MATH 3B
Calculus for Life Sciences Students
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisite: course 3A with grade of C- or better. Not open for credit to students with credit for course 31B. Applications of differentiation, integration, differential equations, linear models in biology, phase lines and classifying equilibrium values, bifurcations. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
I haven't gotten my grade yet for this class but... He's a very very very very nice, approachable professor who is TRULY concerned with being the best professor he can be. Every time I had a question, he was more than willing to answer and I was, for once, not afraid to go to office hours. Do the homework (I didn't and I suffered as a result of it) and make sure you go to lecture. He is a very good, organized lecturer who tries his best to make lecture/math enjoyable. The first midterm was HARDDDD I got a horrible score, but the second one was better. Just make sure you study, as math3B is not extremely simple.
I haven't gotten my grade yet for this class but... He's a very very very very nice, approachable professor who is TRULY concerned with being the best professor he can be. Every time I had a question, he was more than willing to answer and I was, for once, not afraid to go to office hours. Do the homework (I didn't and I suffered as a result of it) and make sure you go to lecture. He is a very good, organized lecturer who tries his best to make lecture/math enjoyable. The first midterm was HARDDDD I got a horrible score, but the second one was better. Just make sure you study, as math3B is not extremely simple.
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Most Helpful Review
If you are generally good at calculus, take this class. Gilles isn't a very good teacher. He has an AWESOME french accent which was fun to hear in lecture, but he wasn't very good at explaining things. Towards the end of the quarter is when it gets bad, because we start learning multivariable calculus which is unlike anything you've seen in high school calculus. As long as you're good at reading from the book and doing the problems, you'll be fine. Reading through the book and doing practice problems is how I survived the quarter. But if you rely on the teacher to actually teach you, you won't be fine. Test wise, his midterms were RIDICULOUSLY EASY!!! I got high A's on both, and I'm not THAT great at math. I did study, but not a TON, which is why I was so surprised. I studied a lot for the final just to be safe, thinking "the final will be just as easy as the midterms, I'll get a solid A no problem in this class." But I was wrong. :( His final was really hard. I was totally in shock, because I was expecting something at the level of his midterms. Everyone else in the class was groaning about how hard it was after too, so there will probably be a nice curve. Also, he says 56% of his students get A's and B's which is pretty good. OVERALL POINT: If you are good at teaching yourself and if you are good at integration/formulas/the like, this class isn't too bad. If you rely on the teacher to spoon feed you, you should look elsewhere.
If you are generally good at calculus, take this class. Gilles isn't a very good teacher. He has an AWESOME french accent which was fun to hear in lecture, but he wasn't very good at explaining things. Towards the end of the quarter is when it gets bad, because we start learning multivariable calculus which is unlike anything you've seen in high school calculus. As long as you're good at reading from the book and doing the problems, you'll be fine. Reading through the book and doing practice problems is how I survived the quarter. But if you rely on the teacher to actually teach you, you won't be fine. Test wise, his midterms were RIDICULOUSLY EASY!!! I got high A's on both, and I'm not THAT great at math. I did study, but not a TON, which is why I was so surprised. I studied a lot for the final just to be safe, thinking "the final will be just as easy as the midterms, I'll get a solid A no problem in this class." But I was wrong. :( His final was really hard. I was totally in shock, because I was expecting something at the level of his midterms. Everyone else in the class was groaning about how hard it was after too, so there will probably be a nice curve. Also, he says 56% of his students get A's and B's which is pretty good. OVERALL POINT: If you are good at teaching yourself and if you are good at integration/formulas/the like, this class isn't too bad. If you rely on the teacher to spoon feed you, you should look elsewhere.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2025 - Professor Greene is a very helpful and nice professor. Her lectures are not the most engaging, but you will learn all the material if you go to the lectures. She offers office hours after almost every lecture (3 times a week). The class is structured into homework grades, 2 midterms and a final. The homework is either online (in which you have multiple attempts per question) and or on paper, with both of them graded or accuracy. The midterms were very manageable for me and I got an A+ on both. I would highly recommend this course for life science majors hoping to meet the math requirements!
Winter 2025 - Professor Greene is a very helpful and nice professor. Her lectures are not the most engaging, but you will learn all the material if you go to the lectures. She offers office hours after almost every lecture (3 times a week). The class is structured into homework grades, 2 midterms and a final. The homework is either online (in which you have multiple attempts per question) and or on paper, with both of them graded or accuracy. The midterms were very manageable for me and I got an A+ on both. I would highly recommend this course for life science majors hoping to meet the math requirements!
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