Teaching Philosophy

For my full teaching statement, please click here.

My goal as an instructor is to leave every student with economic intuition and the ability to think critically, tools they can carry to problems they have never seen before. I strive to build a classroom that is organized, responsive, empathetic, and passionate: one where students feel comfortable asking questions and can trust me as their instructor.

Strategies I use include: dissecting problems using multiple lenses, then showing how the different perspectives connect with one another; structuring each lecture so that we review the previous material, introduce new theory, explore it from different directions, and work examples together; treating every question as a good question, because one dismissive answer can teach a student to stop asking; and making myself available beyond scheduled hours through extra office hours, one-on-one meetings, review sessions, and plenty of practice material.

Courses Taught and Evaluations

As Primary Instructor

Econ 105: Introduction to Mathematical Economics; Fall 2026 (in progress)

Econ 11: Microeconomic Theory; Spring 2026

Econ 101: Microeconomic Theory; Summer 2025

As Student Counselor

Econ 95A and 195A: Introduction to Community or Corporate Internships; Summer 2026

As Teaching Assistant

Econ 1: Principles of Economics; Fall 2023

Econ 11: Microeconomic Theory; Fall 2022, Fall 2024, Spring 2025 and Fall 2025 (Received UCLA Teaching Assistant Award in 2025)

Econ 101: Microeconomic Theory; Winter 2024, Winter 2025 and Winter 2026

Econ 106S: Competitive Strategy; Spring 2023 and Spring 2024 (Received UCLA Teaching Assistant Award in 2023)

Econ 421: Incentives, Information, and Markets (MQE master’s program); Winter 2023

ECON 605: Advanced Microeconomic Analysis (M.A.), Duke University; Spring 2020

Selected Comments from Student Evaluations

“Professor Hill has by far been my favorite professor here at UCLA. I've never felt so comfortable admitting I don't understand something because of the way he invites and responds to questions, and I think that's one of the most valuable traits in a professor. His lectures were clear, and he explained things slowly, ensuring students understood.”

Econ 11, Spring 2026 (Instructor)

"Genuinely one of the best teachers I've had at UCLA, definitely the best teacher I've had in the econ department as an econ major. He is extremely organized. He is super empathetic and approachable, and has done an excellent job taking a daunting class and turning it into something digestable for students. I love the way he organizes the Bruinlearn modules (grouping typed notes, his iPad notes, practice problems, solutions, and sample exam questions all together). The way he grades this class makes it feel like, even though I haven't actually talked to the man since week 1, I still feel continuously like he's rooting me on to succeed and helping put success in my own hands in a doable way. THAT is really hard to do in a 300-400 person lecture during a 10 week term!"

Econ 11, Spring 2026 (Instructor)

“Jeffery Hill was extremely helpful and responsive. I felt that the sections were truly beneficial in supporting and solidifying the contents from the lecture. I thought the energy he brought made the section very enjoyable. Over all, I thought he had an extremely understandable teaching style, and was very devoted in helping his students succeed.”

Econ 101, Winter 2026

“TA J.K Hill is the GOAT (Greatest of All Time)! He genuinely cares about students understanding the concepts rather than just blindly memorizing equations, and that is reflected in his teaching style. He uses helpful analogies and stories to bring concepts that we learn in class to life, which helped me understand the material well.”

Econ 11, Fall 2025

“Jeff was really great at reiterating the week's material in multiple ways to assist student understanding. His sections were structured and complementary to lecture content. It was very clear Jeff cared about student learning, and he noticeably strived to create an environment where asking questions was encouraged.”

Econ 11, Fall 2025

“I believe one of the instructor's greatest strengths is how supportive he is. I love how he always stops during the lecture to answer our questions, and encourages us to continue asking questions by saying phrases like ‘excellent question’ or ‘love this question.’”

Econ 101, Summer 2025 (Instructor)

“Jeff is the BEST TA I have ever had here at UCLA. He teaches the course very well, knows its ins and outs, but he also is just very great at teaching. He attacks each problem and teaches the concepts with multiple approaches. His passion and enthusiasm about the subject/teaching is infectious, and he is very welcoming to questions and reteaching a lot of topics.”

Econ 11, Spring 2025

“I think J.K Hill was a wonderful TA and was great at answering questions. I think his strength is going slowly over the material and working in a way where students can ask questions along the way to clarify confusion which was extremely valuable.”

Econ 101, Winter 2025

“When enrolling in Econ 11 I was extremely nervous because it is known to be a hard course. After attending my first section with Jeff, however, my nerves calmed down knowing that my T.A. was not only passionate about teaching and expanding the knowledge of economics, but also very well educated on the topic.”

Econ 11, Fall 2024

“Jeff is awesome! Give him a raise! He is brilliant, and communicates things extremely well. He is by the far the best TA I have had at UCLA.”

Econ 106S, Spring 2024

“Jeff was very communicative and responsive to questions. I would always receive an answer through email and even during section, he would stay back to answer individual questions. He spread out the content of the class well, so we moved simultaneously alongside the lecture materials.”

Econ 101, Winter 2024

“Jeff is the best T.A. I have had in my 5 years of college. He is knowledgable, communicative, and WANTS the students to learn the material. He sets up multiple sections each week, along with office hours, and a lot of availability to help with the course.”

Econ 421, Winter 2023

“Jeff is hands down the best TA I've ever had at UCLA. He can always answer any questions that I have for him, and has demonstrated his extensive understanding of economics and mathematics time and time again.”

Econ 11, Fall 2022