I truly enjoyed the quarter spent with Prof. Penneys and Math 33A. From my point of view (as a math major student), Prof. Penneys prepared me very well for other upper division math courses. The material Prof. Penneys covered is class was maybe more involved than other Math 33A classes, but all the material and the proof techniques are essential for most upper division math courses as well. I personally regard Math 33A as an important transitional course from computation-based lower division courses to proof-based upper division classes. For all math major students, I really recommend you take classes with Prof. Penneys!!!

I took his 33A in my first quarter and he made me want to transfer away from math major. I couldn't follow his lecture at all. When I asked the students sitting around me if they understood the lecture, they all said they had no idea what the professor was talking about. Some upperclassmen said Penneys was the fastest lecturer they'd ever had. Although he is interesting and the class was vibrant, I will never take his class again! I studied everything by myself and went to TA and math tutoring center nearly every day and got A-

Penneys is so intelligent. Unfortunately he doesn't realize that his students just cannot follow along with his theorized version of what should be a fairly practical class learning about how to solve systems of equations in efficient ways and manipulating matrices. He may the class so theoretical that it was impossible to follow along. I did well on the midterms thank god for the TA Bon-Soon - he saved my life but tanked the final and so got a pretty bad grade. Avoid Penneys if mathematical theory is not for you. His notation made no sense and he really rushed through the lectures. He wasn't very inviting during office hours either.

I really liked this class. Vectors are pretty simple to understand and the interaction of vectors gets complicated but if you study it's perfectly manageable. Penneys has two grading scales: one where both midterms count toward your grade, and another where you can drop the midterm with the lower score and the final is worth more. Both grading scales include weekly quizzes that you take at the beginning of discussion. I got a 90% on the first midterm without too much effort. The second midterm I did not do so great and I got a 60%. I got a B on the final and the professor ended up taking the second grading scale in which one of the midterms was dropped. I ended with a B- almost a C+ in the class. My advice is to get as high as possible on both midterms as they're both pretty easy and I could've avoided a 60% on the second one. The final is pretty tough. Penneys is really good at explaining the concepts and he makes a lot of cheesy jokes and puns but they're funny. Definitely attend his office hours. The textbook really helps with this class as well. Use it as a first and third exposure to the material and the lecture as your second exposure.