MATH 33A
Linear Algebra and Applications
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisite: course 3B or 31B or 32A with grade of C- or better. Introduction to linear algebra: systems of linear equations, matrix algebra, linear independence, subspaces, bases and dimension, orthogonality, least-squares methods, determinants, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, matrix diagonalization, and symmetric matrices. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
This one probably the most dysfunctional class I have ever taken. No one paid attention and random students were calling out in class, disrupting class, and acting like idiots for most of the lectures. Every single day the entire class would just talk to their friends and she just kept right on teaching. Whenever she tried to get everyone to pay attention they would just ignore her. If you want an easy A then go ahead and take her. At the beginning of the class she said, "If you guys all deserve an A then I will give you all an A and I will just deal with the department myself." Then she made the average on her tests like 80%+ so we all ended up "deserving it". She was a very easy professor. If you want to learn the material then maybe don't. She has a great graphical insight to the math she is teaching but can't get her point across if no one is listening anyway.
This one probably the most dysfunctional class I have ever taken. No one paid attention and random students were calling out in class, disrupting class, and acting like idiots for most of the lectures. Every single day the entire class would just talk to their friends and she just kept right on teaching. Whenever she tried to get everyone to pay attention they would just ignore her. If you want an easy A then go ahead and take her. At the beginning of the class she said, "If you guys all deserve an A then I will give you all an A and I will just deal with the department myself." Then she made the average on her tests like 80%+ so we all ended up "deserving it". She was a very easy professor. If you want to learn the material then maybe don't. She has a great graphical insight to the math she is teaching but can't get her point across if no one is listening anyway.
Most Helpful Review
I haven't really been to the lectures, but I think what I disliked most of him is his curve. Unlike the previous math courses I've taken, Prof Burke's 33A does not give As to all in the top 25%. I lost 2points for the first midterm, ranked 6th in class for the second midterm, was in the top 25% for the final and yet I got a B+. Well I don't regret taking him since I had to choose between Dearricott and him. At least Burke's midterms and finals are reasonable and simple. The only issue in addition to the harsh curve is that he deducts tons of points for calculation mistakes even if the method is right. Anyway, just my two cents worth.
I haven't really been to the lectures, but I think what I disliked most of him is his curve. Unlike the previous math courses I've taken, Prof Burke's 33A does not give As to all in the top 25%. I lost 2points for the first midterm, ranked 6th in class for the second midterm, was in the top 25% for the final and yet I got a B+. Well I don't regret taking him since I had to choose between Dearricott and him. At least Burke's midterms and finals are reasonable and simple. The only issue in addition to the harsh curve is that he deducts tons of points for calculation mistakes even if the method is right. Anyway, just my two cents worth.
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Most Helpful Review
To put it simply, Castella is a great math professor, and he is the best of the four I've had at UCLA. He does have a Spanish accent, but I thought he was still understandable. That aside, his notes are quite clear, and he focuses a lot on examples. He made linear algebra computational rather than focus on a lot of geometrical understanding and theorems (a huge contrast to my nightmare with Gilmore for Math 32B-good thing she's not teaching here anymore). He is fair in his exams although the midterms were time-constrained. I did well on the first midterm, but because I had an LS midterm on the day before the second midterm and due to stupid mistakes, I actually did really bad on the second exam even though it was fair in retrospect. However, his policy of dropping the lower midterm saved me, as I got 100% on the final (yes, it is doable for a math class) and I got an A+ in the class. For the exams, focus on his practice exams he gives you, as the textbook for the class was horrible. His excellent and clear notes were sufficient. On the first day of class, he seemed really serious and in a bad mood, but I learned that he just has a serious personality, so don't be scared to approach him during office hours, as he is helpful. He also assigns practice problems from the textbook, and although some were irrelevant to do looking back at the practice exams, I recommend to still do them if you have the time. His homework is not from the textbook, so my advice is to work on it with a group of friends/classmates-I did this and it helped us understand the material even more. Overall, I recommend Castella, as he is one of the most straightforward math professors you can get.
To put it simply, Castella is a great math professor, and he is the best of the four I've had at UCLA. He does have a Spanish accent, but I thought he was still understandable. That aside, his notes are quite clear, and he focuses a lot on examples. He made linear algebra computational rather than focus on a lot of geometrical understanding and theorems (a huge contrast to my nightmare with Gilmore for Math 32B-good thing she's not teaching here anymore). He is fair in his exams although the midterms were time-constrained. I did well on the first midterm, but because I had an LS midterm on the day before the second midterm and due to stupid mistakes, I actually did really bad on the second exam even though it was fair in retrospect. However, his policy of dropping the lower midterm saved me, as I got 100% on the final (yes, it is doable for a math class) and I got an A+ in the class. For the exams, focus on his practice exams he gives you, as the textbook for the class was horrible. His excellent and clear notes were sufficient. On the first day of class, he seemed really serious and in a bad mood, but I learned that he just has a serious personality, so don't be scared to approach him during office hours, as he is helpful. He also assigns practice problems from the textbook, and although some were irrelevant to do looking back at the practice exams, I recommend to still do them if you have the time. His homework is not from the textbook, so my advice is to work on it with a group of friends/classmates-I did this and it helped us understand the material even more. Overall, I recommend Castella, as he is one of the most straightforward math professors you can get.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - I don't know why some of the ratings for this class are bad, Cladek is a great teacher!! People were saying she teaches out of the book, I think that is just because the material for this class was pretty easy- so there was not much more she needed to add. Any important topic was explained really well, and tests were very fair in my opinion. She was really nice & accommodating due to covid-19. She released practice tests that were super similar to the actual midterms, and gave us a 3 hr midterm and 48 hr final! The average for the second midterm was an A and she even curved up at the end of the quarter. There were quizzes every week that were sometimes hard, but they were multiple choice & she still curved them. I learned so much during this class, and really was one of my favorites math classes I have taken. I highly recommend this class and Professor Cladek!!
Spring 2020 - I don't know why some of the ratings for this class are bad, Cladek is a great teacher!! People were saying she teaches out of the book, I think that is just because the material for this class was pretty easy- so there was not much more she needed to add. Any important topic was explained really well, and tests were very fair in my opinion. She was really nice & accommodating due to covid-19. She released practice tests that were super similar to the actual midterms, and gave us a 3 hr midterm and 48 hr final! The average for the second midterm was an A and she even curved up at the end of the quarter. There were quizzes every week that were sometimes hard, but they were multiple choice & she still curved them. I learned so much during this class, and really was one of my favorites math classes I have taken. I highly recommend this class and Professor Cladek!!
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A tad overrated. No doubt he is a great professor, however he is not for every student. Lectures are sometimes frustrating to get through because of the constant repetition, however he makes up for it with fairly easy and straight forward tests. If you're the type of student who can pick up material quickly then Conley is not for you. This professor tends to move slowly to make sure every student understands even the most basic concepts. But if you're like me then you wish he wouldn't write short novels every lecture and gave more examples (some of us don't have the time to attend office hours.) I am not saying he is a bad professor, because that wouldn't be true it's just that some of us would rather move at a faster pace.
A tad overrated. No doubt he is a great professor, however he is not for every student. Lectures are sometimes frustrating to get through because of the constant repetition, however he makes up for it with fairly easy and straight forward tests. If you're the type of student who can pick up material quickly then Conley is not for you. This professor tends to move slowly to make sure every student understands even the most basic concepts. But if you're like me then you wish he wouldn't write short novels every lecture and gave more examples (some of us don't have the time to attend office hours.) I am not saying he is a bad professor, because that wouldn't be true it's just that some of us would rather move at a faster pace.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2019 - Das is a very nice man who is more or less lost in his own world. I feel like he's chill as a person, but he's an outright terrible teacher. He teaches so so slowly, and his homework and quiz system is very disorganized. He didn't teach like 90% of the things I needed to learn for my career in engineering, and what I did learn from him was word for word recited out of the textbook. The nice thing about his class is that his tests are for people who only go to his lectures, which means they are extremely easy. I recommend enrolling for his class but attending the lectures of a more highly ranked teacher. I did that and was able to learn the required material while breezing through the tests. His main redeeming factor is that he has like 3 outfits, and you get to see which one he wears the most. Right now, the purple pinstriped shirt is in the lead.
Spring 2019 - Das is a very nice man who is more or less lost in his own world. I feel like he's chill as a person, but he's an outright terrible teacher. He teaches so so slowly, and his homework and quiz system is very disorganized. He didn't teach like 90% of the things I needed to learn for my career in engineering, and what I did learn from him was word for word recited out of the textbook. The nice thing about his class is that his tests are for people who only go to his lectures, which means they are extremely easy. I recommend enrolling for his class but attending the lectures of a more highly ranked teacher. I did that and was able to learn the required material while breezing through the tests. His main redeeming factor is that he has like 3 outfits, and you get to see which one he wears the most. Right now, the purple pinstriped shirt is in the lead.
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