Professor
Gang Liu
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Most Helpful Review
Average professor. Definitely not the best you will ever have but also not the worst. Got a B+ in the class. Selling the book for this class, Single Variable Calculus by Jon Rogawski, Second Ed. used for Math 31A and 31B. E-mail me at ************* if you're interested. I also have the solutions manual which I'll include in the purchase. I don't go to ucsd, I go ucla, I just like to use my ucsd email for convenience.
Average professor. Definitely not the best you will ever have but also not the worst. Got a B+ in the class. Selling the book for this class, Single Variable Calculus by Jon Rogawski, Second Ed. used for Math 31A and 31B. E-mail me at ************* if you're interested. I also have the solutions manual which I'll include in the purchase. I don't go to ucsd, I go ucla, I just like to use my ucsd email for convenience.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2017 - Gang Liu is the G.O.A.T. It took me a whole quarter to be able to understand his accent, but his class and the midterms are purely computational and much like the homework. (Speaking of homework, the weekly homework can be done all in one night, which is what I did every week of the quarter). His final is longer and more difficult than the midterms but the curve compensates for it. One of my favorite things about Gang Liu is his attire. He wore the same iconic blue-shirt brown-pants outfit every single day of the quarter, and so far he has continued to wear the same outfit every day of 32B as well. Does he only own one pair of clothes? Maybe he just has a closet filled only with identical blue shirts and a drawer filled only with identical brown pants. We may never know. Overall 10/10 Gang Liu is the reason I get up in the morning.
Fall 2017 - Gang Liu is the G.O.A.T. It took me a whole quarter to be able to understand his accent, but his class and the midterms are purely computational and much like the homework. (Speaking of homework, the weekly homework can be done all in one night, which is what I did every week of the quarter). His final is longer and more difficult than the midterms but the curve compensates for it. One of my favorite things about Gang Liu is his attire. He wore the same iconic blue-shirt brown-pants outfit every single day of the quarter, and so far he has continued to wear the same outfit every day of 32B as well. Does he only own one pair of clothes? Maybe he just has a closet filled only with identical blue shirts and a drawer filled only with identical brown pants. We may never know. Overall 10/10 Gang Liu is the reason I get up in the morning.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2018 - I'm writing this before the final grades are posted, just trying to avoid possible bias based on a letter grade. Professor Liu has his styles, which is like "computation with tricks" and "inspiration", and you would agree with me if you have attended his lectures and seen the test problems. He always said "this is nothing but just ..." when emphasizing an important concept or a kind of abstract notion in lectures, not so hard to follow. He has accents, for sure. But such pronunciation problems only have minor influence on the lectures as a whole as long as you do not fall sleep and miss something in the transition from one idea to another. The grading scale seems kind of harsh; after all it is a lower division math class: Scheme A: 10%HW + 40%Midterms + 50%Final ( you may find it really easy to understand your final raw score for this course since Prof. Liu gives 2 midterms of 20 points each and a final of 50 points). Scheme B: 10%HW + 90%Final (Final is really hard, not just cumulative in contents covered, but also "tricks". Fortunately, in lectures he covered most of his "tricks" appeared in tests problems. If you find something really tedious to compute, then please think of some "tricks" you may be not so familiar with.
Winter 2018 - I'm writing this before the final grades are posted, just trying to avoid possible bias based on a letter grade. Professor Liu has his styles, which is like "computation with tricks" and "inspiration", and you would agree with me if you have attended his lectures and seen the test problems. He always said "this is nothing but just ..." when emphasizing an important concept or a kind of abstract notion in lectures, not so hard to follow. He has accents, for sure. But such pronunciation problems only have minor influence on the lectures as a whole as long as you do not fall sleep and miss something in the transition from one idea to another. The grading scale seems kind of harsh; after all it is a lower division math class: Scheme A: 10%HW + 40%Midterms + 50%Final ( you may find it really easy to understand your final raw score for this course since Prof. Liu gives 2 midterms of 20 points each and a final of 50 points). Scheme B: 10%HW + 90%Final (Final is really hard, not just cumulative in contents covered, but also "tricks". Fortunately, in lectures he covered most of his "tricks" appeared in tests problems. If you find something really tedious to compute, then please think of some "tricks" you may be not so familiar with.
Most Helpful Review
His accent is horrible; I'm still not used to it. But his exams were fair, as they were all computational (except the final, which included 1-2 proofs out of about 11 problems). I agree that the material in 33A doesn't really start to sink in until after the first midterm. The average for the midterms was usually in the C range for our class, so it's not hard getting an A. He doesn't put your homework scores or midterm grades online, so you go into the final with no knowledge of where you rank in the class. I went to class once a week for about 20 minutes, but went to my discussion every week, because my TA was really helpful. I highly recommend going to Professor Liu's "reviews"; he basically tells you what to study for the exams.
His accent is horrible; I'm still not used to it. But his exams were fair, as they were all computational (except the final, which included 1-2 proofs out of about 11 problems). I agree that the material in 33A doesn't really start to sink in until after the first midterm. The average for the midterms was usually in the C range for our class, so it's not hard getting an A. He doesn't put your homework scores or midterm grades online, so you go into the final with no knowledge of where you rank in the class. I went to class once a week for about 20 minutes, but went to my discussion every week, because my TA was really helpful. I highly recommend going to Professor Liu's "reviews"; he basically tells you what to study for the exams.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - NEVER NEVER take his class in person! Otherwise, your life will be ruined and this very first proof-based math course will become your nightmare throughout the quarter. ALL components in his class prevent you to genuinely from learning some math and gaining a good grade. You cannot understand his awkward accent at all since he speaks with mumbling and at least half of the words cannot be correctly pronounced. He just rushes through the course content so fast as if we have learned the course prior to his "reviewing style" teaching. When you find yourself lost in the class, you will feel so distressed and frustrated. Also, it is so difficult to understand his chaotic and obscure handwriting on board. The grading schemes are one of the toughest I've ever seen: 60% for final, 25% for the mere midterm, and 15% for HW. Oh, if you bomb your midterm, then your final weighs 85% of your entire grade! :) Great huh? No lecture recordings in this course. Only provide course notes which are also hard to read. Only around 20%-30% can gain an A or A-, and this course is totally curved (you need to beat others). This course is thus suitable for those who have learned it before and would like to retake it. Last but not least, save your life and stay away from this course! (you really have many choices with different instructors tbh)
Spring 2022 - NEVER NEVER take his class in person! Otherwise, your life will be ruined and this very first proof-based math course will become your nightmare throughout the quarter. ALL components in his class prevent you to genuinely from learning some math and gaining a good grade. You cannot understand his awkward accent at all since he speaks with mumbling and at least half of the words cannot be correctly pronounced. He just rushes through the course content so fast as if we have learned the course prior to his "reviewing style" teaching. When you find yourself lost in the class, you will feel so distressed and frustrated. Also, it is so difficult to understand his chaotic and obscure handwriting on board. The grading schemes are one of the toughest I've ever seen: 60% for final, 25% for the mere midterm, and 15% for HW. Oh, if you bomb your midterm, then your final weighs 85% of your entire grade! :) Great huh? No lecture recordings in this course. Only provide course notes which are also hard to read. Only around 20%-30% can gain an A or A-, and this course is totally curved (you need to beat others). This course is thus suitable for those who have learned it before and would like to retake it. Last but not least, save your life and stay away from this course! (you really have many choices with different instructors tbh)
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