I have been lucky to have several opportunities throughout my studies to teach undergraduate and graduate courses. I have been recognized by the School of Engineering as an outstanding teaching assistant and was the recipient of the Provost Award for Teacher Assistants and Tutors, and had the students’ evaluation rating as high as 5.0/5.0.
APSC 181: Dynamics
Undergradute Course, Fall 2020-W2 & Summer 2021
I was the Instructor for the course APSC 181 – Dynamics and taught 200+ students (per section) the fundamentals of Dynamics and managed teams of 4 graduate TAs. I received great feedback, and I was constantly offered to lecture this course.
APSC 180: Statics
Undergradute Course, Fall 2019 & Summer 2019 & 2020
I had the chance to act as a TA and later as the Instructor for the course APSC 180 – Statics. I created the course materials, lectured, and managed graduate TAs. I was able to teach students the fundamentals of statics and how to approach such problems. I was rated as an excellent TA/Instructor (as high as 5.0/5.0) and received great feedback.
APSC 171: Engineering Drawing and CAD/CAM
Undergradute Course, Fall 2018
I acted as the TA for the course APSC 171 (Engineering Drawing and CAD/CAM). I taught students both in-class lectures and in the tutorials how to use CAD/CAM software to create their novel ideas and how to exploit the features of CAD/CAM software to have an efficient and accurate design. In this course, 4 (out of 7) of my groups made it to the finals, and 3 teams made it to the top 10 teams (out of 60+ teams). I had outstanding feedback from my students and was rated as an excellent TA.
APSC 258: Applications of Engineering Design
Undergradute Course, Fall 2017
I acted as the TA for this course, which is one of the most challenging second-year courses in UBC’s undergraduate curriculum. I was able to teach students how to make hovercrafts and provided them the knowledge regarding various aspects of engineering design throughout the lab and tutorial sessions. In my classes, 3 (out of 6) of the groups made it to the final competition. I was rated as an excellent TA in both of my lectures and laboratory sessions by my students repeatedly.
ENGR 492/582: Finite Element Method & CIVIL 537: Computational Mechanics I
Undergradute/Graduate Course, Fall 2018
In a cross-numbered (graduate/undergraduate) course (ENGR 492/582: Finite Element Method), I took the lead to provide weekly sessions for graduate and undergraduate students on the course material. Additionally, I worked on the graduate course (CIVL 537: Computational Mechanics I) by teaching the fundamentals of finite element method, providing numerical examples in FE software such as Abaqus, and assignments, mid-terms, and finals.
Students’ Quotes:
“Reza Sourki is an absolute gem, I really liked having him as an instuctor. He truly wants us to succeed which is really encouraging as a student. He was also very open to feedback and strived to teach the material as best he could. There were no surprises, he made his expectations clear and was very organized with homework and quizzes. And when taking 6 courses it makes it so much easier to plan your weekly schedule knowing when and what an instructor will be assigning. 10/10 would recommend Sourki.”
“I can confidently say that you are one of the most engaging Teachers Assistant that I have had this year. Every tutorial we review the concepts of the specific section we will be learning before doing practice questions. This style of tutorial has been very successful in my opinion as learn the information at first, then I start to fundamentally understand it as I work through the questions. Also you do a great job at answering my questions that me or other students have when going over a questions solution.”
“Reza is an incredibly competent TA. He actually seemed to have genuine concern over our performance in the course and our well being. He always made sure everyone understood the material and always was thorough in teaching us. He was very approachable, so I never hesitated to ask him a question when I had one and always explained things clearly. Proof of this is the fact that he’s the only TA who’s name I know. He was always punctual and showed up to class presentable. He was very friendly but maintained a professional attitude. In my opinion, I would highly recommend him as a TA.”
“I would like to personally recommend Reza for another TA position. My experience with him was entirely enjoyable. He is very friendly and approachable, yet displays knowledge of his subject: it can be very helpful to have a mature yet friendly face to turn to when entering into the University world. Reza is approachable, as well as accepting of criticism. All he wants to do is help us get through our term. He was happy to offer me his time when I was in need of some project support.”