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
Guerberoff's lectures are 50 minutes of examples upon examples. The only issue is that his examples are 10 times easier than the questions on his exams. His handwriting is a little messy sometimes/illegible and he has an accent but if you attend class and try to pay attention you should not have a problem at least learning the material. I would definitely look into office hours with your TA. I ended up with an A- in the class and I had an amazing TA (sudesh). The curve is generous because the questions are really complex (compared to homework questions).
Guerberoff's lectures are 50 minutes of examples upon examples. The only issue is that his examples are 10 times easier than the questions on his exams. His handwriting is a little messy sometimes/illegible and he has an accent but if you attend class and try to pay attention you should not have a problem at least learning the material. I would definitely look into office hours with your TA. I ended up with an A- in the class and I had an amazing TA (sudesh). The curve is generous because the questions are really complex (compared to homework questions).
Most Helpful Review
I'm not sure why Hall has such high ratings on here. He is an okay teacher in my opinion. I was heavily warned not to take his class by friends who had taken him Fall quarter, but I had no other option. He wasn't as terrible as they had told me, but I definitely understood their woes, especially for those who had never taken Calculus before and were attempting to learn from him. Hall seems to explain some concepts that are unnecessary for Life Sciences students. I think that he sometimes forgets that we don't necessarily need to know every single proof and definition of the most obscure formulas. He often will explain things in class, and then when I went to do the homework, I found that his class notes did not help at all, but that I could find a SIMPLE formula in the book that made the homework not seem so hard. I have no idea why he didn't just go over the formulas in lecture instead of trying to do all this super weird math that I could barely follow. However, I went to my TAs office hours every week and got help on the homework, and ended up getting 100% on every homework I turned in (which really helped my grade in the class.) I did pretty well on both of the midterms, but I attribute this to a) already haven taken Calculus in high school, therefore having background knowledge of what we were learning in class, and b) going to office hours EVERY week. The first midterm I got an 80% uncurved, and the class average was a 48%. Second midterm I got an 84%, and the class average was a 69%. The first midterm was way too long for the amount of time we had (just the 50 minutes in class) and almost no one finished; thus, the low average. The second midterm was MUCH better. The final was more difficult than I was expecting, and I think I did so-so on it. However, everyone else seemed to be struggling just as much, and I know that with the curve + my first two midterm grades, I'll probably still end up with an A in his class. Hall's teaching style was relatively straightforward (besides all the random math that didn't seem relevant.) He has REALLY nice handwriting and all of his notes are easy to follow and organized on the board, which helps if you come in late and miss the beginning. He does stammer a lot, but it is kind of adorable. He's very quirky and dorky, yet he's interesting to listen to and his lectures aren't too boring. Despite the likelihood of getting an A in his class, I still had to work to make sure that I would get it, and if given the option to take another professor, I would have. If you've never taken Calculus before, I STRONGLY discourage you from taking him. I think it would be exceptionally difficult to learn from him, as he would often explain relatively simple calculus concepts (like integration) in a way that I would have thought would be confusing had I not already taken Calc in high school. However, if you have taken Calc before, you can definitely get by in this class. To sum it up, Hall isn't impossible, but I would suggest looking into other professors who are available. You can definitely pull an A in his class, but it won't be as easy as it will be with other math professors. I had Gilles for 3A and I LOVED him!!! So see what other options you have, but don't be too discouraged if you end up with Hall. Just be prepared to put in the extra work.
I'm not sure why Hall has such high ratings on here. He is an okay teacher in my opinion. I was heavily warned not to take his class by friends who had taken him Fall quarter, but I had no other option. He wasn't as terrible as they had told me, but I definitely understood their woes, especially for those who had never taken Calculus before and were attempting to learn from him. Hall seems to explain some concepts that are unnecessary for Life Sciences students. I think that he sometimes forgets that we don't necessarily need to know every single proof and definition of the most obscure formulas. He often will explain things in class, and then when I went to do the homework, I found that his class notes did not help at all, but that I could find a SIMPLE formula in the book that made the homework not seem so hard. I have no idea why he didn't just go over the formulas in lecture instead of trying to do all this super weird math that I could barely follow. However, I went to my TAs office hours every week and got help on the homework, and ended up getting 100% on every homework I turned in (which really helped my grade in the class.) I did pretty well on both of the midterms, but I attribute this to a) already haven taken Calculus in high school, therefore having background knowledge of what we were learning in class, and b) going to office hours EVERY week. The first midterm I got an 80% uncurved, and the class average was a 48%. Second midterm I got an 84%, and the class average was a 69%. The first midterm was way too long for the amount of time we had (just the 50 minutes in class) and almost no one finished; thus, the low average. The second midterm was MUCH better. The final was more difficult than I was expecting, and I think I did so-so on it. However, everyone else seemed to be struggling just as much, and I know that with the curve + my first two midterm grades, I'll probably still end up with an A in his class. Hall's teaching style was relatively straightforward (besides all the random math that didn't seem relevant.) He has REALLY nice handwriting and all of his notes are easy to follow and organized on the board, which helps if you come in late and miss the beginning. He does stammer a lot, but it is kind of adorable. He's very quirky and dorky, yet he's interesting to listen to and his lectures aren't too boring. Despite the likelihood of getting an A in his class, I still had to work to make sure that I would get it, and if given the option to take another professor, I would have. If you've never taken Calculus before, I STRONGLY discourage you from taking him. I think it would be exceptionally difficult to learn from him, as he would often explain relatively simple calculus concepts (like integration) in a way that I would have thought would be confusing had I not already taken Calc in high school. However, if you have taken Calc before, you can definitely get by in this class. To sum it up, Hall isn't impossible, but I would suggest looking into other professors who are available. You can definitely pull an A in his class, but it won't be as easy as it will be with other math professors. I had Gilles for 3A and I LOVED him!!! So see what other options you have, but don't be too discouraged if you end up with Hall. Just be prepared to put in the extra work.
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Most Helpful Review
She is a very good teacher and goes over the material pretty well. She does a lot of examples in class. She is pretty friendly when it comes to asking her questions too. Her tests are HARD!!!!! They are not easy by any standard. There is always some kind of trick that she did not exactly teach you. Overall though a very good teacher and I would recommend her to anybody that is actually interested in learning.
She is a very good teacher and goes over the material pretty well. She does a lot of examples in class. She is pretty friendly when it comes to asking her questions too. Her tests are HARD!!!!! They are not easy by any standard. There is always some kind of trick that she did not exactly teach you. Overall though a very good teacher and I would recommend her to anybody that is actually interested in learning.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2015 - Honestly, if you did well in Calculus AB or BC all you need to do well in this class is do the homework (which is part of your grade anyway) and do the practice midterm he provides a couple of days before the test. I would say the practice midterms are fairly similar to the actual midterm. He is straight forward when covering the material and what you need to know. However, since his tests tend to have a high average, I don't think he curves the class. If you're struggling, he is super approachable and vey willing to help. Highly recommend this professor.
Fall 2015 - Honestly, if you did well in Calculus AB or BC all you need to do well in this class is do the homework (which is part of your grade anyway) and do the practice midterm he provides a couple of days before the test. I would say the practice midterms are fairly similar to the actual midterm. He is straight forward when covering the material and what you need to know. However, since his tests tend to have a high average, I don't think he curves the class. If you're struggling, he is super approachable and vey willing to help. Highly recommend this professor.
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Most Helpful Review
Avoid him as much as possible. The class was not supposed to be like this. Anyone who had taken AP Calculus should take this class as a review. He purposely makes it harder by three times. I should've taken the chance to drop the class when I could without it affecting my transcript. I thought the class would be okay, but it just got worse, especially midterms and final. Half the class is failing already, when I checked the statistics for the midterms (2). The final is just as bad, if not worse.
Avoid him as much as possible. The class was not supposed to be like this. Anyone who had taken AP Calculus should take this class as a review. He purposely makes it harder by three times. I should've taken the chance to drop the class when I could without it affecting my transcript. I thought the class would be okay, but it just got worse, especially midterms and final. Half the class is failing already, when I checked the statistics for the midterms (2). The final is just as bad, if not worse.
Most Helpful Review
Professor Neiman is such a nice guy and a great teacher! He's the kind of professor that will remember your name after meeting him once, and his office hours are a great resource. His lectures are straight-forward and modeled almost exactly after the book, so you only need to know one or the other well. Just know the homework problems front to back and you will do fine on the midterms/final, because he models his exams after them. I got an A in the class and I would say I studied a decent but not overwhelming amount (8 hours for each midterm/12 for the final). He makes the material really understandable and doesn't get overly conceptual.
Professor Neiman is such a nice guy and a great teacher! He's the kind of professor that will remember your name after meeting him once, and his office hours are a great resource. His lectures are straight-forward and modeled almost exactly after the book, so you only need to know one or the other well. Just know the homework problems front to back and you will do fine on the midterms/final, because he models his exams after them. I got an A in the class and I would say I studied a decent but not overwhelming amount (8 hours for each midterm/12 for the final). He makes the material really understandable and doesn't get overly conceptual.
Most Helpful Review
1. The 2 midterms were EXACTLY like the homework. Do the homework, and you'll do well on the midterms 2. Lecture could get a little confusing because he moves pretty fast through the material. Ask him a question to slow him down 3. The beginning integration material is what most of the course is, and since it's really easy, it put the class average really high. When we got into multivariable calc, you could tell everyone was getting confused, and this is what might have changed the class average, because half the final was on multivariable calc That being said, this was the class I was least worried about, because if you do the homework and understand it, you'll do well in the class. Oh, also, my TA(Sherwood) was AMAZING. If you have any questions, ask your TAs during discussion. I also recommend taking a Thursday discussion, because homework is due Fridays, and by Thursday you should have your questions prepared.
1. The 2 midterms were EXACTLY like the homework. Do the homework, and you'll do well on the midterms 2. Lecture could get a little confusing because he moves pretty fast through the material. Ask him a question to slow him down 3. The beginning integration material is what most of the course is, and since it's really easy, it put the class average really high. When we got into multivariable calc, you could tell everyone was getting confused, and this is what might have changed the class average, because half the final was on multivariable calc That being said, this was the class I was least worried about, because if you do the homework and understand it, you'll do well in the class. Oh, also, my TA(Sherwood) was AMAZING. If you have any questions, ask your TAs during discussion. I also recommend taking a Thursday discussion, because homework is due Fridays, and by Thursday you should have your questions prepared.
Most Helpful Review
To start off, Math 3B involves Calculus BC concepts as well as multivariable calculus and a little bit of linear algebra. As such, this course requires you to learn a lot in only one quarter and therefore, requires you to put in some effort in order to understand the concepts. Professor Penneys is an amazing professor who really cares about his students. Everyday during lecture, he always has a lot to go over, so he doesn't waste time. It is easy to get lost in class because he goes through the material fast, so be sure to raise your hand and ask questions. He likes to give hints on what he likes to test on during lecture so pay close attention in class. Whenever I had questions with the lesson or homework, I would go to his office hours and get help from him. Professor Penneys may seem intimidating during his office hours but he's there to help you learn. Also, be prepared to go up to the board and work out problems. He says it's a great way to understand math, and I completely agree. I learned so much whenever I had him guide me towards the answer, rather than him just working it out himself. As for grading, he offers two different grading scales. One that is 20% quizzes 20% midterms x2 and 40% final or 20% quizzes 20% higher midterm and 60% final. He will automatically choose the higher of the two. Also, Professor Penneys stressed at the beginning of the quarter that he has generous curves, meaning that an A is not necessarily a 90% and up but lower. With that said, he said he will never curve up (i.e. an A is a 92 and up). Overall, I recommend Professor Penneys for Math 3B. His class challenged me to think more analytically when approaching problems, which is a useful skill for other classes later, namely physics. Overall Grade: A
To start off, Math 3B involves Calculus BC concepts as well as multivariable calculus and a little bit of linear algebra. As such, this course requires you to learn a lot in only one quarter and therefore, requires you to put in some effort in order to understand the concepts. Professor Penneys is an amazing professor who really cares about his students. Everyday during lecture, he always has a lot to go over, so he doesn't waste time. It is easy to get lost in class because he goes through the material fast, so be sure to raise your hand and ask questions. He likes to give hints on what he likes to test on during lecture so pay close attention in class. Whenever I had questions with the lesson or homework, I would go to his office hours and get help from him. Professor Penneys may seem intimidating during his office hours but he's there to help you learn. Also, be prepared to go up to the board and work out problems. He says it's a great way to understand math, and I completely agree. I learned so much whenever I had him guide me towards the answer, rather than him just working it out himself. As for grading, he offers two different grading scales. One that is 20% quizzes 20% midterms x2 and 40% final or 20% quizzes 20% higher midterm and 60% final. He will automatically choose the higher of the two. Also, Professor Penneys stressed at the beginning of the quarter that he has generous curves, meaning that an A is not necessarily a 90% and up but lower. With that said, he said he will never curve up (i.e. an A is a 92 and up). Overall, I recommend Professor Penneys for Math 3B. His class challenged me to think more analytically when approaching problems, which is a useful skill for other classes later, namely physics. Overall Grade: A
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