⭐ Scott’s Rate My Professor

🎓 Teaching Philosophy

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” – Peter Drucker

I train students for careers in public health, psychology, and evaluation through the theory and practice of measurement, applied research methods, and biostatistics. I approach each course as a 15-week professional development experience, equipping students with real-world skills they can use in research, practice, or policy roles. With the average person working 90,000 hours over a lifetime, my goal is to make those hours more impactful and meaningful.

My courses are student-centered, practical, and designed for immediate application. I integrate lectures with experiential activities, role-playing, and real-world examples from my consulting and research work. Students learn to use tools such as R, SAS, SPSS, AMOS, and Qualtrics to design surveys, analyze data, and create effective data visualizations. I also emphasize the art of translating findings into clear, accessible insights—what I call “business talk”—so students can confidently present data to decision-makers.

Teaching effectiveness is measured by more than grades. I track how well students are prepared to apply what they’ve learned in their careers. Through career-focused advising, end-of-semester feedback sessions, and resume/CV consultations, I continuously improve my courses to ensure long-term impact.

In short, I aim to develop technically skilled, critically engaged, and career-ready professionals who use data to make a difference.

🏫 Teaching Experience

Rutgers University

  • Assistant Professor, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (2024–Present)
    Research mentorship across internal medicine and population health

University of Connecticut

  • Adjunct Professor, Research Methods, Measurement, and Evaluation (2023–Present)
    Courses taught: Graduate-level statistics, advanced program evaluation, evaluation practicum

University of Southern California

  • Adjunct Professor, Keck School of Medicine (2022)
    Courses taught: Graduate-level biostatistics

University of San Diego

  • Adjunct Professor, School of Leadership and Education Sciences (2021)
    Courses taught: Graduate-level research methods

Chapman University

  • Adjunct Professor, Crean College of Health & Behavioral Sciences (2018–2019)
    Courses taught: Undergraduate statistics and research methods

California State University, Los Angeles

  • Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychology (2017–2018)
    Courses taught: Undergraduate statistics and research methods

📣 Select Teaching Evaluations

“I have never had a more organized, practical, understandable, and helpful class. I was not looking forward to this course at all because I already had to take it for my SCC major and it was pretty tough. Professor Donaldson made this difficult class easy to understand, and I learned more about research methods than I did in my first class. Professor Donaldson was always willing to help and just truly wants his students to learn. I am confident that I can go out into the real world and apply the skills I learned from this class. The assignments made sense and overall layout of the syllabus was great. I loved how we had the lecture in the first half of the class, then had activities and experiments to directly apply what we just learned in the last half of class. It helped absorb the information much easier. Thanks Professor Donaldson! :)”

“The way you broke down the assignments was systematic and logical… I could follow and plan easily.”

“Professor Donaldson is one of the best professors I have had at Chapman so far. He is super willing to help us out if we need any help at all! He is always wanting to succeed and teach us stats. He makes the super daunting topic of stats not so bad after all the problem sets, study guides, and jeopardy are super helpful to review for the exam!”

“I LOVED this course and I honestly didn’t expect to. The way that you broke down all of the assignments was systematic and logical so I could follow and plan easily.”

“The lectures and content were engaging and interactive. He always wanted feedback and really understood and listened to the students. Overall, this was a great course that was very well-taught and proved to be beneficial for every student.”

“Scott is an amazing professor and lecturer. He focuses on the important concepts without trying to confuse or trick his students into studying topics that are ultimately irrelevant. His lectures are precise and simple, with plenty of examples that relate to psychology and application in future careers and research. If there were any more possible classes I could take with him, I definitely would. He’s extremely knowledgeable in his field. CSULA is lucky to have him and as a student I am fortunate to have learned from him. He truly cares about our futures and carrying on with research in the psychology field.”

Across institutions, my course evaluations consistently reflect: Median scores of 5.0 and average scores above 4.8 (on a 5-point scale) - Student praise for clarity, engagement, and applicability - High percentages (e.g., 100%) of students recommending the course to peers.

📄 Complete evaluations and syllabi available upon request.