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
8 of 8
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!
AD
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.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2023 - 32B is considered one of the hardest lower div math classes here at UCLA. I would even say it's the hardest computational lower div math class. It really has nothing to do with the professor. The class content was just hard. The class is consisted of 2 midterms, weekly discussion quizzes, and 2 challenge reports. The weekly discussion quizzes are group quizzes, so you collaborate with other students to do it. Getting a good group with collaborative people was really important to get full score on the quizzes (or just pray one of the group mates knows everything and can carry everyone else lol). The challenge reports are usually longer problems where you have to do textbook style write-ups. Just explain your answers with detailed words and say why you did so and so. Usually, getting full score on challenge reports are pretty easy. You are also encouraged to use resources including the textbook, lecture notes, other students, the TA and the prof (just cite where you got your information at the end). Overall, I think this class is alright. I definitely spent a LOT of time studying for the final and I didn't particularly like how homework was not required. You are still encouraged to do it but you just don't have to turn it in. There was just no motivation for all of us to do them so we missed a lot of practice opportunities.
Spring 2023 - 32B is considered one of the hardest lower div math classes here at UCLA. I would even say it's the hardest computational lower div math class. It really has nothing to do with the professor. The class content was just hard. The class is consisted of 2 midterms, weekly discussion quizzes, and 2 challenge reports. The weekly discussion quizzes are group quizzes, so you collaborate with other students to do it. Getting a good group with collaborative people was really important to get full score on the quizzes (or just pray one of the group mates knows everything and can carry everyone else lol). The challenge reports are usually longer problems where you have to do textbook style write-ups. Just explain your answers with detailed words and say why you did so and so. Usually, getting full score on challenge reports are pretty easy. You are also encouraged to use resources including the textbook, lecture notes, other students, the TA and the prof (just cite where you got your information at the end). Overall, I think this class is alright. I definitely spent a LOT of time studying for the final and I didn't particularly like how homework was not required. You are still encouraged to do it but you just don't have to turn it in. There was just no motivation for all of us to do them so we missed a lot of practice opportunities.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2023 - I know Math 32B is supposed to be one of the hardest math lower divs but this teaching team has made this class INTOLERABLE. The professor said she made the final harder on purpose because the class average on MT2 (84%) was "too high". She also gave us a not-so-hard practice final and explicitly said that she had made the final harder than the practice lol. And unfortunately these are the only two things that she has made clear throughout a 10-week course. No curves, no class notes, HW solutions were full of typos and one of the TAs was yelling at people for not putting their pencils down one second after the midterm ended. DON'T TAKE THIS CLASS
Fall 2023 - I know Math 32B is supposed to be one of the hardest math lower divs but this teaching team has made this class INTOLERABLE. The professor said she made the final harder on purpose because the class average on MT2 (84%) was "too high". She also gave us a not-so-hard practice final and explicitly said that she had made the final harder than the practice lol. And unfortunately these are the only two things that she has made clear throughout a 10-week course. No curves, no class notes, HW solutions were full of typos and one of the TAs was yelling at people for not putting their pencils down one second after the midterm ended. DON'T TAKE THIS CLASS
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2016 - Professor Yin's accent may be a bit of a shock at first, but once you get used to it you begin to see that he is in fact a good professor who knows what he's talking about. He makes himself available for questions in office hours quite often. Yin's lectures are very dry, but he has a quirky personality that you begin to admire the more time that you spend in the class. If strong accents are a no-go for you, I'd say avoid this class. Otherwise, I'd take it again.
Winter 2016 - Professor Yin's accent may be a bit of a shock at first, but once you get used to it you begin to see that he is in fact a good professor who knows what he's talking about. He makes himself available for questions in office hours quite often. Yin's lectures are very dry, but he has a quirky personality that you begin to admire the more time that you spend in the class. If strong accents are a no-go for you, I'd say avoid this class. Otherwise, I'd take it again.
AD
8 of 8
