MATH 33B
Differential Equations
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisite: course 31B with grade of C- or better. Highly recommended: course 33A. First-order, linear differential equations; second-order, linear differential equations with constant coefficients; power series solutions; linear systems. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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**Disclaimer** I'm assuming that this is the same professor as Shouxin Dai, a math teacher at UCLA. If I am wrong, disregard this. ************** Professor Dai is one of the fairest teachers I've ever had. His lectures cover exactly what is on the midterms and finals, which were pretty straightforward. He really does not try to trick students; instead he tests our ability to use methods and concepts taught in class. He does have an accent and says some things a little different than what most people are probably used to (like x^3 is "x cubic"). But it's kind of funny and really not an issue. His examples are pretty clear and he ALWAYS takes his time in lectures--never rushed sections, never pinned extra material on us, completely fair in my opinion. He is also very willing to spend more time on examples or explanations if something is unclear. He really is a nice man and a great professor and I highly recommend taking him if you get the chance. Even if he is the earlier lecturer, it's worth it.
**Disclaimer** I'm assuming that this is the same professor as Shouxin Dai, a math teacher at UCLA. If I am wrong, disregard this. ************** Professor Dai is one of the fairest teachers I've ever had. His lectures cover exactly what is on the midterms and finals, which were pretty straightforward. He really does not try to trick students; instead he tests our ability to use methods and concepts taught in class. He does have an accent and says some things a little different than what most people are probably used to (like x^3 is "x cubic"). But it's kind of funny and really not an issue. His examples are pretty clear and he ALWAYS takes his time in lectures--never rushed sections, never pinned extra material on us, completely fair in my opinion. He is also very willing to spend more time on examples or explanations if something is unclear. He really is a nice man and a great professor and I highly recommend taking him if you get the chance. Even if he is the earlier lecturer, it's worth it.
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Fall 2019 - WARNING: Professor Karthik is a weeb that likes One Punch Man! Jokes aside, Professor Karthik gets a lot of slack for being a "bad lecturer" and a person who focuses more on conceptually understanding the material rather than simply applying techniques to solve problems. I found his approach to be, while sometimes overbearing, more helpful in the long run than other math professors. Your grade will consists primarily of homework, two midterms, and one final, all of which will be posted on Gradescope. The homework consists of textbook problems and his own personal problems; the textbook problems will be a breeze, while his problems will require a bit more thinking. His midterms are mostly easy computational problems with a few problems testing your conceptual knowledge. His final is also similar, but consists of more conceptual problems; none of his exams are super difficult, but it wouldn't be fair to say that they are a breeze either. Karthik's method of lecturing initially began with lecturing on the blackboard, but he switched to slides after our review and inputs, which worked out much better. He does go a little too quickly with his slides, but asking him to go a few slides back will generally get him to slow a bit. Other than that, his lectures are fairly standard; they get the material across, and that's about it. You learn. That's what you're here for anyways. Overall, Karthik left a really bad impression in his first few weeks, but improved immensely over the next few weeks, making him one of the few professors at UCLA that actually adapt to his students rather than the other way around. I suspect that he'll continue using slides in the future, and that he'll mellow out and became a better lecturer by next quarter. I would rate him a 3/5 overall for now, but note that he will probably become better as time goes on. PS: Karthik really cares about his students, but he does send out a rather excessive amount of emails pertaining to important information. Prepare your inboxes to be spammed (but do read the emails, they're usually helpful.)
Fall 2019 - WARNING: Professor Karthik is a weeb that likes One Punch Man! Jokes aside, Professor Karthik gets a lot of slack for being a "bad lecturer" and a person who focuses more on conceptually understanding the material rather than simply applying techniques to solve problems. I found his approach to be, while sometimes overbearing, more helpful in the long run than other math professors. Your grade will consists primarily of homework, two midterms, and one final, all of which will be posted on Gradescope. The homework consists of textbook problems and his own personal problems; the textbook problems will be a breeze, while his problems will require a bit more thinking. His midterms are mostly easy computational problems with a few problems testing your conceptual knowledge. His final is also similar, but consists of more conceptual problems; none of his exams are super difficult, but it wouldn't be fair to say that they are a breeze either. Karthik's method of lecturing initially began with lecturing on the blackboard, but he switched to slides after our review and inputs, which worked out much better. He does go a little too quickly with his slides, but asking him to go a few slides back will generally get him to slow a bit. Other than that, his lectures are fairly standard; they get the material across, and that's about it. You learn. That's what you're here for anyways. Overall, Karthik left a really bad impression in his first few weeks, but improved immensely over the next few weeks, making him one of the few professors at UCLA that actually adapt to his students rather than the other way around. I suspect that he'll continue using slides in the future, and that he'll mellow out and became a better lecturer by next quarter. I would rate him a 3/5 overall for now, but note that he will probably become better as time goes on. PS: Karthik really cares about his students, but he does send out a rather excessive amount of emails pertaining to important information. Prepare your inboxes to be spammed (but do read the emails, they're usually helpful.)
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Summer 2021 - Koffi is an extremely nice and affable professor, but that doesn't make up for how difficult it is to learn the material in his class. He goes over material extremely fast and skips steps all over the place, which makes understanding him through the live lectures almost impossible(I had to watch youtube videos in order to supplement the topics). The worst part isn't his bad handwriting or his really fast pace (even for a summer class) it's the raw amount of hw he assigns. He assigns 15-30 problems per lecture and they tend to be long, complicated, and harder than the tests problems. DO NOT wait to do these if you take him as he grades them for accuracy and they count for 20% of your grade. Overall I wish he was better at teaching because he is very excited for people to learn and did give a generous extra credit opportunity in the form of a real-world math project, however, this class can be much easier if taken with other professors.
Summer 2021 - Koffi is an extremely nice and affable professor, but that doesn't make up for how difficult it is to learn the material in his class. He goes over material extremely fast and skips steps all over the place, which makes understanding him through the live lectures almost impossible(I had to watch youtube videos in order to supplement the topics). The worst part isn't his bad handwriting or his really fast pace (even for a summer class) it's the raw amount of hw he assigns. He assigns 15-30 problems per lecture and they tend to be long, complicated, and harder than the tests problems. DO NOT wait to do these if you take him as he grades them for accuracy and they count for 20% of your grade. Overall I wish he was better at teaching because he is very excited for people to learn and did give a generous extra credit opportunity in the form of a real-world math project, however, this class can be much easier if taken with other professors.
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Fall 2019 - Class attendance is not mandatory which is fantastic. Fan's first lecture did not leave a good impression, he basically just followed the textbook and sometimes gave confusing examples. I ditched all of the lectures after the first 2. I like this series which you can watch for free on youtube. ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-03-differential-equations-spring-2010/video-lectures/lecture-1-the-geometrical-view-of-y-f-x-y/ The textbook can be downloaded for free online, don't buy it. The textbook is also hot garbage imo and I often ended up more confused after reading it than when I started. The TAs are a godsend in this class especially Snyder who was able to condense all of the material into his own lectures in a way more understandable way. The upside is that the tests are very straightforward and often easy or at least easier than the homework. So the class isn't too bad.
Fall 2019 - Class attendance is not mandatory which is fantastic. Fan's first lecture did not leave a good impression, he basically just followed the textbook and sometimes gave confusing examples. I ditched all of the lectures after the first 2. I like this series which you can watch for free on youtube. ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-03-differential-equations-spring-2010/video-lectures/lecture-1-the-geometrical-view-of-y-f-x-y/ The textbook can be downloaded for free online, don't buy it. The textbook is also hot garbage imo and I often ended up more confused after reading it than when I started. The TAs are a godsend in this class especially Snyder who was able to condense all of the material into his own lectures in a way more understandable way. The upside is that the tests are very straightforward and often easy or at least easier than the homework. So the class isn't too bad.
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Fall 2017 - This class reminded me of high school math classes. The material and workload aren't too bad, but it's really important that you're consistent with all the computations you're making and don't make mistakes. His lectures can be dry and based off the textbook, but I personally found going to lecture worth it. Definitely the most straightforward math class I've taken at UCLA.
Fall 2017 - This class reminded me of high school math classes. The material and workload aren't too bad, but it's really important that you're consistent with all the computations you're making and don't make mistakes. His lectures can be dry and based off the textbook, but I personally found going to lecture worth it. Definitely the most straightforward math class I've taken at UCLA.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - Allen is the BEST math professor I've had at UCLA. His lectures are super straight forward once you get used to the material, and those combined with the homework is everything you need to do well on his tests. His homework is super helpful but can be a bit tricky doing the problems for the first time. People did super well on his tests this quarter (he also gave us a very extended amount of time) with the average being in the high A range. That being said, I feel like even during a regular quarter his tests would be super reasonable and test you exactly on what he has taught you. Allen is so dedicated and offers a bunch of office hours, and will go so far as to schedule an extra OH on the weekend if he gets a lot of questions. He also responds to your questions super quickly via email or piazza. I would 100% retake this class with him, it has been my favorite math class. Also shout out to Jeremy Brightbill, the best TA with the most life-saving review sessions who will hold office hours until every person has asked every single one of their questions, even if it means logging out of zoom at 11pm.
Spring 2020 - Allen is the BEST math professor I've had at UCLA. His lectures are super straight forward once you get used to the material, and those combined with the homework is everything you need to do well on his tests. His homework is super helpful but can be a bit tricky doing the problems for the first time. People did super well on his tests this quarter (he also gave us a very extended amount of time) with the average being in the high A range. That being said, I feel like even during a regular quarter his tests would be super reasonable and test you exactly on what he has taught you. Allen is so dedicated and offers a bunch of office hours, and will go so far as to schedule an extra OH on the weekend if he gets a lot of questions. He also responds to your questions super quickly via email or piazza. I would 100% retake this class with him, it has been my favorite math class. Also shout out to Jeremy Brightbill, the best TA with the most life-saving review sessions who will hold office hours until every person has asked every single one of their questions, even if it means logging out of zoom at 11pm.
Most Helpful Review
Goldbring is an unfair and unjust professor who has a binary grading scheme and doesn't curve the class. I missed two negatives and that took me from a B+ to a D- on the first midterm. ON the second midterm i ran out of time but described what i would have done which was correct and i ended up getting a 53 on that test. This guy is a jerk and pretty much reads verbatim from the book and uses those examples too. If you go to office hours he just repeats what he says in lecture and says nothing of use and nothing new. He is not helpful and doesnt care whether you know the material or not just if you come out with the right answer.
Goldbring is an unfair and unjust professor who has a binary grading scheme and doesn't curve the class. I missed two negatives and that took me from a B+ to a D- on the first midterm. ON the second midterm i ran out of time but described what i would have done which was correct and i ended up getting a 53 on that test. This guy is a jerk and pretty much reads verbatim from the book and uses those examples too. If you go to office hours he just repeats what he says in lecture and says nothing of use and nothing new. He is not helpful and doesnt care whether you know the material or not just if you come out with the right answer.
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