MATH 32A
Calculus of Several Variables
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisite: course 31A with grade of C- or better. Introduction to differential calculus of several variables, vector field theory. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
She left already. However, she taught pretty decently. Her lectures were too fast and hasty and made it a little difficult to learn. There was a lot of homework which was still tricky. She showed concern for her students and went overtime in office hours quite a bit. It would have been better if I read ahead in the textbook more. I barely passed the class but overall it was okay.
She left already. However, she taught pretty decently. Her lectures were too fast and hasty and made it a little difficult to learn. There was a lot of homework which was still tricky. She showed concern for her students and went overtime in office hours quite a bit. It would have been better if I read ahead in the textbook more. I barely passed the class but overall it was okay.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2019 - John is a very nice guy, but that didn't mean he was a good teacher. He's a grad student (at least when I took this class), so he doesn't have a lot of lecturing experience. His lectures are often unclear and he writes out proofs and theorems in whole ass sentences, which I personally found very confusing and messy. The tests are tough and it shows in the averages. Scores range from single digits to 100%, but I'm pretty sure the class is curved. He also puts a really hard question on each test where you pretty much have to write a (guided) proof, so you gotta know the material well. If your TA isn't helpful, find the good one ASAP and you'll understand what's going on way more. Expect to teach yourself a lot if you wanna do well on the tests. The curve saved me in the end and but honestly I don't recommend him. This class could be more straightforward with a different professor.
Spring 2019 - John is a very nice guy, but that didn't mean he was a good teacher. He's a grad student (at least when I took this class), so he doesn't have a lot of lecturing experience. His lectures are often unclear and he writes out proofs and theorems in whole ass sentences, which I personally found very confusing and messy. The tests are tough and it shows in the averages. Scores range from single digits to 100%, but I'm pretty sure the class is curved. He also puts a really hard question on each test where you pretty much have to write a (guided) proof, so you gotta know the material well. If your TA isn't helpful, find the good one ASAP and you'll understand what's going on way more. Expect to teach yourself a lot if you wanna do well on the tests. The curve saved me in the end and but honestly I don't recommend him. This class could be more straightforward with a different professor.
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Winter 2021 - The professor made this class an amazing experience. His exams were never out to get you since as long as you understood the material pretty well you would get an A on the exams. Professor Suzuki is amazing and I encourage everyone to get him for Math 32A and any other math courses he teaches.
Winter 2021 - The professor made this class an amazing experience. His exams were never out to get you since as long as you understood the material pretty well you would get an A on the exams. Professor Suzuki is amazing and I encourage everyone to get him for Math 32A and any other math courses he teaches.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - Professor Taylor did a fine job teaching in my opinion, and also structured his class in a favorable fashion. Other reviewers are correct in that he would seem to confuse himself at times, but overall he did a decent job at conveying the necessary information. The grading scheme, as has been noted, is 25% quizzes, 25% midterm, and 50% final. Therefore, there is no homework, but the quizzes are based on assigned problems. However, because only five of nine quizzes are counted for a grade, and because of their very straightforward problems, these are not a concern. The midterm was fair but tough, as the problems were nothing surprising but often required some fairly messy work. As for the final, I took mine during the COVID-19 pandemic, so this part may not be applicable to future quarters. My final was take-home, open-notes, and open-book, which obviously will be different than ensuing iterations of this class. The final was 18 pages and 12 problems, most with multiple parts. It would have been very tough to complete in three hours had it been in-person. The problems, likewise, were fairly challenging as well, but this was less due to the concepts being tested and more because of the substantial amount of steps that were required to reach a solution in most cases. Overall, this class was alright, and Professor Taylor did an adequate job teaching. Just know that he definitely does care about "u"!
Winter 2020 - Professor Taylor did a fine job teaching in my opinion, and also structured his class in a favorable fashion. Other reviewers are correct in that he would seem to confuse himself at times, but overall he did a decent job at conveying the necessary information. The grading scheme, as has been noted, is 25% quizzes, 25% midterm, and 50% final. Therefore, there is no homework, but the quizzes are based on assigned problems. However, because only five of nine quizzes are counted for a grade, and because of their very straightforward problems, these are not a concern. The midterm was fair but tough, as the problems were nothing surprising but often required some fairly messy work. As for the final, I took mine during the COVID-19 pandemic, so this part may not be applicable to future quarters. My final was take-home, open-notes, and open-book, which obviously will be different than ensuing iterations of this class. The final was 18 pages and 12 problems, most with multiple parts. It would have been very tough to complete in three hours had it been in-person. The problems, likewise, were fairly challenging as well, but this was less due to the concepts being tested and more because of the substantial amount of steps that were required to reach a solution in most cases. Overall, this class was alright, and Professor Taylor did an adequate job teaching. Just know that he definitely does care about "u"!
Most Helpful Review
This guy is insane, I had to study day and night to barely get a B in his class. It's a good thing I only took two hard classes (his included) and an easy elective otherwise I would have died. He is a VERY caring professor but he is also very young; because of this, I don't think he knows how to teach yet. For example, the first midterm, I think the average was in the low 30's -- he had to give a massive curve because even he thought he messed up on the difficulty level. Basically, if you were to google professor Teran, you will know his calibre of intelligence; and because of this, concepts that are easy in his head cause normal students to cry. If you can't get around taking a class with him, good luck :]!
This guy is insane, I had to study day and night to barely get a B in his class. It's a good thing I only took two hard classes (his included) and an easy elective otherwise I would have died. He is a VERY caring professor but he is also very young; because of this, I don't think he knows how to teach yet. For example, the first midterm, I think the average was in the low 30's -- he had to give a massive curve because even he thought he messed up on the difficulty level. Basically, if you were to google professor Teran, you will know his calibre of intelligence; and because of this, concepts that are easy in his head cause normal students to cry. If you can't get around taking a class with him, good luck :]!
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Fall 2019 - Well I think Siddarth is a good professor overall. He is going to Berkeley next quarter so Bruinwalk doesn't really matter. But as I saw complains on finals, I still want to put this comment down. To start with, he knows what he is teaching and doesn't rely on slides except when he needs to check on his notes for examples. He shows steps for solving each type of problems and is clear on the methods, both algebraically and geometrically. His final is admittedly significantly harder than the homeworks (by the way, he gives a lot of homeworks and the last one consisted of 53 questions due the day before finals so remember this) but I personally think the test overall is well made. You can't solve those problems by simply plugging numbers into equations, this is, at least for me, how a test should look like. I missed something on the final also, but I still think it is well designed. On thing for me, however, the final is definitely longer than it should be, and I had to ask many clarifying questions regarding what the problems mean so spaces of improvements here. Like you shouldn't except students to think hard for a consecutive 3 hours cause many problems do explain some depth of thinking. Also, Siddarth should consider what topic to put on midterms and finals. Many things we learned between midterm 1 and 2 are not even asked in midterm 2 and what's asked in midterm 2 are mostly not in finals. Overall, in terms of the teaching, he is a decent professor, and good luck to him and his future students in Berkeley.
Fall 2019 - Well I think Siddarth is a good professor overall. He is going to Berkeley next quarter so Bruinwalk doesn't really matter. But as I saw complains on finals, I still want to put this comment down. To start with, he knows what he is teaching and doesn't rely on slides except when he needs to check on his notes for examples. He shows steps for solving each type of problems and is clear on the methods, both algebraically and geometrically. His final is admittedly significantly harder than the homeworks (by the way, he gives a lot of homeworks and the last one consisted of 53 questions due the day before finals so remember this) but I personally think the test overall is well made. You can't solve those problems by simply plugging numbers into equations, this is, at least for me, how a test should look like. I missed something on the final also, but I still think it is well designed. On thing for me, however, the final is definitely longer than it should be, and I had to ask many clarifying questions regarding what the problems mean so spaces of improvements here. Like you shouldn't except students to think hard for a consecutive 3 hours cause many problems do explain some depth of thinking. Also, Siddarth should consider what topic to put on midterms and finals. Many things we learned between midterm 1 and 2 are not even asked in midterm 2 and what's asked in midterm 2 are mostly not in finals. Overall, in terms of the teaching, he is a decent professor, and good luck to him and his future students in Berkeley.
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