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
The reviews from the past could not be any more wrong at this point in time. If you want the worst math professor at UCLA, take Thiele's class. His lectures are horrible. You will have no clue what he is trying to prove in his lectures. He could at least title what he is trying to do, but no. No study sessions to help any of the students. It's true that his midterms are impossible, and it's true that the kinds of problems on them are things we have never seen before. You will have 50 minutes to power through 6 critical thinking problems that you will not know how to do. Studying the book's problems won't help because Thiele's problems are completely different. Best to know just the concepts. Thiele is not fair and not helpful; avoid him.
The reviews from the past could not be any more wrong at this point in time. If you want the worst math professor at UCLA, take Thiele's class. His lectures are horrible. You will have no clue what he is trying to prove in his lectures. He could at least title what he is trying to do, but no. No study sessions to help any of the students. It's true that his midterms are impossible, and it's true that the kinds of problems on them are things we have never seen before. You will have 50 minutes to power through 6 critical thinking problems that you will not know how to do. Studying the book's problems won't help because Thiele's problems are completely different. Best to know just the concepts. Thiele is not fair and not helpful; avoid him.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2023 - I loved this class so much! I highly recommend Professor Varvarezos because he is such an engaging lecturer. He always pauses to ask if anyone has questions and answers them to the best of his ability. He draws very informative figures that help students visualize new topics well. I've attended a couple of his office hours and I would definitely say that it was worth my time! Overall, Professor Varvarezos is super approachable and very understanding. 10/10 experience.
Winter 2023 - I loved this class so much! I highly recommend Professor Varvarezos because he is such an engaging lecturer. He always pauses to ask if anyone has questions and answers them to the best of his ability. He draws very informative figures that help students visualize new topics well. I've attended a couple of his office hours and I would definitely say that it was worth my time! Overall, Professor Varvarezos is super approachable and very understanding. 10/10 experience.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - The reviews from his 32A class had students talk about how grateful they were that he would be leaving to teach at Berkeley. One year later, he's back and I understand why they expressed such relief. His lectures are lacking. I understand that the content is boring, but he consistently makes errors in his computations during his live lectures. This, combined with the general air of uncertainty about the direction of the lecture, leads me to believe that he begins each lecture entirely unprepared with only an idea of the content he intends to cover. Another red flag about this professor is that he either skipped or postponed lecture on 3 or 4 separate occasions. I understand if he has a valid reason, but he chose neither to provide that reason nor adjust the difficulty or structure of the course around these missed lectures. Instead, he decided to post lengthy recordings of lectures en masse around test times. In one case, he postponed a final review lecture and held it during finals week. In a similar vein, the organization of homework and test dates are horrid. Instead of spacing out the homework assignments like a reasonable professor would, he opted to not assign homework during the first three weeks, and then cram six assignments into the last seven, at a rate of about one per week. Moreover, he chose to have two midterms, which would normally be fine. However, the first midterm was at the end of week five, and the second one was in week nine. The grade for the second midterm was not released until partway through our 24-hour final. The tests are also very difficult, much more so than the course material. The lectures and homework are largely computational, but the exams are very conceptual, to the point where a student could not reasonably expect the content on said exams. This, combined with the failure to provide any actual direction on how to solve missed exam and quiz problems, led to a general unpreparedness for the final. All in all, Professor Venkatesh is disinterested in teaching the course and apparently intentionally makes succeeding in the class as tedious and difficult as possible. Do not recommend.
Fall 2020 - The reviews from his 32A class had students talk about how grateful they were that he would be leaving to teach at Berkeley. One year later, he's back and I understand why they expressed such relief. His lectures are lacking. I understand that the content is boring, but he consistently makes errors in his computations during his live lectures. This, combined with the general air of uncertainty about the direction of the lecture, leads me to believe that he begins each lecture entirely unprepared with only an idea of the content he intends to cover. Another red flag about this professor is that he either skipped or postponed lecture on 3 or 4 separate occasions. I understand if he has a valid reason, but he chose neither to provide that reason nor adjust the difficulty or structure of the course around these missed lectures. Instead, he decided to post lengthy recordings of lectures en masse around test times. In one case, he postponed a final review lecture and held it during finals week. In a similar vein, the organization of homework and test dates are horrid. Instead of spacing out the homework assignments like a reasonable professor would, he opted to not assign homework during the first three weeks, and then cram six assignments into the last seven, at a rate of about one per week. Moreover, he chose to have two midterms, which would normally be fine. However, the first midterm was at the end of week five, and the second one was in week nine. The grade for the second midterm was not released until partway through our 24-hour final. The tests are also very difficult, much more so than the course material. The lectures and homework are largely computational, but the exams are very conceptual, to the point where a student could not reasonably expect the content on said exams. This, combined with the failure to provide any actual direction on how to solve missed exam and quiz problems, led to a general unpreparedness for the final. All in all, Professor Venkatesh is disinterested in teaching the course and apparently intentionally makes succeeding in the class as tedious and difficult as possible. Do not recommend.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2016 - 32B was such a useful class. Professor Wang taught me how intuitive math could be. Sometimes she'd even pull up snazzy visual graphics in lecture to help us develop intuition. My favorite part of this class was how she always provided motivation for what we were studying from day one through the end of the course. The end with Stokes' Theorem was a bit rushed but the remainder of the course was well-paced. The exams mimicked the homework difficulty very accurately and were really fair. Sometimes the exam had repeat HW questions, which made for a solid grade, but sometimes the exam q's didn't exactly test our skill in applying the concepts to fresh problems. Wang is super helpful in office hours and after lecture. She's clear and dedicated to helping students with their questions even if she has to look through a few textbooks to figure it out ( pretty normal she was a phD candidate when I took this class with her). Wang is the best math professor I've ever had. I really wish she taught the 33 series as well.
Spring 2016 - 32B was such a useful class. Professor Wang taught me how intuitive math could be. Sometimes she'd even pull up snazzy visual graphics in lecture to help us develop intuition. My favorite part of this class was how she always provided motivation for what we were studying from day one through the end of the course. The end with Stokes' Theorem was a bit rushed but the remainder of the course was well-paced. The exams mimicked the homework difficulty very accurately and were really fair. Sometimes the exam had repeat HW questions, which made for a solid grade, but sometimes the exam q's didn't exactly test our skill in applying the concepts to fresh problems. Wang is super helpful in office hours and after lecture. She's clear and dedicated to helping students with their questions even if she has to look through a few textbooks to figure it out ( pretty normal she was a phD candidate when I took this class with her). Wang is the best math professor I've ever had. I really wish she taught the 33 series as well.
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Most Helpful Review
I took both 32a and 32b with Jared over a year ago. (I would have submitted a review earlier, but he wasn't listed in bruinwalk last year.) I can't compare him to other professors since I have not taken any other math classes at UCLA, but from my previous experience with math taechers (only high school math teachers) that he teaches well and his tests aren't too difficult. His teaching style is very much out of the book, but he explains the notation well. Certainly, the book is enough to get you through the class, but if you don't like reading the book word for word and deciphering the notation that is used by those versed in math, you can go to lecture and get the same information provided in the book with similarly simple examples. Of course, the simple examples aren't very much like the tests and homework problems, but that's the way math classes are. If the most difficult problems were explained, then there would be very little challenge in a test, and the curve would work against everybody instead of only against those who are very very bad at reasoning through math problesm. His tests in 32a were much easier than the homework with problems covering only basic concepts, and his tests in 32b were more in line with other university level tests consisting of problems that force you to think hard about exceptional situations that you may not have encountered frequently in the homework or previous classes. I would provide examples, but it's been a year and I have already forgotten most of multivariable calculus. (Obviously, if you cannot understand the math book very well, you probably will not get as much out of his teaching. I would recommend asking questions in class if something is confusing you. If you don't understand the basics, don't worry about feeling stupid if he laughs a little at your simple questions. You're only stupid if you think you're stupid. Or if others think you're stupid. You don't need to be too self-conscious.) I assume the reason for the jump in difficulty between quarters is that he was still new to teaching when he taught 32a (it was his first time teaching here) and he was unsure about the ability of students here. After he ascertained the general ability of students here (meaning he realized that we can all understand the basics) he started making challenging tests to create more of the bell curve in test scores that are the norm for competitive classes. While some of the life science majors that reviewed him think he was hard, he really isn't too hard. They are just not as good at math, which is okay because they are life science majors. I am a life science major too, and I did fine in a class of engineers, physics, and math students that are all probably much more accustomed to working with integrals. If you have yet to take math and you're a life science major, I would recommend taking 32a over 3c if you are actually interested in math. If you just want a good grade and are competent in math, then you can take 3c and have less of a challenge competing with less math-oriented people. After 3c or 32a, I recommend taking 32b even though it's not required. Understanding how to solve slightly more complex integrals might be beneficial when taking physics B.
I took both 32a and 32b with Jared over a year ago. (I would have submitted a review earlier, but he wasn't listed in bruinwalk last year.) I can't compare him to other professors since I have not taken any other math classes at UCLA, but from my previous experience with math taechers (only high school math teachers) that he teaches well and his tests aren't too difficult. His teaching style is very much out of the book, but he explains the notation well. Certainly, the book is enough to get you through the class, but if you don't like reading the book word for word and deciphering the notation that is used by those versed in math, you can go to lecture and get the same information provided in the book with similarly simple examples. Of course, the simple examples aren't very much like the tests and homework problems, but that's the way math classes are. If the most difficult problems were explained, then there would be very little challenge in a test, and the curve would work against everybody instead of only against those who are very very bad at reasoning through math problesm. His tests in 32a were much easier than the homework with problems covering only basic concepts, and his tests in 32b were more in line with other university level tests consisting of problems that force you to think hard about exceptional situations that you may not have encountered frequently in the homework or previous classes. I would provide examples, but it's been a year and I have already forgotten most of multivariable calculus. (Obviously, if you cannot understand the math book very well, you probably will not get as much out of his teaching. I would recommend asking questions in class if something is confusing you. If you don't understand the basics, don't worry about feeling stupid if he laughs a little at your simple questions. You're only stupid if you think you're stupid. Or if others think you're stupid. You don't need to be too self-conscious.) I assume the reason for the jump in difficulty between quarters is that he was still new to teaching when he taught 32a (it was his first time teaching here) and he was unsure about the ability of students here. After he ascertained the general ability of students here (meaning he realized that we can all understand the basics) he started making challenging tests to create more of the bell curve in test scores that are the norm for competitive classes. While some of the life science majors that reviewed him think he was hard, he really isn't too hard. They are just not as good at math, which is okay because they are life science majors. I am a life science major too, and I did fine in a class of engineers, physics, and math students that are all probably much more accustomed to working with integrals. If you have yet to take math and you're a life science major, I would recommend taking 32a over 3c if you are actually interested in math. If you just want a good grade and are competent in math, then you can take 3c and have less of a challenge competing with less math-oriented people. After 3c or 32a, I recommend taking 32b even though it's not required. Understanding how to solve slightly more complex integrals might be beneficial when taking physics B.
Most Helpful Review
Dave is a very knowledgeable professor and is very concerned with his students doing well. It is sometimes hard to follow him in class, but the notes make much more sense once you've learned everything. He gives helpful practice tests and will hold review sessions if the class asks for it. He's a fair grader, but if you don't put a lot of effort, he won't like you. Going to office hours is helpful and he'll work with you to help you bring up your scores. Very good overall.
Dave is a very knowledgeable professor and is very concerned with his students doing well. It is sometimes hard to follow him in class, but the notes make much more sense once you've learned everything. He gives helpful practice tests and will hold review sessions if the class asks for it. He's a fair grader, but if you don't put a lot of effort, he won't like you. Going to office hours is helpful and he'll work with you to help you bring up your scores. Very good overall.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - Noah is an absolute god! I was thrilled to take this class after finding out he's also a fellow Aussie! I doubt this review is gonna mean much since he's leaving but a good review is the least he deserves after a fantastic quarter. After hearing from a lot of students that 32B is the hardest of the MATH30 series, I can definitely say Noah and TA Joe Breen made it a lot more manageable and arguably easier. The entire class was online, but Noah focused a lot on intuition and liked to use visual aids to help explain the material. He didn't focus too much on proofs and explained a lot of difficult concepts quite clearly and succinctly. He also did a few examples from time to time. There were 7 quizzes and 4 homeworks. The quizzes varied in difficulty from easy peasy lemon squeezy to difficult difficult lemon difficult (time squeeze). However, the lowest 2 quiz scores are dropped so if you didn't do so well on a couple you're fine. The homeworks were challenging and definitely applied the concepts taught during the lectures at a deeper level. However, Noah and Joe both had plenty of OH to help with the questions. For the exam, we had 24hrs for the first, 48hrs for the second and 72hrs for the final. Given the length of time given, these were all manageable and the questions were an okay difficulty. If he was still staying at UCLA, I'd definitely recommend!
Spring 2020 - Noah is an absolute god! I was thrilled to take this class after finding out he's also a fellow Aussie! I doubt this review is gonna mean much since he's leaving but a good review is the least he deserves after a fantastic quarter. After hearing from a lot of students that 32B is the hardest of the MATH30 series, I can definitely say Noah and TA Joe Breen made it a lot more manageable and arguably easier. The entire class was online, but Noah focused a lot on intuition and liked to use visual aids to help explain the material. He didn't focus too much on proofs and explained a lot of difficult concepts quite clearly and succinctly. He also did a few examples from time to time. There were 7 quizzes and 4 homeworks. The quizzes varied in difficulty from easy peasy lemon squeezy to difficult difficult lemon difficult (time squeeze). However, the lowest 2 quiz scores are dropped so if you didn't do so well on a couple you're fine. The homeworks were challenging and definitely applied the concepts taught during the lectures at a deeper level. However, Noah and Joe both had plenty of OH to help with the questions. For the exam, we had 24hrs for the first, 48hrs for the second and 72hrs for the final. Given the length of time given, these were all manageable and the questions were an okay difficulty. If he was still staying at UCLA, I'd definitely recommend!
Most Helpful Review
Professor Williams was above average. He is clear and is able to convey the concepts well. His voice is pretty bland, and his jokes take a few seconds to understand. I had Mess for 32A the quarter before, and Williams was a huge improvement. His exams are fair, though there was a tricky question on the first midterm. He drops the lowest two quizzes and the lower of two midterms. I think he curves a little, since my calculations told me I'd get a B+, and I ended up with an A- (not that I'm complaining), but that may be because the final had a pretty low average.
Professor Williams was above average. He is clear and is able to convey the concepts well. His voice is pretty bland, and his jokes take a few seconds to understand. I had Mess for 32A the quarter before, and Williams was a huge improvement. His exams are fair, though there was a tricky question on the first midterm. He drops the lowest two quizzes and the lower of two midterms. I think he curves a little, since my calculations told me I'd get a B+, and I ended up with an A- (not that I'm complaining), but that may be because the final had a pretty low average.
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