LIFESCI 30B
Mathematics for Life Scientists
Description: Lecture, three hours; laboratory, two hours. Enforced requisite: course 30A. Introduction to concept of matrices and linear transformations to equip students with some basic tools to understand dynamics of multivariable nonlinear systems. Examples from ecological, physiological, chemical, and other systems. Letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
1 of 1
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - Will Conley (and Artur who taught with him) are quite possible the best professors on the entire campus. I took this course during the pandemic, and they have been so accommodating and understanding of student needs. LS30B is harder than LS30A, but not only does Conley make difficult linear and multi-variable concepts understandable, he also cares so much about student learning and well-being. He's a fantastic lecturer and is so clear with explanations! Only downside was that we had pre-lectures on top of normal lecture, so the workload was more than a usual in-person class; however, the professors allow you to watch at your own pace since its podcasted and drop your lowest assignments. 100% recommend!!!
Spring 2020 - Will Conley (and Artur who taught with him) are quite possible the best professors on the entire campus. I took this course during the pandemic, and they have been so accommodating and understanding of student needs. LS30B is harder than LS30A, but not only does Conley make difficult linear and multi-variable concepts understandable, he also cares so much about student learning and well-being. He's a fantastic lecturer and is so clear with explanations! Only downside was that we had pre-lectures on top of normal lecture, so the workload was more than a usual in-person class; however, the professors allow you to watch at your own pace since its podcasted and drop your lowest assignments. 100% recommend!!!
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2018 - One of the best decisions I could've ever made upon entering UCLA is doing the LS30 series. I never thought I would gain an understanding and genuine appreciation for math but here we are :) I love this course because I wanted to apply math in real life situations and this course is perfect for it. If you like application of science/math or just want to learn more about math in a different way I guess, I recommend this class. I love this class so much it breaks my heart to not continue the series :'( **Warning: Just like with every other class, the LS30 series does require effort and dedication. I don't know if it is an "easy A" because I can't compare it with other math classes since I have not taken any others but nevertheless, your grade is a reflection of the time and effort you put into it. Professor Garfinkel is an awesome professor. He is a genius. SERIOUSLY. A GENIUS. He is very open to his students and very helpful. He purposely stays a couple minutes after lecture to answer questions and he has office hours twice every week. He is an awesome professor!!!
Winter 2018 - One of the best decisions I could've ever made upon entering UCLA is doing the LS30 series. I never thought I would gain an understanding and genuine appreciation for math but here we are :) I love this course because I wanted to apply math in real life situations and this course is perfect for it. If you like application of science/math or just want to learn more about math in a different way I guess, I recommend this class. I love this class so much it breaks my heart to not continue the series :'( **Warning: Just like with every other class, the LS30 series does require effort and dedication. I don't know if it is an "easy A" because I can't compare it with other math classes since I have not taken any others but nevertheless, your grade is a reflection of the time and effort you put into it. Professor Garfinkel is an awesome professor. He is a genius. SERIOUSLY. A GENIUS. He is very open to his students and very helpful. He purposely stays a couple minutes after lecture to answer questions and he has office hours twice every week. He is an awesome professor!!!
AD
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - REVIEW FOR LS30B SPRING 2020: All I can say is, hands down the most charismatic and accommodating professor I've had. He really loves math and you can see it in the way he teaches. Best piece of advice, go to the Midterm Review Sessions and really pay attention for those 3 hours, literally almost a guaranteed A on the exam. Love you Artur, hope you accomplish amazing things in the future <3
Spring 2020 - REVIEW FOR LS30B SPRING 2020: All I can say is, hands down the most charismatic and accommodating professor I've had. He really loves math and you can see it in the way he teaches. Best piece of advice, go to the Midterm Review Sessions and really pay attention for those 3 hours, literally almost a guaranteed A on the exam. Love you Artur, hope you accomplish amazing things in the future <3
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - Hi Everyone ! I'm back with my IN-DEPTH Review of this class. I will break down all aspects of this class, so even if it may seem like a LOT of words, I would definitely recommend reading it since this will be the only review you will need to read. If you still aren't going to read this then just read the TL;DR: TL;DR: TAKE THIS CLASS WITH JUKKA. THE END. Okay Lets Begin! PROFESSOR: Jukka is, and I can't emphasize this enough, the REALEST professor/teacher/instructor I have ever had. You know those professor that people meme about being amazing/nice or whatever. Well this is it guys ! You have found probably the best professor on campus. If you have taken Jukka for 30 A, you probably aren't reading this because you are already going to take his class for 30 B. Although he can be a bit passive aggressive at times, I honestly feel like it has to do with the vast difference in mathematical intellect between prof and students, since some of these concepts can be difficult to grasp to us, but is basic math to him. However, He does care for his students' success and wellbeing in the class and makes it very clear what he expects us to know for exams. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LECTURES: Lectures are mandatory since there are clicker points to be earned in each lecture. The clickers are NOT graded on accuracy which is very nice, but they do add up to a good amount of the total class grade (at least 10%) so try not to miss lectures as much as possible. At the end of the quarter, he usually drops 3 of the lowest clicker scores so don't stress if you miss a couple of lectures for whatever reason. Other than that, the lectures are basically 20-30 minutes of review of the previous lecture, and whatever time remains after he lectures on new content, which he will review on the next lecture. The lecture is purely concepts with little to no problem solving, which is probably the ONLY flaw in this class, since homework problems can be a bit challenging to tackle by yourself since there is very little guidance in that matter. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TAs: TAs are fairly Important since they grade your homework which can amount to a good chunk of your grade as well (atleast 10%, upto 16%). They also help you with the lab, which is arguably the most difficult aspect of the class since it is coding, so if you have background in Sage/Python, this bit will be super easy for you. Shout to my TA Yoon Jeong who helped us a lot more than the other TAs my friends had. Also, TAs DONT GRADE LABS ! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAB SECTIONS: Labs aren't exactly mandatory, since they don't take attendance, but if you don't go you are most screwing yourself. People show up because most of us in LS are not good at coding, otherwise we would be CS Majors. During lab you can get help with the coding from TAs and LAs who have answer keys so they can tell you if you are doing it right or wrong, and how to do it. Highly recommended that you do attend, although again, it's not mandatory. LABS are GRADED ON ACCURACY, unless otherwise mentioned by the prof. Labs are also graded by random people that you will most likely never meet in life, and sometimes they take forever to grade them so you won't know your lab grades until near the end of the quarter. Not a big deal though. I don't believe they grade too harsh, but you do have to be at least close to correct. If you are stressing, don't. Prof dropped the lowest lab score so you'll be good. Lab does make up a good bit of the grade (at least 10%) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOMEWORK: Homework can be a bit challenging as their is little guidance on how to go about it as Professor usually just goes of the concept, and TAs focus mostly on Lab assignment. Aside from going to office hours, you are mostly on your own. They are definitely doable, especially early in the quarter, but get significantly more difficult past week 5-6. Homework is also GRADED ON ACCURACY, and make up about (10%-16%) of your grade. But you can drop the lowest two homework grades, so its not too bad really. If you have a chill TA, you should be fine. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOOK: The book is required but it is PROVIDED in PDF by the prof. All Homework usually comes from the book, so you will need to use it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MIDTERM/FINAL: Now we are getting to the good stuff! - Yes there is ONE Midterm - Yes there is ONE Final - Yes there are study guides for both, as well as review sessions for both - They combine for about 60% of your grade I believe, but that is actually only good for you - You will most likely get As on both if you are willing to try even the slightest bit ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STUDY GUIDE/REVIEW SESSIONS: These are the single most important aspect of this class. I don't care how fucking smart you are, if you don't use the study guide and attend the review sessions, you are only screwing yourself. the Prof practically goes over a slightly changed version of the ACTUAL EXAMS during the review sessions and tells you how to solve each problem. It's very difficult to do bad on the exams if you attend the review sessions and pay attention. 2 hours for a basically guaranteed A is honestly an amazing deal you won't get anywhere else at UCLA. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OVERALL: If I had to take this class again (which I clearly fucking don't) I would definitely without a doubt take it with Jukka again. If I had to take ONE class for all 4 years, and the grade I would get would define my GPA, I would take this class in a heartbeat, eyes closed, face down, ass up. I don't care. In Short: TAKE THIS CLASS WITH JUKKA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Good luck to y'all ! ##
Winter 2020 - Hi Everyone ! I'm back with my IN-DEPTH Review of this class. I will break down all aspects of this class, so even if it may seem like a LOT of words, I would definitely recommend reading it since this will be the only review you will need to read. If you still aren't going to read this then just read the TL;DR: TL;DR: TAKE THIS CLASS WITH JUKKA. THE END. Okay Lets Begin! PROFESSOR: Jukka is, and I can't emphasize this enough, the REALEST professor/teacher/instructor I have ever had. You know those professor that people meme about being amazing/nice or whatever. Well this is it guys ! You have found probably the best professor on campus. If you have taken Jukka for 30 A, you probably aren't reading this because you are already going to take his class for 30 B. Although he can be a bit passive aggressive at times, I honestly feel like it has to do with the vast difference in mathematical intellect between prof and students, since some of these concepts can be difficult to grasp to us, but is basic math to him. However, He does care for his students' success and wellbeing in the class and makes it very clear what he expects us to know for exams. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LECTURES: Lectures are mandatory since there are clicker points to be earned in each lecture. The clickers are NOT graded on accuracy which is very nice, but they do add up to a good amount of the total class grade (at least 10%) so try not to miss lectures as much as possible. At the end of the quarter, he usually drops 3 of the lowest clicker scores so don't stress if you miss a couple of lectures for whatever reason. Other than that, the lectures are basically 20-30 minutes of review of the previous lecture, and whatever time remains after he lectures on new content, which he will review on the next lecture. The lecture is purely concepts with little to no problem solving, which is probably the ONLY flaw in this class, since homework problems can be a bit challenging to tackle by yourself since there is very little guidance in that matter. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TAs: TAs are fairly Important since they grade your homework which can amount to a good chunk of your grade as well (atleast 10%, upto 16%). They also help you with the lab, which is arguably the most difficult aspect of the class since it is coding, so if you have background in Sage/Python, this bit will be super easy for you. Shout to my TA Yoon Jeong who helped us a lot more than the other TAs my friends had. Also, TAs DONT GRADE LABS ! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAB SECTIONS: Labs aren't exactly mandatory, since they don't take attendance, but if you don't go you are most screwing yourself. People show up because most of us in LS are not good at coding, otherwise we would be CS Majors. During lab you can get help with the coding from TAs and LAs who have answer keys so they can tell you if you are doing it right or wrong, and how to do it. Highly recommended that you do attend, although again, it's not mandatory. LABS are GRADED ON ACCURACY, unless otherwise mentioned by the prof. Labs are also graded by random people that you will most likely never meet in life, and sometimes they take forever to grade them so you won't know your lab grades until near the end of the quarter. Not a big deal though. I don't believe they grade too harsh, but you do have to be at least close to correct. If you are stressing, don't. Prof dropped the lowest lab score so you'll be good. Lab does make up a good bit of the grade (at least 10%) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOMEWORK: Homework can be a bit challenging as their is little guidance on how to go about it as Professor usually just goes of the concept, and TAs focus mostly on Lab assignment. Aside from going to office hours, you are mostly on your own. They are definitely doable, especially early in the quarter, but get significantly more difficult past week 5-6. Homework is also GRADED ON ACCURACY, and make up about (10%-16%) of your grade. But you can drop the lowest two homework grades, so its not too bad really. If you have a chill TA, you should be fine. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOOK: The book is required but it is PROVIDED in PDF by the prof. All Homework usually comes from the book, so you will need to use it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MIDTERM/FINAL: Now we are getting to the good stuff! - Yes there is ONE Midterm - Yes there is ONE Final - Yes there are study guides for both, as well as review sessions for both - They combine for about 60% of your grade I believe, but that is actually only good for you - You will most likely get As on both if you are willing to try even the slightest bit ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STUDY GUIDE/REVIEW SESSIONS: These are the single most important aspect of this class. I don't care how fucking smart you are, if you don't use the study guide and attend the review sessions, you are only screwing yourself. the Prof practically goes over a slightly changed version of the ACTUAL EXAMS during the review sessions and tells you how to solve each problem. It's very difficult to do bad on the exams if you attend the review sessions and pay attention. 2 hours for a basically guaranteed A is honestly an amazing deal you won't get anywhere else at UCLA. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OVERALL: If I had to take this class again (which I clearly fucking don't) I would definitely without a doubt take it with Jukka again. If I had to take ONE class for all 4 years, and the grade I would get would define my GPA, I would take this class in a heartbeat, eyes closed, face down, ass up. I don't care. In Short: TAKE THIS CLASS WITH JUKKA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Good luck to y'all ! ##
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - She is nice and passionate about the class. I just wasn't really interested in the topic. The labs and coding part were really fun but I think most people hated that part. The tests are not easy nor hard. She is also very helpful and she does regrade if you find a good reason to.
Fall 2019 - She is nice and passionate about the class. I just wasn't really interested in the topic. The labs and coding part were really fun but I think most people hated that part. The tests are not easy nor hard. She is also very helpful and she does regrade if you find a good reason to.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - Professor McCully is honestly great. It took me a couple weeks to get used to her (and for her to get used to us, since she hadn't taught this class in a long time) but she came out a couple weeks later an incredible lecturer. This class was 1 hour 15 min and typically I'm really bored during class but I actually looked forward to learning new content (I wasn't even excited to learn for bio which is my major, so this series I think in itself is pretty interesting). She makes us do some group work, and the only part of the class that I felt didn't work for me was the homework because she assigned hw on material we covered the week after the hw was due-- but it was all graded on completion so it doesn't matter. She gives us weekly quizzes that I personally think are a great way to see what you know and what you don't, and they're not even hard at all (you get two tries). I would def take her again. It's gonna take some getting used to her but once you do you'll realize how much she cares about the students understanding the material and teaching it right. Final note: as long as you put in some work, you will 10000% pass, if not with an A. I didn't even study for the final and I aced it, simply because I did the work throughout the quarter. Just some effort and you're all set! You got this!
Winter 2022 - Professor McCully is honestly great. It took me a couple weeks to get used to her (and for her to get used to us, since she hadn't taught this class in a long time) but she came out a couple weeks later an incredible lecturer. This class was 1 hour 15 min and typically I'm really bored during class but I actually looked forward to learning new content (I wasn't even excited to learn for bio which is my major, so this series I think in itself is pretty interesting). She makes us do some group work, and the only part of the class that I felt didn't work for me was the homework because she assigned hw on material we covered the week after the hw was due-- but it was all graded on completion so it doesn't matter. She gives us weekly quizzes that I personally think are a great way to see what you know and what you don't, and they're not even hard at all (you get two tries). I would def take her again. It's gonna take some getting used to her but once you do you'll realize how much she cares about the students understanding the material and teaching it right. Final note: as long as you put in some work, you will 10000% pass, if not with an A. I didn't even study for the final and I aced it, simply because I did the work throughout the quarter. Just some effort and you're all set! You got this!
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - If you take 30A and 30B-do it with Dr. Jane! She is a really helpful professor. During covid, she made herself available for extra help and office hours more than any other professor. She genuinely wants you to learn and understand the material. She gave us a PDF of the textbook -which she wrote herself- and it's a useful addition to her lectures. The homework felt like busywork sometimes, but come exam time, I was happy to have had all the extra practice. I disliked the pre-class videos each week because they were so long, but otherwise her lectures were worthwhile. She also picks stellar TA's who are very knowledgeable about writing code.
Fall 2020 - If you take 30A and 30B-do it with Dr. Jane! She is a really helpful professor. During covid, she made herself available for extra help and office hours more than any other professor. She genuinely wants you to learn and understand the material. She gave us a PDF of the textbook -which she wrote herself- and it's a useful addition to her lectures. The homework felt like busywork sometimes, but come exam time, I was happy to have had all the extra practice. I disliked the pre-class videos each week because they were so long, but otherwise her lectures were worthwhile. She also picks stellar TA's who are very knowledgeable about writing code.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - I've heard a lot of complaints about Dr. V and I was kinda scared to take her class at first, but honestly, it's quite a good class. She's really reciprocating with our requests, like, our first bi-weekly quiz was kind of hard, so when she got the feedback from us she immediately changed her test style and made the rest of our bi-weekly quizzes much more suitable. She's also organized in terms of letting you know exactly what you're learning, and there's a clear outline to each lecture, homework, and quiz. The midterm was pretty much exactly what she taught in lectures and the TA's study office hours. It was very straightforward. Also, she links us to supplement videos to get a better understanding of the content. Obviously, it seems tedious to have to watch even more videos on top of lectures, but I see it as studying, just like how you would read textbooks outside of lectures to gain a better understanding. I had a different professor last quarter which many students loved, but I find myself understanding Dr. V's lectures with ease, and just understanding the content in general much better. To me, the workload isn't too bad either. Every two weeks I probably spend a day doing the bi-weekly homework, and a day watching supplement videos as revision for bi-weekly quizzes. Obviously, this is just my personal experience and opinions, everyone is different and has different learning styles. But yea her class is really manageable.
Winter 2021 - I've heard a lot of complaints about Dr. V and I was kinda scared to take her class at first, but honestly, it's quite a good class. She's really reciprocating with our requests, like, our first bi-weekly quiz was kind of hard, so when she got the feedback from us she immediately changed her test style and made the rest of our bi-weekly quizzes much more suitable. She's also organized in terms of letting you know exactly what you're learning, and there's a clear outline to each lecture, homework, and quiz. The midterm was pretty much exactly what she taught in lectures and the TA's study office hours. It was very straightforward. Also, she links us to supplement videos to get a better understanding of the content. Obviously, it seems tedious to have to watch even more videos on top of lectures, but I see it as studying, just like how you would read textbooks outside of lectures to gain a better understanding. I had a different professor last quarter which many students loved, but I find myself understanding Dr. V's lectures with ease, and just understanding the content in general much better. To me, the workload isn't too bad either. Every two weeks I probably spend a day doing the bi-weekly homework, and a day watching supplement videos as revision for bi-weekly quizzes. Obviously, this is just my personal experience and opinions, everyone is different and has different learning styles. But yea her class is really manageable.
AD
1 of 1
