MATH 3B
Calculus for Life Sciences Students
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisite: course 3A with grade of C- or better. Not open for credit to students with credit for course 31B. Applications of differentiation, integration, differential equations, linear models in biology, phase lines and classifying equilibrium values, bifurcations. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
I haven't gotten my grade yet for this class but... He's a very very very very nice, approachable professor who is TRULY concerned with being the best professor he can be. Every time I had a question, he was more than willing to answer and I was, for once, not afraid to go to office hours. Do the homework (I didn't and I suffered as a result of it) and make sure you go to lecture. He is a very good, organized lecturer who tries his best to make lecture/math enjoyable. The first midterm was HARDDDD I got a horrible score, but the second one was better. Just make sure you study, as math3B is not extremely simple.
I haven't gotten my grade yet for this class but... He's a very very very very nice, approachable professor who is TRULY concerned with being the best professor he can be. Every time I had a question, he was more than willing to answer and I was, for once, not afraid to go to office hours. Do the homework (I didn't and I suffered as a result of it) and make sure you go to lecture. He is a very good, organized lecturer who tries his best to make lecture/math enjoyable. The first midterm was HARDDDD I got a horrible score, but the second one was better. Just make sure you study, as math3B is not extremely simple.
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Most Helpful Review
If you are generally good at calculus, take this class. Gilles isn't a very good teacher. He has an AWESOME french accent which was fun to hear in lecture, but he wasn't very good at explaining things. Towards the end of the quarter is when it gets bad, because we start learning multivariable calculus which is unlike anything you've seen in high school calculus. As long as you're good at reading from the book and doing the problems, you'll be fine. Reading through the book and doing practice problems is how I survived the quarter. But if you rely on the teacher to actually teach you, you won't be fine. Test wise, his midterms were RIDICULOUSLY EASY!!! I got high A's on both, and I'm not THAT great at math. I did study, but not a TON, which is why I was so surprised. I studied a lot for the final just to be safe, thinking "the final will be just as easy as the midterms, I'll get a solid A no problem in this class." But I was wrong. :( His final was really hard. I was totally in shock, because I was expecting something at the level of his midterms. Everyone else in the class was groaning about how hard it was after too, so there will probably be a nice curve. Also, he says 56% of his students get A's and B's which is pretty good. OVERALL POINT: If you are good at teaching yourself and if you are good at integration/formulas/the like, this class isn't too bad. If you rely on the teacher to spoon feed you, you should look elsewhere.
If you are generally good at calculus, take this class. Gilles isn't a very good teacher. He has an AWESOME french accent which was fun to hear in lecture, but he wasn't very good at explaining things. Towards the end of the quarter is when it gets bad, because we start learning multivariable calculus which is unlike anything you've seen in high school calculus. As long as you're good at reading from the book and doing the problems, you'll be fine. Reading through the book and doing practice problems is how I survived the quarter. But if you rely on the teacher to actually teach you, you won't be fine. Test wise, his midterms were RIDICULOUSLY EASY!!! I got high A's on both, and I'm not THAT great at math. I did study, but not a TON, which is why I was so surprised. I studied a lot for the final just to be safe, thinking "the final will be just as easy as the midterms, I'll get a solid A no problem in this class." But I was wrong. :( His final was really hard. I was totally in shock, because I was expecting something at the level of his midterms. Everyone else in the class was groaning about how hard it was after too, so there will probably be a nice curve. Also, he says 56% of his students get A's and B's which is pretty good. OVERALL POINT: If you are good at teaching yourself and if you are good at integration/formulas/the like, this class isn't too bad. If you rely on the teacher to spoon feed you, you should look elsewhere.
Most Helpful Review
Greene is the best math professor I've taken at UCLA. Her lectures are based in solving problems covered in the course in a step-by-step manner. She's pretty light on theory, incorporating it into the lecture after demonstrating how to solve the problem, which provides context for the theory. Her grading is fair and examinations are clear and there are no surprises. She extensively reviews the materials to be covered on the exam in class and in office hours. Problems on quizzes and exams are similar to the homework she assigns and nearly identical to her practice exams. Mean for the first midterm 77.5/100. Mean for second midterm 70/100.
Greene is the best math professor I've taken at UCLA. Her lectures are based in solving problems covered in the course in a step-by-step manner. She's pretty light on theory, incorporating it into the lecture after demonstrating how to solve the problem, which provides context for the theory. Her grading is fair and examinations are clear and there are no surprises. She extensively reviews the materials to be covered on the exam in class and in office hours. Problems on quizzes and exams are similar to the homework she assigns and nearly identical to her practice exams. Mean for the first midterm 77.5/100. Mean for second midterm 70/100.
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