MATH 32B
Calculus of Several Variables
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisites: courses 31B and 32A, with grades of C- or better. Introduction to integral calculus of several variables, line and surface integrals. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Professor Radko was really really nice and was extremely willing to help, but I don't think her teaching methods were very effective for this particular course. I like the fact that she did example problems in class, but she fell short on explaining the concepts, thus resulting in the TAs explaining the concepts to us. Because each and every problem is different, it would have helped if she did proofs or explained the concepts more thoroughly so we can figure out how to do any type of problem. Her quizzes and midterms were really easy, and the homework wasn't exactly hard, so basically a lot of people, even the people who just memorized the steps rather than know the concepts, did well on those. However, her final was very, very hard, which was really unexpected because her midterms and quizzes were so easy. There were a lot of nasty calculations and a lot of confusion because there were so many theorems to know that when it comes to the problems, it's hard to figure out which theorem you want to use. Even if she allowed us to have a notecard during the final, it didn't really help much. I personally do not trust her practice midterms and finals because her solutions always have some sort of calculation errors, which leads me to question whether her method was wrong or whether I just did it wrong. I was rather disappointed in this class because I actually liked the material that was taught, but I don't think Professor Radko prepared all of us adequately for her final, which was ridiculously hard.
Professor Radko was really really nice and was extremely willing to help, but I don't think her teaching methods were very effective for this particular course. I like the fact that she did example problems in class, but she fell short on explaining the concepts, thus resulting in the TAs explaining the concepts to us. Because each and every problem is different, it would have helped if she did proofs or explained the concepts more thoroughly so we can figure out how to do any type of problem. Her quizzes and midterms were really easy, and the homework wasn't exactly hard, so basically a lot of people, even the people who just memorized the steps rather than know the concepts, did well on those. However, her final was very, very hard, which was really unexpected because her midterms and quizzes were so easy. There were a lot of nasty calculations and a lot of confusion because there were so many theorems to know that when it comes to the problems, it's hard to figure out which theorem you want to use. Even if she allowed us to have a notecard during the final, it didn't really help much. I personally do not trust her practice midterms and finals because her solutions always have some sort of calculation errors, which leads me to question whether her method was wrong or whether I just did it wrong. I was rather disappointed in this class because I actually liked the material that was taught, but I don't think Professor Radko prepared all of us adequately for her final, which was ridiculously hard.
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Most Helpful Review
Rogawski is a great professor! Unlike a lot of other math professors, he cares about the class and wants everyone to understand the theory, rather than just writing equations on the board and expecting people to memorize them. His tests really test your understanding of the material, which in some ways made them harder, but if you listen to what he talks about in lecture and think about it a bit, the theory isn't that hard. He's also really friendly and approachable and is very willing to help. If you're taking Math 32A or B, you should take it with him.
Rogawski is a great professor! Unlike a lot of other math professors, he cares about the class and wants everyone to understand the theory, rather than just writing equations on the board and expecting people to memorize them. His tests really test your understanding of the material, which in some ways made them harder, but if you listen to what he talks about in lecture and think about it a bit, the theory isn't that hard. He's also really friendly and approachable and is very willing to help. If you're taking Math 32A or B, you should take it with him.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - Rooney is an integral GOD who goes to war with the math titans every Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 4:00 sharp in MS4000. With no armor other than a plaid untucked dress shirt, khakis, and strap on sandals man cooks hot pasta out of integrals so spicy they'd cause your eyes to tear up and your nose to sweat before you even caught a whiff. Behind his abnormally blue eyes and orange hair is a supercomputer so potent that it has likely already mapped the inside of the black hole at the heart of the Milkyway and mined enough bitcoin to rival the buying power of the US government. The lines "Oh our great Prometheus what fire of knowledge do you bring to us mortals today?" was uttered on many occasions with great reverence to our savior. And what does this King ask for in return? Merely that you don't speak during his lecture... certainly a small price to pay for eternal salvation. Seriously though do take him. So smart and so knowledgeable on the subject. And just an incredible lecturer.
Winter 2020 - Rooney is an integral GOD who goes to war with the math titans every Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 4:00 sharp in MS4000. With no armor other than a plaid untucked dress shirt, khakis, and strap on sandals man cooks hot pasta out of integrals so spicy they'd cause your eyes to tear up and your nose to sweat before you even caught a whiff. Behind his abnormally blue eyes and orange hair is a supercomputer so potent that it has likely already mapped the inside of the black hole at the heart of the Milkyway and mined enough bitcoin to rival the buying power of the US government. The lines "Oh our great Prometheus what fire of knowledge do you bring to us mortals today?" was uttered on many occasions with great reverence to our savior. And what does this King ask for in return? Merely that you don't speak during his lecture... certainly a small price to pay for eternal salvation. Seriously though do take him. So smart and so knowledgeable on the subject. And just an incredible lecturer.
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Most Helpful Review
Professor Simmons was, in my opinion, not very good. His lectures were very conceptual and he tended to jump around a bit and was really unorganized. He had virtually no examples in class, and whichever ones he had were derivations found in the textbook. The grading scheme was 10% homework, 10% quizzes (there were 2) 20% each for 2 midterms, and a 40% final. An alternate grading scheme was available where he took the higher midterm score and made it 35% and the final 55%. He also drops the lowest homework assignment and quiz. What irritated me in this class was that homework was graded very harshly. He assigned about 20 problems from the textbook, some of which were pretty difficult. However, he picks 2-3 problems to grade, and if you get those problems wrong, he takes off full credit. The homework was only worth 6 points each, so if you got those problems wrong, but every other problem right, you'd still get a 0/6 on that assignment. The quizzes weren't too hard, but the midterms were pretty difficult. It wasn't enough just doing all the homework, you actually have to understand the material. His questions were pretty much all conceptual, with one or two derivations in there, and there were always a couple of tricks involved. The final was the hardest one, with about 8 questions, and again was very conceptual. The only reason I passed the class was because my TA was exceptionally good. He also disagreed with the professor's teaching style and he was much better at explaining concepts than Simmons was. Overall, if you have to take this course with Simmons, go to all his office hours and study very hard for his midterms and final. And try to get your homework checked by a TA before turning it in. Actually, it might be better just to take this class with another professor.
Professor Simmons was, in my opinion, not very good. His lectures were very conceptual and he tended to jump around a bit and was really unorganized. He had virtually no examples in class, and whichever ones he had were derivations found in the textbook. The grading scheme was 10% homework, 10% quizzes (there were 2) 20% each for 2 midterms, and a 40% final. An alternate grading scheme was available where he took the higher midterm score and made it 35% and the final 55%. He also drops the lowest homework assignment and quiz. What irritated me in this class was that homework was graded very harshly. He assigned about 20 problems from the textbook, some of which were pretty difficult. However, he picks 2-3 problems to grade, and if you get those problems wrong, he takes off full credit. The homework was only worth 6 points each, so if you got those problems wrong, but every other problem right, you'd still get a 0/6 on that assignment. The quizzes weren't too hard, but the midterms were pretty difficult. It wasn't enough just doing all the homework, you actually have to understand the material. His questions were pretty much all conceptual, with one or two derivations in there, and there were always a couple of tricks involved. The final was the hardest one, with about 8 questions, and again was very conceptual. The only reason I passed the class was because my TA was exceptionally good. He also disagreed with the professor's teaching style and he was much better at explaining concepts than Simmons was. Overall, if you have to take this course with Simmons, go to all his office hours and study very hard for his midterms and final. And try to get your homework checked by a TA before turning it in. Actually, it might be better just to take this class with another professor.
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