PUBPOL-702

APPLIED DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS

Not in Fall 2026

PPS · Taught by James, Sebastian · Last offered Spring 2025

Overview

Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that students generally rate the course well. Best for students who are genuinely interested in the topic and willing to engage with the course on its own terms.

DepartmentPPS

Terms offeredSpring

Typical enrollment29–32

Semesters of data2

4.2

Hrs / week

Responses

Enrollment

59%

Response Rate

Evaluation Scores

Overall quality

Teaching, content, and experience combined.

4.2

12345

Intellectually stimulating

Challenges students to think deeply.

4.3

12345

Instructor effectiveness

Explains concepts and facilitates learning.

4.2

12345

Difficulty

Higher means harder.

3.4

12345

Feedback Analysis

Feedback Analysismedium

Analysis based on student evaluations

Based on 65 comments across 2 sections

Student Reports

How hard is the A?

A is doable but not automatic

The signal here is more do-the-work-and-you-should-be-fine than easy-A chatter. Students do not describe the A as automatic, but the evidence also does not paint grading as punishing.

Homework Load

Moderate homework load

Homework load looks moderate. The recurring signal is steady weekly work, but not a course that turns every assignment into a grind.

Lecture Load

Regular lecture load

Lectures matter here, but the evidence points to a fairly standard lecture burden rather than a course dominated by long or exceptionally dense lectures.

Strengths

• Instructor ratings are strong even when the comments do not cluster around one obvious positive theme.

Tradeoffs

• There is no single dominant complaint theme, but the feedback is not uniformly glowing either.

Best fit for

Best for students who are genuinely interested in the topic and willing to engage with the course on its own terms.

Watch out for

• A large share of the evidence comes from one instructor's version of the course, so this may not generalize cleanly.

Student Responses

I have learned the thinking mode of development economics and the application of macroeconomic theories to practical development issues. I have realized the differences in development paths among different countries, deepening my understanding of policies in countries such as China and India.