Quarter Taken:
Winter 2018
Submitted April 2, 2018
Grade Received:
A+
This course has its pros and cons.
I won't go too much into the grading system because he should have this written in his syllabus, but the grade is based on participation (answering questions in-class through TopHat), homework (completing modules on TopHat), weekly quizzes (higher score out of two attempts is recorded), two midterms, and a final. All of his tests are 50 multiple choice questions, with a good mix of conceptual and calculation problems. The two midterms are in-class (an hour and 15 minutes long) and the final was two hours. Get your easy points by participating in class, doing the modules (based on completion), and the quizzes.
Most of you are probably concerned when reading all of these previous reviews. Yes, most of them are accurate, in that Jaffe is a cool person but not a great professor. He does his best to explain concepts, but the way he delivers these ideas isn't really clear, and many times you are prone to zoning out during class. He has office hours, which many people took to their advantage. I personally didn't do this, but if this is how you learn, go and ask him questions and he will solve some example problems with you. Also, DO NOT RELY ON THE TAs. I don't know if this happens every quarter, but the TAs I had this past quarter were no help. The "discussion" section they have really isn't a discussion at all. They just present powerpoints of concepts Jaffe went over in class and literally repeat the same things he said. For me, this was a waste of time, and by week 3 I chose to study on my own.
Studying on your own IS AN OPTION. Sit down, read through the modules carefully, google/watch YouTube videos on concepts you don't understand, and actually work through the quiz problems. Study with a friend. Jaffe emphasizes the importance of the textbook for this class, but it is SUPER EXPENSIVE and I did just fine without buying the textbook. If you want extra practice, you can borrow the textbook at Powell and work through the problems relevant to that chapter or the midterm/final you are studying for. Definitely make time to practice problems (especially for the second midterm and the final) and work to manage your time for the test because many students complain that they don't have enough time to work through the test.
That being said, this class is like any other stats class and don't be worried if you have never taken stats before. This was my first stats class and I was still able to pull through by studying on my own and using whatever resources were available to me. Find what works for you, whether that be the module or the textbook or Jaffe's lectures/office hours.