helped me to understand the material when the lectures were
less clear. His office hours were very helpful as well. He made writing the class's paper much easier
with his explanations. Overall he was amazing, would highly recommend him, and would take a class
just because he was the TA/instructor!