Professor
Robert Greene
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - I actually took math 31b with Greene but I need to literally post this asap so everyone knows NOT TO TAKE GREENE FOR ANY CLASS. I literally taught the entire class to myself because his lectures were useless. I swear I spent every second of the day studying for this class and still struggled because his tests were so difficult. I got a 5 on ab calc and an A in math 31a so I'm not awful at math but this class was the death of me. Our average for our second midterm was 55. Steer clear.
Fall 2021 - I actually took math 31b with Greene but I need to literally post this asap so everyone knows NOT TO TAKE GREENE FOR ANY CLASS. I literally taught the entire class to myself because his lectures were useless. I swear I spent every second of the day studying for this class and still struggled because his tests were so difficult. I got a 5 on ab calc and an A in math 31a so I'm not awful at math but this class was the death of me. Our average for our second midterm was 55. Steer clear.
Most Helpful Review
Professor Greene was a very unique professor, to say the least. I came in having never taken Calculus before, and suffice to say, it was very challenging. He's not the traditional teacher where he explains concepts and gives examples, he dives straight into proofs, and like what everyone else said, he does expect you to know alot of basic Calculus. Most of my class was composed of students who had already taken Calculus before, so it was probably a cinch for them. He doesn't teach in the same order as his colleagues does, some of the stuff he taught I learned again in 31B. His class is broken down into 10% quizzes, which is one problem taken straight from the last week's homework, 20% each for the two midterms and a 50% final. The homework, and therefore the quizzes, were fairly easy. They were challenging problems, most of them proofs, but he gives you the solutions beforehand, so if worse comes to worse you can always memorize the solutions. First midterm was alright, again it was mostly proofs, and he gives you sample midterm problems. Only problem is that the sample problems were composed of ~30 problems/proofs, and he picked some of the hardest ones. The average was a 74%. Second midterm was a bit harder, again he gave sample problems but this time he switched up the numbers a bit. Average was a 68%. The final was composed of 10 problems, plus an extra credit problem. Each problem was multiple parts and contained a proof of some sort. This time he gave us a list of topics to study, and some of those were on the final word for word. The average was a 57% if I remember correctly. Overall, his lectures were pretty boring, he tries to do the proofs in class but sometimes he goes on tangents trying to explain them. I recommend getting a calculus book of some sort (probably the one used by the school) and just watching the MIT lectures. You'll probably get more out of it. Conclusion: If you've taken Calculus before, this class should be a piece of cake. Even if you haven't, as long as you have decent memorization skills, you should scrape at least a B. However, if you're trying to learn the material (for people who haven't taken Calculus), I recommend taking another professor.
Professor Greene was a very unique professor, to say the least. I came in having never taken Calculus before, and suffice to say, it was very challenging. He's not the traditional teacher where he explains concepts and gives examples, he dives straight into proofs, and like what everyone else said, he does expect you to know alot of basic Calculus. Most of my class was composed of students who had already taken Calculus before, so it was probably a cinch for them. He doesn't teach in the same order as his colleagues does, some of the stuff he taught I learned again in 31B. His class is broken down into 10% quizzes, which is one problem taken straight from the last week's homework, 20% each for the two midterms and a 50% final. The homework, and therefore the quizzes, were fairly easy. They were challenging problems, most of them proofs, but he gives you the solutions beforehand, so if worse comes to worse you can always memorize the solutions. First midterm was alright, again it was mostly proofs, and he gives you sample midterm problems. Only problem is that the sample problems were composed of ~30 problems/proofs, and he picked some of the hardest ones. The average was a 74%. Second midterm was a bit harder, again he gave sample problems but this time he switched up the numbers a bit. Average was a 68%. The final was composed of 10 problems, plus an extra credit problem. Each problem was multiple parts and contained a proof of some sort. This time he gave us a list of topics to study, and some of those were on the final word for word. The average was a 57% if I remember correctly. Overall, his lectures were pretty boring, he tries to do the proofs in class but sometimes he goes on tangents trying to explain them. I recommend getting a calculus book of some sort (probably the one used by the school) and just watching the MIT lectures. You'll probably get more out of it. Conclusion: If you've taken Calculus before, this class should be a piece of cake. Even if you haven't, as long as you have decent memorization skills, you should scrape at least a B. However, if you're trying to learn the material (for people who haven't taken Calculus), I recommend taking another professor.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - Preface: this is a review for math 31B with Professor Greene not 32A Imagine: you are a first-year bio major having just taken AP Calculus BC and you need to start your major prerequisites, one of which is the math series. "Oh, calc 31b should be easy," you think. "I mean, I just finished calc bc so it should be a nice way to ease into a college courseload..." Ten weeks later your skin is oily, you haven't slept in a week, and all of your hair has turned grey as the final exam approaches and you are even MORE confused about calculus now than you were before you took the class. Let me get something straight, this class is not taught by Professor Greene, it is taught by Sal Khan and the archived videos of your high school calc bc teacher. Professor Greene's lectures are so convoluted and his notes are so messy that you will have a better chance of translating hieroglyphs than you will in trying to understand his thought process. The TA's in this class genuinely try to make the course material understandable, but when faced with mass confusion as every single student has multiple questions to answer in only a 50 minute period, it is impossible to make up for Professor Greene's incapability as a teacher. Generally, the workload is manageable on non Gradescope homework days. But on the weeks that Professor Greene assigns written homework, your time is better spent writing your will and picking out a cute coffin than it is trying to understand his extremely vague questions or deciphering his chicken scratch. The written homework for this class is so mentally taxing that each assignment has a high chance of landing you in the ICU by question 3. There is no doubt that professor Greene knows the material; the issue is that he is utterly incapable of conveying it to undergrad students in such a way that is comprehensible. Other students in the line for Rende have confused me for an upperclassman because the insomnia caused by this class has led to eyebags that rival the soulless look of a 4th year with thousands of dollars in student loans, an unpaid internship with a misogynist boss, and 4 research papers to write. For the sake of your mental, physical, emotional, and academic health, please please please do not take this class.
Fall 2021 - Preface: this is a review for math 31B with Professor Greene not 32A Imagine: you are a first-year bio major having just taken AP Calculus BC and you need to start your major prerequisites, one of which is the math series. "Oh, calc 31b should be easy," you think. "I mean, I just finished calc bc so it should be a nice way to ease into a college courseload..." Ten weeks later your skin is oily, you haven't slept in a week, and all of your hair has turned grey as the final exam approaches and you are even MORE confused about calculus now than you were before you took the class. Let me get something straight, this class is not taught by Professor Greene, it is taught by Sal Khan and the archived videos of your high school calc bc teacher. Professor Greene's lectures are so convoluted and his notes are so messy that you will have a better chance of translating hieroglyphs than you will in trying to understand his thought process. The TA's in this class genuinely try to make the course material understandable, but when faced with mass confusion as every single student has multiple questions to answer in only a 50 minute period, it is impossible to make up for Professor Greene's incapability as a teacher. Generally, the workload is manageable on non Gradescope homework days. But on the weeks that Professor Greene assigns written homework, your time is better spent writing your will and picking out a cute coffin than it is trying to understand his extremely vague questions or deciphering his chicken scratch. The written homework for this class is so mentally taxing that each assignment has a high chance of landing you in the ICU by question 3. There is no doubt that professor Greene knows the material; the issue is that he is utterly incapable of conveying it to undergrad students in such a way that is comprehensible. Other students in the line for Rende have confused me for an upperclassman because the insomnia caused by this class has led to eyebags that rival the soulless look of a 4th year with thousands of dollars in student loans, an unpaid internship with a misogynist boss, and 4 research papers to write. For the sake of your mental, physical, emotional, and academic health, please please please do not take this class.
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2020 - I was worried when I first read Professor Greene's reviews, but after taking his class, I think Bruinwalk was a little harsh. His teaching is somewhat eclectic and doesn't work for everyone. However, I really enjoyed how much he emphasizes the intuition behind the material. This definitely makes his exams and homework problems sets difficult though, and I would not have been able to survive without help from my TA. During this quarter, probably due to COVID, most of our homework assignments and even one midterm were done on Sapling. As a result, our grades were inflated going into the final exam. The final was considerably more difficult than anything else we had done previously for the class and most people were thrown off. The average was about 60%. All in all, I appreciated Professor Greene's teaching but he makes 32B a lot more intense than other professors and I probably wouldn't take another class with him. He's more well-suited for students who have a talent for math.
Summer 2020 - I was worried when I first read Professor Greene's reviews, but after taking his class, I think Bruinwalk was a little harsh. His teaching is somewhat eclectic and doesn't work for everyone. However, I really enjoyed how much he emphasizes the intuition behind the material. This definitely makes his exams and homework problems sets difficult though, and I would not have been able to survive without help from my TA. During this quarter, probably due to COVID, most of our homework assignments and even one midterm were done on Sapling. As a result, our grades were inflated going into the final exam. The final was considerably more difficult than anything else we had done previously for the class and most people were thrown off. The average was about 60%. All in all, I appreciated Professor Greene's teaching but he makes 32B a lot more intense than other professors and I probably wouldn't take another class with him. He's more well-suited for students who have a talent for math.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2021 - Take this class if you are interested in math. Professor Greene is an excellent instructor for this honor-level course. He is great at explaining difficult topics, and he gives a lot of examples and intuition behind those abstract concepts. The professor teaches a lot more than what's in the standard Math 115A class. Some homework problems might be challenging, but the professor and the TA are pretty helpful in answering questions. Many problems on the midterms and final are already discussed in class. The final consisted of 11 proof-based problems, which was terribly long and took 15+ hours to complete, but this will probably be different if this class is offered on-campus after the Covid-19 period. Overall, this class is suitable for those who love math or those who want to study deeper in linear algebra.
Spring 2021 - Take this class if you are interested in math. Professor Greene is an excellent instructor for this honor-level course. He is great at explaining difficult topics, and he gives a lot of examples and intuition behind those abstract concepts. The professor teaches a lot more than what's in the standard Math 115A class. Some homework problems might be challenging, but the professor and the TA are pretty helpful in answering questions. Many problems on the midterms and final are already discussed in class. The final consisted of 11 proof-based problems, which was terribly long and took 15+ hours to complete, but this will probably be different if this class is offered on-campus after the Covid-19 period. Overall, this class is suitable for those who love math or those who want to study deeper in linear algebra.
Most Helpful Review
Alright. I'm a Math major who takes upper division Math classes and only aim for Honor or hard classes. So anybody who's the same with me or at least looking for a good professor, listen up. He's very motivating and encouraging a professor. Even most of Math TAs like him. His lectures are disorganized from times to times, but that's his style. He gives you a lot of intuitions about what's going on, you have to understand for it, after all, he's half-artist, the man plays violin. His homework is extremely difficult but it's very focused; it gives you insights on topology. His exams aren't so hard, they're doable, IF AND ONLY IF you do and understand the homework. Trust me, the exams are 5 times easier than the homework, so don't freak out. I mean, I took this class before 131A, which is a prerequisite, and I got A. Prof. Greene helped me a lot to understand things. He's like my guru now. He's very caring as well. His personality is a bit funny, but he's not cold. Upper division students might find this smart man as a great professor whilst lower divisions ones just can't stand his lecture style. There you go; it's my opinion.
Alright. I'm a Math major who takes upper division Math classes and only aim for Honor or hard classes. So anybody who's the same with me or at least looking for a good professor, listen up. He's very motivating and encouraging a professor. Even most of Math TAs like him. His lectures are disorganized from times to times, but that's his style. He gives you a lot of intuitions about what's going on, you have to understand for it, after all, he's half-artist, the man plays violin. His homework is extremely difficult but it's very focused; it gives you insights on topology. His exams aren't so hard, they're doable, IF AND ONLY IF you do and understand the homework. Trust me, the exams are 5 times easier than the homework, so don't freak out. I mean, I took this class before 131A, which is a prerequisite, and I got A. Prof. Greene helped me a lot to understand things. He's like my guru now. He's very caring as well. His personality is a bit funny, but he's not cold. Upper division students might find this smart man as a great professor whilst lower divisions ones just can't stand his lecture style. There you go; it's my opinion.
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