Professor
Alan Garfinkel
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Most Helpful Review
so recently, a classmate from my past ls30b class contacted me saying that Professor Garfinkel's bruinwalk page is finally up and boy, AM I GLAD I've been wanting to leave a review for Professor Garfinkel for the longest time, but it seemed like the only thing that I could do was become an evangelist for his class. well, here's my review. first of all, this class was AWESOME. I've been reading the reviews below, and they're all pretty much spot on. Professor Garfinkel has this *presence* that makes you really pay attention during class, and his lectures are among the most fascinating. His final exam reviews are awesome as well@ l did struggle quite a bit in this class, but thankfully I had really awesome teaching assistants (Jane and Nguyen), and an awesome classmate (Mikey, who everyone basically asked questions to), as well as Professor Garfinkel, who stays an extra hour after class to answer any questions. Even though professor Garfinkel doesn't answer his emails very often, there really wasn't a need to because his lectures are very clear, and he has hand-picked, awesome teaching assistants who answer all your questions both in person and via email. Professor Garfinkel was intimidating to approach at first, but his eyes light up when you ask a really good question. I wish that I would have gotten to know him better. In short, take his ls30b class and you won't regret it one bit. Seriously. Take it.
so recently, a classmate from my past ls30b class contacted me saying that Professor Garfinkel's bruinwalk page is finally up and boy, AM I GLAD I've been wanting to leave a review for Professor Garfinkel for the longest time, but it seemed like the only thing that I could do was become an evangelist for his class. well, here's my review. first of all, this class was AWESOME. I've been reading the reviews below, and they're all pretty much spot on. Professor Garfinkel has this *presence* that makes you really pay attention during class, and his lectures are among the most fascinating. His final exam reviews are awesome as well@ l did struggle quite a bit in this class, but thankfully I had really awesome teaching assistants (Jane and Nguyen), and an awesome classmate (Mikey, who everyone basically asked questions to), as well as Professor Garfinkel, who stays an extra hour after class to answer any questions. Even though professor Garfinkel doesn't answer his emails very often, there really wasn't a need to because his lectures are very clear, and he has hand-picked, awesome teaching assistants who answer all your questions both in person and via email. Professor Garfinkel was intimidating to approach at first, but his eyes light up when you ask a really good question. I wish that I would have gotten to know him better. In short, take his ls30b class and you won't regret it one bit. Seriously. Take it.
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Most Helpful Review
Actual course taken: LS30B Professor rating: A+ overall Professor Garfinkel is one of the best professors at UCLA. He has the ability to convey the logic behind chaos theory and dynamical system with such clarity and intuition, that you'll hardly understand why you didn't understand these things before (not like I actually knew anything about chaos theory prior to taking the class). Unlike other professors, his tests are fair and predictable. Predictable in the sense that if you studied then you should do alright if not great. Here is my advise to get an A: 1. Take careful notes in class. He writes down everything that you need to know on the board, and think about it after class. If you have any questions, feel free to ask any of his hand-chosen teaching assistants (professor Garfinkel is incredibly popular, and may not be available during office hours). Also, Garfinkel held review sessions for the final, which was INCREDIBLY helpful. I will state once and for all, however, that his final was not the easiest test that I've ever taken, but it was definitely everything that he said was going to be on the final. 2. Do the homework problems and work hard on the computer programming part! They are literally the same type of questions he will ask on the exams. If you mastered those questions, then you should do alright on the exams. Honestly, Professor Garfinkel is not there to trick you, but to actually challenge you and help you understand the concepts. 3. Go to his teaching assistants for help!!! His teaching assistants are incredibly well-qualified and hand-chosen, which makes up for the fact that he is not available very often due to other responsibilities. Unlike other professors, he places additional emphasis on choosing his teaching assistants since he cannot be as attentive to his students as he can. He really does care for student learning more than anything, and his amazing lectures answer all questions anyway. If you follow these tips, there is no reason why you shouldnt get an A in his class. The bottom line: Take LS30B with Garfinkel.
Actual course taken: LS30B Professor rating: A+ overall Professor Garfinkel is one of the best professors at UCLA. He has the ability to convey the logic behind chaos theory and dynamical system with such clarity and intuition, that you'll hardly understand why you didn't understand these things before (not like I actually knew anything about chaos theory prior to taking the class). Unlike other professors, his tests are fair and predictable. Predictable in the sense that if you studied then you should do alright if not great. Here is my advise to get an A: 1. Take careful notes in class. He writes down everything that you need to know on the board, and think about it after class. If you have any questions, feel free to ask any of his hand-chosen teaching assistants (professor Garfinkel is incredibly popular, and may not be available during office hours). Also, Garfinkel held review sessions for the final, which was INCREDIBLY helpful. I will state once and for all, however, that his final was not the easiest test that I've ever taken, but it was definitely everything that he said was going to be on the final. 2. Do the homework problems and work hard on the computer programming part! They are literally the same type of questions he will ask on the exams. If you mastered those questions, then you should do alright on the exams. Honestly, Professor Garfinkel is not there to trick you, but to actually challenge you and help you understand the concepts. 3. Go to his teaching assistants for help!!! His teaching assistants are incredibly well-qualified and hand-chosen, which makes up for the fact that he is not available very often due to other responsibilities. Unlike other professors, he places additional emphasis on choosing his teaching assistants since he cannot be as attentive to his students as he can. He really does care for student learning more than anything, and his amazing lectures answer all questions anyway. If you follow these tips, there is no reason why you shouldnt get an A in his class. The bottom line: Take LS30B with Garfinkel.
Most Helpful Review
okay, so my friend from ls30b (his name isn't spelled "Mikey" or "Mike", by the way, like how people spelled his name below) recently told me that people are leaving reviews on Dr. Garfinkel's page by the truckload (I too, have been trying to leave him reviews for the past year). As everyone below said, Dr. Garfinkel is absolutely amazing. He's a fantastic lecturer who can captivate individuals who absolutely hate math (me). Seriously. I slept during math classes all throughout high school until I took Dr. Garfinkel's ls30b class. When he speaks, something about it makes difficult concepts (linear algebra, chaos theory) crystal clear. I loved going to this class despite it being very long AND late in the afternoon AND being on tuesdays and thursdays. I seriously contemplated on taking the Math 3A/b/c series because they had better class times, but I'm SUPER glad that I didn't. (I also heard very negative things about the 3a/b/c series). In all, prepare to have your major and possibly life changed, because Dr. Garfinkel is very inspirational. Peace-
okay, so my friend from ls30b (his name isn't spelled "Mikey" or "Mike", by the way, like how people spelled his name below) recently told me that people are leaving reviews on Dr. Garfinkel's page by the truckload (I too, have been trying to leave him reviews for the past year). As everyone below said, Dr. Garfinkel is absolutely amazing. He's a fantastic lecturer who can captivate individuals who absolutely hate math (me). Seriously. I slept during math classes all throughout high school until I took Dr. Garfinkel's ls30b class. When he speaks, something about it makes difficult concepts (linear algebra, chaos theory) crystal clear. I loved going to this class despite it being very long AND late in the afternoon AND being on tuesdays and thursdays. I seriously contemplated on taking the Math 3A/b/c series because they had better class times, but I'm SUPER glad that I didn't. (I also heard very negative things about the 3a/b/c series). In all, prepare to have your major and possibly life changed, because Dr. Garfinkel is very inspirational. Peace-
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