i had to retake this class after failing the quarter before and i could not put into words how great of a professor he is!! he was very thorough and made the material easy to learn and both the midterm and final contained topics that were taught in lecture, he held review sessions for both which helped a lot. he also puts in effort to remember and know each of his students which i really appreciated!

Deeds quotes:

“I wish I was Oprah. For a lot of reasons—Oprah is so cool.”

“You basically hit your head against the change equations for a long time until you get the trajectory.”

“We want this squiggly equals to become a real equals, like Pinocchio becoming a real boy.”

[We’re learning about drugs that decrease sensitivity]: “The idea is to get some dope that lowers the slope.”

“My office hours are right after class. They’ve been moved to Kaplan Hall. I don’t even know where Kaplan is. I hope someone’s going there so I can follow you.”

“I’m just like Steve Jobs, but less cool.”

[He’s explaining saddle points]: “I don’t do horse stuff, but I love Pringles. So this is a Pringle.”

“How many of you wanna mess with a moose?”

“And then Keanu Reeves might shoot you. Depending on the movie.”

[We’re doing really easy clicker questions]: “And I know some of you are bored, watching TikToks or whatever the hell, but just answer this one for me.”

[He’s talking about transcritical bifurcation points]: “You could think of them going to Starbucks and saying ‘You’re stable? I’m unstable. Let’s switch!’”

“I’m eating lobsters in Maine and I’m super excited.”

“For the second time this quarter I lost two of my tires to a pothole. That’s how my life is going.”

king fr

Love Deeds. 11/10 recommend. Super nice and understanding. Teaches LS30A very well. Lots of office hours and ways to get help. Holds many review sessions before the midterm and final. The midterm and final both reflect what was taught in class. There is no curveballs. No negative feedback :)

Professor Deeds is super sweet and cool. He really worked hard to make class engaging and that we actually understood the information. There are weekly modules with (due T and Th in my case) and a homework assignment due on Tuesday before lecture. The textbook is free and is written by Garfinkle, another professor who teaches this class. Homework is graded on completion.
The labs were sorta difficult, only because they don't really connect to what you're learning in class until Week 8. I think the coding labs will be more helpful in LS30B though so pay attention still. The exams are broke up into an individual stage, a group stage with your learning group, and a group study guide. Unfortunately this was all set up during Valentine's/Presidents Day weekend this year :(
Overall, Deeds is super helpful and the class is totally manageable if you read the book, watch the pre-class modules, and attend OH when needed.

Prof Deeds is the best professor I've had so far at UCLA. I believe winter 2020 was his first time teaching at UCLA, so I came into this class not knowing how he would be, and I couldn't be happier with my decision to take it with him. Prof Deeds is so funny and entertaining during lecture, and I always looked forward to his class. During office hours, he took the time to learn everyone's name and sometimes even stayed after his office hours time to help us if we needed it. He's clearly passionate about what he does and loves what he teaches. Would highly recommend taking 30A with him if you get the opportunity!

LS 30A itself is a great class to take regardless of the professor. The calculus you learn is much more applied to life science careers and more helpful than normal calculus classes in my opinion. The class is not graded on a curve, and all the exams are pretty fair (and similar to the practice exams they give you). If you took calculus in high school, 30A shouldn't be too difficult.

Overall, I highly enjoyed Prof. Deeds lectures. He was very engaging and made puns out of everything, which made the class fun to go to. Although he rambles sometimes, you can see that he loves teaching his students about the material. The homework and labs are tolerable and straight to the point as well as the exams, which are pretty simple since the practice midterms are practically the same thing but with different numbers. Additionally, Prof. Deeds is very easy to approach before and after class and I'm 100% certain he will be happy to help.