Adebola Olayinka

Evidence of Teaching Effectiveness

My teaching, research, and coursework experiences have prepared me to teach courses in public
policy, global health, international development, international organizations, international
relations, qualitative methods, and research ethics. I have served as the teaching assistant (TA)
for three courses across four semesters. These teaching roles include:

• Global Health Ethics: Head Teaching Assistant [Undergraduate, Fall 2016, Fall 2017]
• Service Delivery Systems: Teaching Assistant [Graduate, Spring 2017]
• Policy Analysis for Decision Makers: Teaching Assistant [Graduate, Fall 2015]

I am a committed teacher and make teaching a priority. It is encouraging that students appreciate
my effort, with one graduate student noting, “Ade is a very knowledgeable, organized, and
responsive TA.” In these experiences, students scored my teaching ability highly in each of the
dimensions that the Sanford School of Public Policy measures on TA Evaluations – Content
Knowledge, Accessibility, Organization, Responsiveness, and Enthusiasm:

Figure 1: Undergraduate Teaching Evaluations1

Content Knowledge 4.75

Accessibility 4.53

Organization 4.25

Responsiveness 4.43

Enthusiasm 4.88

1 2 3 4 5
Student Evaluation Score
I have grown in confidence, ability, and creativity each semester in the classroom. Students have
noticed, one undergraduate noting that I “essentially took on the role of the professor and
organized most classes.” Indeed, the faculty that I work with invited me back as the TA because
of my attentiveness to student needs, input into the syllabi, introduction of new readings and
classroom activities, institution of creative and clear grading rubrics, ability to create open and
respectful class atmospheres, and enthusiasm when leading classes.

I believe that my growing responsibilities in syllabus design, classroom management, assignment

design, and grading have prepared me well for this role as a teacher-scholar in Elon University’s

1
Undergraduate Evaluations were pooled for Fall 2016 and Fall 2017 Global Health Ethics students.

Pre-Doctoral Diversity Fellowship. I am happy to provide syllabi, activities, grading rubrics, and
any desired teaching documentation upon request.
Table 1: Complete List of Available Student Comments
Course Semester and Title
FALL 2016
Global Health Ethics
FALL 2016
Global Health Ethics
FALL 2016
Global Health Ethics
FALL 2016
Global Health Ethics
FALL 2016
Global Health Ethics
FALL 2017
Global Health Ethics
FALL 2017
Global Health Ethics
FALL 2017
Global Health Ethics
FALL 2017
Global Health Ethics
FALL 2017
Global Health Ethics
SPRING 2017
Service Delivery Systems
Did not specify
Global Health Ethics
Did not specify
Global Health Ethics
Adebola Olayinka
Comment
Super Smart, kind, and very passionate.
Ade was extremely organized and always let us know what was going
on in the course. I appreciated her zeal for class and could tell that she
was genuinely interested in our success.
Very attentive and organized especially in a class where the professor
was not always present.
Ade was an important part of my learning in the Ethics class. The
professor was not very accessible and was often a bit unclear. Ade
would clarify the assignments and answer our emails in a much more
timely matter. She was also interesting to talk to and I really enjoyed
her sessions when she led the class. She is an eloquent and engaging
speaker with a wealth of knowledge and experience.
Wonderful TA - really rare to find TAs who are so willing to meet
outside of class, give constructive feedback, and take a personal
interest in ensuring the success of each and every student.
Ade essentially took on the role of the professor and organized most
classes.
Ade is one of the most engaged, enthusiastic teaching assistants I have
had in my three years at Duke. She cares about the success of each
student, knows how to relate with us, and helps keep the course moving
forward.
You're always enthusiastic and spark great discussion!
She is very helpful and professional while still being approachable
Ade is fantastic! So thankful to have her as my TA
Ade was a very knowledgeable, organized, and responsive TA, one of
the best TAs I have had as a graduate student.
Sometimes assignments are unclear as they are not always all on the
syllabus and found in different places or through different emails.
Often explanations /instructions of assignments are lacking and
therefore confusing. Other than that, Ade is a joyful and wonderful TA.
Awesome TA
 Adebola Olayinka

References

Dr. Kathryn Whetten - Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy

Director, Center for Health Policy and Inequalities
Professor in the School of Nursing
Research Professor of Global Health
Dr. Whetten is my dissertation Co-Chair, and I served as her TA in Global
Health Ethics (Public Policy 303/Global Health 210) in Fall 2016 and Fall
2017.

(919) 613-5470
k.whetten@duke.edu

Duke University
310 Trent Drive
Suite 314
Box 90392
Durham, NC 27710

Dr. Joel Rosch - Senior Research Scholar

Adjunct Instructor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Dr. Rosch is the professor of Service Delivery Systems (Public Policy 727) and
I served as his TA in Spring 2017.

919-613o9291
jbrrosch@duke.edu

Duke University
Rubenstein 212
Durham, NC 27705

Dr. Francisco Ramos - Assistant Dean for Assessment and Evaluation

Dr. Ramos is my pedagogy professor, and taught me in the courses
“Fundamentals of College Teaching” and “Teaching Diverse Learners.”

919-681-3251
francisco.ramos@duke.edu

The Graduate School

Duke University
2127 Campus Drive
Box 90065
Durham, NC 27708 USA
Tel: (919) 681-3257