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
Professor Neiman is such a nice guy and a great teacher! He's the kind of professor that will remember your name after meeting him once, and his office hours are a great resource. His lectures are straight-forward and modeled almost exactly after the book, so you only need to know one or the other well. Just know the homework problems front to back and you will do fine on the midterms/final, because he models his exams after them. I got an A in the class and I would say I studied a decent but not overwhelming amount (8 hours for each midterm/12 for the final). He makes the material really understandable and doesn't get overly conceptual.
Professor Neiman is such a nice guy and a great teacher! He's the kind of professor that will remember your name after meeting him once, and his office hours are a great resource. His lectures are straight-forward and modeled almost exactly after the book, so you only need to know one or the other well. Just know the homework problems front to back and you will do fine on the midterms/final, because he models his exams after them. I got an A in the class and I would say I studied a decent but not overwhelming amount (8 hours for each midterm/12 for the final). He makes the material really understandable and doesn't get overly conceptual.
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Most Helpful Review
1. The 2 midterms were EXACTLY like the homework. Do the homework, and you'll do well on the midterms 2. Lecture could get a little confusing because he moves pretty fast through the material. Ask him a question to slow him down 3. The beginning integration material is what most of the course is, and since it's really easy, it put the class average really high. When we got into multivariable calc, you could tell everyone was getting confused, and this is what might have changed the class average, because half the final was on multivariable calc That being said, this was the class I was least worried about, because if you do the homework and understand it, you'll do well in the class. Oh, also, my TA(Sherwood) was AMAZING. If you have any questions, ask your TAs during discussion. I also recommend taking a Thursday discussion, because homework is due Fridays, and by Thursday you should have your questions prepared.
1. The 2 midterms were EXACTLY like the homework. Do the homework, and you'll do well on the midterms 2. Lecture could get a little confusing because he moves pretty fast through the material. Ask him a question to slow him down 3. The beginning integration material is what most of the course is, and since it's really easy, it put the class average really high. When we got into multivariable calc, you could tell everyone was getting confused, and this is what might have changed the class average, because half the final was on multivariable calc That being said, this was the class I was least worried about, because if you do the homework and understand it, you'll do well in the class. Oh, also, my TA(Sherwood) was AMAZING. If you have any questions, ask your TAs during discussion. I also recommend taking a Thursday discussion, because homework is due Fridays, and by Thursday you should have your questions prepared.
Most Helpful Review
To start off, Math 3B involves Calculus BC concepts as well as multivariable calculus and a little bit of linear algebra. As such, this course requires you to learn a lot in only one quarter and therefore, requires you to put in some effort in order to understand the concepts. Professor Penneys is an amazing professor who really cares about his students. Everyday during lecture, he always has a lot to go over, so he doesn't waste time. It is easy to get lost in class because he goes through the material fast, so be sure to raise your hand and ask questions. He likes to give hints on what he likes to test on during lecture so pay close attention in class. Whenever I had questions with the lesson or homework, I would go to his office hours and get help from him. Professor Penneys may seem intimidating during his office hours but he's there to help you learn. Also, be prepared to go up to the board and work out problems. He says it's a great way to understand math, and I completely agree. I learned so much whenever I had him guide me towards the answer, rather than him just working it out himself. As for grading, he offers two different grading scales. One that is 20% quizzes 20% midterms x2 and 40% final or 20% quizzes 20% higher midterm and 60% final. He will automatically choose the higher of the two. Also, Professor Penneys stressed at the beginning of the quarter that he has generous curves, meaning that an A is not necessarily a 90% and up but lower. With that said, he said he will never curve up (i.e. an A is a 92 and up). Overall, I recommend Professor Penneys for Math 3B. His class challenged me to think more analytically when approaching problems, which is a useful skill for other classes later, namely physics. Overall Grade: A
To start off, Math 3B involves Calculus BC concepts as well as multivariable calculus and a little bit of linear algebra. As such, this course requires you to learn a lot in only one quarter and therefore, requires you to put in some effort in order to understand the concepts. Professor Penneys is an amazing professor who really cares about his students. Everyday during lecture, he always has a lot to go over, so he doesn't waste time. It is easy to get lost in class because he goes through the material fast, so be sure to raise your hand and ask questions. He likes to give hints on what he likes to test on during lecture so pay close attention in class. Whenever I had questions with the lesson or homework, I would go to his office hours and get help from him. Professor Penneys may seem intimidating during his office hours but he's there to help you learn. Also, be prepared to go up to the board and work out problems. He says it's a great way to understand math, and I completely agree. I learned so much whenever I had him guide me towards the answer, rather than him just working it out himself. As for grading, he offers two different grading scales. One that is 20% quizzes 20% midterms x2 and 40% final or 20% quizzes 20% higher midterm and 60% final. He will automatically choose the higher of the two. Also, Professor Penneys stressed at the beginning of the quarter that he has generous curves, meaning that an A is not necessarily a 90% and up but lower. With that said, he said he will never curve up (i.e. an A is a 92 and up). Overall, I recommend Professor Penneys for Math 3B. His class challenged me to think more analytically when approaching problems, which is a useful skill for other classes later, namely physics. Overall Grade: A
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2018 - I had Popa for 31B. This class was really easy, probably because I took AP Calc BC. He is really clear in lectures and the tests are EXACTLY like the homework, so make sure to do the HW. If you go to lecture, do ALL the homework, go to discussion, you should be good.
Winter 2018 - I had Popa for 31B. This class was really easy, probably because I took AP Calc BC. He is really clear in lectures and the tests are EXACTLY like the homework, so make sure to do the HW. If you go to lecture, do ALL the homework, go to discussion, you should be good.
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Most Helpful Review
Professor Radko has a great personality. She is really nice and helpful. She tries to be as straightforward as possible, unlike some other math professors. She does a lot of examples and explains each step throughly. That being said, sometimes she jumps right into examples before introducing the concept. In cases like that, I suggest you read the book. Sometimes a quick scan of the book helped me more than being in class and going to discussion. I had a tough time with the material at the beginning of the course and had to do a lot of practice problems to keep up, but once I learned to work hard, I was able to slack off at the end. My opinion of each test- Midterm 1: HARD. Average was 60% Average was Midterm- EASY Average was 62% FINAL- VERY HARD! STUDY FOR THE FINAL. Do not be like me and leave it to the last minute! (Literally, I studied from 12-4:30 the day of) The average was 46% I got a 60/60 on both midterms, 82/120 on the final, and A in the class. Overall, I suggest you do a lot of practice problems and attend office hours. Pay attention to your notes because she draws a lot of test examples from that. The class is hard work, but feels rewarding at the end! Good luck Bruins!
Professor Radko has a great personality. She is really nice and helpful. She tries to be as straightforward as possible, unlike some other math professors. She does a lot of examples and explains each step throughly. That being said, sometimes she jumps right into examples before introducing the concept. In cases like that, I suggest you read the book. Sometimes a quick scan of the book helped me more than being in class and going to discussion. I had a tough time with the material at the beginning of the course and had to do a lot of practice problems to keep up, but once I learned to work hard, I was able to slack off at the end. My opinion of each test- Midterm 1: HARD. Average was 60% Average was Midterm- EASY Average was 62% FINAL- VERY HARD! STUDY FOR THE FINAL. Do not be like me and leave it to the last minute! (Literally, I studied from 12-4:30 the day of) The average was 46% I got a 60/60 on both midterms, 82/120 on the final, and A in the class. Overall, I suggest you do a lot of practice problems and attend office hours. Pay attention to your notes because she draws a lot of test examples from that. The class is hard work, but feels rewarding at the end! Good luck Bruins!
Most Helpful Review
Richardson made this class a lot more difficult than it needed to be. The material itself is not hard to understand (as long as you have a basic understanding for calculus), but Prof. Richardson consistently put topics on the test that were irrelevant and not covered in class. His tests are extremely hard and he aims for an average of around 50% to "get a nice bell curve". I ended up getting an A- in the class, but I felt like I had mastered the material better than that grade indicated. Make sure you take advantage of all the freebie points he gives, such as homework. If you can, I would try to take this class with an easier, better rated professor. If not, it's not the end of the world, but be prepared to really work and dedicate a good amount of time to this class.
Richardson made this class a lot more difficult than it needed to be. The material itself is not hard to understand (as long as you have a basic understanding for calculus), but Prof. Richardson consistently put topics on the test that were irrelevant and not covered in class. His tests are extremely hard and he aims for an average of around 50% to "get a nice bell curve". I ended up getting an A- in the class, but I felt like I had mastered the material better than that grade indicated. Make sure you take advantage of all the freebie points he gives, such as homework. If you can, I would try to take this class with an easier, better rated professor. If not, it's not the end of the world, but be prepared to really work and dedicate a good amount of time to this class.
Most Helpful Review
Professor Denomme lectures fairly fast and is therefore hard to follow at times simply because he doesn't pause for the class to write/digest what he's written on the board before writing more stuff. However, he is a really nice and funny guy, and his tests are not too difficult. He gives study guides and practice tests about a week before the tests, and as long as you review those (along with past homework), you will be fine on the tests. There are also weekly quizzes (7), and you drop your worst quiz at the end of the quarter. Final Grade: A+
Professor Denomme lectures fairly fast and is therefore hard to follow at times simply because he doesn't pause for the class to write/digest what he's written on the board before writing more stuff. However, he is a really nice and funny guy, and his tests are not too difficult. He gives study guides and practice tests about a week before the tests, and as long as you review those (along with past homework), you will be fine on the tests. There are also weekly quizzes (7), and you drop your worst quiz at the end of the quarter. Final Grade: A+
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