UC Berkeley Math Lower Division, Fall 2008
Textbooks are all custom-made for lower div math save 55.
Math 1A, Calculus
Ian Agol (1.5 out of 5, reviews are from his main teaching school at UIC)
TuTh 8-930, 155 Dwinelle
“This is the worst math teacher I’ve ever had. He is quite possibly the smartest math person I’ve ever seen in my life, but he can’t teach it at all. If you get him, run the other way…If you do take his class, make sure you attend the discussions, but going to lectures will do you NO GOOD! Ive actually seen students laughing at how ridiculously bad of a example he was giving…Agol seemed to have the WORST teaching methods from any math professor I’ve had. his exams are harder than they should be. Homework is alot harder than it should be (he gives online problems that are alot more difficult than any problem in the book).”
Ole Hald (4.1 out of 5)
MWF 1-2, 2050 VLSB
“The only bad thing about taking his class is I was so spoiled by his sheer awesomeness that all the other math professors and classes I’ve had since are such disappointments…He must have been a stud in his younger years…he did Tai-Chi during my midterm… He was entertaining in the beginning of the course, then his jokes got dry and forced. His lectures focus a lot on theory and proofs which don’t really help with the tests/quizzes.”
Martin Olsson (4.3 out of 5)
MWF 12-1, 155 Dwinelle
“Lectures are clear and well-organized. Very easy to take notes to. Checks frequently for understanding, encouraging questions, and presents the material in a very… “gentle” way. Will randomly say the funniest things…The exams are fair although there was one in the first midterm, a true and false, that was kind of harsh. Nice guy who seems to understand and empathize with students…Very clear notes, made difficult concepts rather simple, but dropped a few doozies on the midterms. Definitely take him- just be ready.”
Math 1B, Calculus
Jon Wilkening (3.0 out of 5)
TuTh 11-1230, 2050 VLSB
“Professor goes fast and uses lots of proofs. His proofs are meant to explain concepts, so if you don’t understand go to office hours. Really go to discussion and make sure you have a good GSI… this guy has no clue how to teach the average person introductory calculus…It was an overall exceptionally boring lecture course. Basically 10% of his materials were useful. I recommend bringing a Nintendo DS next semester.”
George Bergman (1.9 out of 5)
MWF 3-4, 155 Dwinelle
“He is supposed to “supplement” the book where we are supposed to learn straight from the book (thats how the teaching method is), yet, he is very unclear when it comes to explaining things…The subject is not that difficult, yet his inability to teach cause a lot of his students to fail. He assumes that students know certain concepts and skips around the material…HE CANT TEACH!!!!!!! HE IS WASTING OUR MONEY AND TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Math 16A, Analytic Geometry and Calculus
Jim Demmel (3.6 out of 5)
TuTh 1230-2, 105 Stanley
“Goes at a great pace, understandable (sometimes interesting) examples, and though the exams aren’t super easy I always feel like I walk out of a midterm knowing more than I did before… achingly boring lecturer, never went, bad idea, hw went from a breeze to inexcusably difficult at the end of the semester… and he’s definitely a nice guy.”
Tsit-Yuen Lam (3.6 out of 5)
MWF 10-11, 1 Pimentel
“Homework and sample tests are very helpful. Lectures are also pretty clear, and his accent does not pose much of a problem…Don’t look at the negative comments. Trust me, I looked up his ratings before I signed up for his class, too. HONESTLY, this class is easy. Just show up to lecture. Look at practice tests he posts and do your homework and you’re guarenteed an A… Professor Lam is a phenomenal lecturer! He goes fast, but he’s very clear. He does a very good job of giving a sense of where he’s going and why.”
Math 16B, Analytic Geometry and Calculus
Jenny Harrison (2.9 out of 5)
MWF 9-10, 105 Stanley
“The reason she allows the final to be 50-60% of your grade is because so many students are failing. Half of class she was talking about string theory instead of calculus…A fun teacher who is very enthusiastic and excited about math. She cares about the performance of each student in her class and is fair and understanding… Lectures are extremely disorganized. Often she lectures on topics not relevant to the midterms or final exams.”
Math 53, Multivariable Calculus
Michael Hutchings (4.2 out of 5)
MWF 11-12, 2050 VLSB
“Although he was a bit monotonous & antisocial, he makes the concepts easy to understand. His lectures are worth going to. His notes are organized & clear. He is very reasonable with grading. He tells jokes sometimes, but he’s not very exciting…The material covered in 53 is relatively unfavored by many students and GSIs alike, but Hutchings makes the class certainly bearable. The exams are similar to book problems, but knowing how to solve them is a must. However, Hutchings curved up, but not down…I love this guy.”
Constantin Teleman (only 2 reviews)
TuTh 330-5, 100 Lewis
“Very knowledgable and extremely organized. Puts alot of time into the class. Teleman taught things in a way very easy to get the whole picture. The homework was at the appropriate level…writes ridiculously fast during lectures (was a cardio workout to keep up).”
Math 54, Linear Algebra and Differential Equations
Albert Grunbaum (3.6 out of 5)
TuTh 8-930, 150 Wheeler
“I had an 8am lecture, but I made it most days and it was a good lecture. He was clear in what he was teaching you, what’s important and what’s not. He was also very straight forward in telling us what he wanted us to know and study for the exams which is appreciated…The first half of the course, linear algebra, is a breeze. The material is about as difficult as geometry or trigonometry. Read the book. The second half, differential equations, is a lot more technical, and both the book and lecture become difficult to follow. I spent a lot of time studying other books and the web.”
Math 55, Discrete Mathematics
Mark Haiman (4.5 out of 5)
MWF 12-1, 2060 VLSB
“Easy class. If you go to lecture, you don’t even have to read the book. Or vice versa…Excellent Professor! Lectures were crystal clear with thorough examples. He tells adorable math jokes with a cute squeaky voice…Best math professor at Cal! Explains everything clearly and occasionally makes cute jokes. He’s very approachable and even answered questions in lecture. Midterms and final were fair. You’ll want to attend his lectures!”
Textbook:
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Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications
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