Professor

Jukka Keranen

AD
4.5
Overall Ratings
Based on 236 Users
Easiness 3.9 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Workload 3.4 / 5 How light the workload is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Clarity 4.4 / 5 How clear the professor is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Helpfulness 4.7 / 5 How helpful the professor is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

Reviews (236)

15 of 17
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March 31, 2025
Quarter: Winter 2025
Grade: A

Actually the best class I've ever taken so far. There were lowkey a lot of problems but I guarantee all the people complaining started it last second. If you started it at the beginning of the week and do a little a day, you'd literally be fine. Also, he legit gives us like half the answers so like ??? Most sweetest professor I've had, genuinely cares about his students and is just an amazing person overall. Minimal studying on the final and clutched the class due to how much work I put on the assignments leading up to it. Take Jukka!!

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March 30, 2025
Quarter: Winter 2025
Grade: A

Best math class!!
If you need to take 31A, I would highly suggest taking 31AL with Jukka. The extra discussion is extremely helpful and not an extra hassle. Jukka overall is very supportive to his students, he prepares you well for the midterms. Often doing extra office hours going over the practice midterms, explaining them, and answering questions. This helped me stay accountable with studying. He drops the lowest score of each category, however he doesn't drop finals or midterms. His lectures are easy to follow and really fun. Jukka is hilarious! I can't suggest this math class enough, do yourself a favor and take Jukka!

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March 27, 2025
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A+

This was a great class! It was a lot of work but the effort you put in is what you are going to get out of it. He is such a kind teacher and truly wants you to learn!

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March 17, 2025
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A+

Professor Keranen is a very nice and helpful professor who's really willing to answer students' questions. His practice exams are super super useful and very similar to the actual exams.

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Feb. 17, 2025
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: B+

This professor was very reasonable; he gave a lot of homework but it helped prepare for the midterms; overall the class was helpful but be prepared for the heavy workload.

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Feb. 17, 2025
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A

Class was only easy because I took calc AB in high school. Jukka is a nice professor but goes really fast in terms of lecture materials. BUT, TESTS/MIDTERM/QUIZ/FINAL are very similar to the practice one he gives, so just study that. Also he lets u use note cards for the midterm/final, which is really helpful.

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Dec. 15, 2023
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: B

First of all, let's denounce the first comment as I agree with the second comment:
- "I would argue that the aspect of 'support' comes from the fact that the extensive homework (which is due at the end of each week, making it manageable if you start early) actually allows you get in lots of practice."
What are you insinuating? That those who do argue that the homework is extensive are lazy? You do realize that we have other classes to attend, other essays to write, other homework to complete for other classes right? Completing 50 guaranteed to 58 questions per week and studying for the weekly quizzes is too much. Forget about the discussion work, as we only have to do some of it to get complete credit. Fix your diction and tone.
- ". . . he will take so much time out of his week to not only give extensive office hours to those struggling, but to craft study guides for midterms and finals that really prepare you for the exams. . ."
Almost every professor creates study guides. Come on now. Be realistic.
- "Jukka is the type of person to check in with you and tell you to not worry when you're stressed. (He actually cares about you as a person!)."
This person is just boosting at this point. He doesn't check in with you when you're stressed.
- "He gave us an extra credit opportunity to make up our midterm grades."
He basically had to because after the midterm, students swarmed to him asking him to curve it or make a make up one. He also reached a bunch of emails. So "gave" or was "obliged," which is the better choice?
Closing statement, this class will take a whole lot of your time. I have no idea what the first person was on. If you like learning from slides and NEVER seeing a problem being solved by hand in lecture, this is the class for you. If you like to have to go to discussion just to see problems solved by hand, this is the class for you. Essentially, this was a class to support us but no support existed. No hate to the professor, but his teaching methods are not it.

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0 2 Please log in to provide feedback.
Dec. 23, 2024
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A+

To the new Bruins who sucked at Math in HS/did not do great on the placement exam,

You will do great in this class. This class was far easier than LS 30A this quarter.

Jukka provides an immense amount of support in this class and genuinely wants to see all of his students succeed. He will do his best to make sure you understand the concepts presented in lecture & will make himself available to ensure your success. He offered online office hours twice a week, in person student hours twice a week after lecture, and individual appointments if you ever asked. If you do not understand a concept, the resources are there to help you.

About the class in general:

Lecture sessions involved a slideshow with participation iClickers - correct/incorrect answers did not matter. You got the iClicker points as long as you participated. He will discuss the proofs behind the famous trig limits/power rule/etc, but you don't need to know any proofs for his tests. If you really don't want to show up, make a few friends in the class & have them tell you when the iClicker is coming (not that I condone skipping lecture - I did not skip lectures).
Lab session involved a weekly quiz starting Week 2, followed by a lecture on whatever he felt we needed help with. Quizzes are extremely basic problems (2) about concepts from previous week's HW. As long as you did the homework and checked your answers with the solutions he posted on Monday, the quizzes are easy points.
TA sections involve a worksheet, 5-6 problems, relating to a concept he taught in lecture that week. My TA spent 20ish mins each section re-explaining the concept on the worksheet, and then you had the remainder of the time to work on the worksheet. If you don't want to come to the discussions, there is no penalty, but you are responsible for the worksheet, due Sunday.

Workload:

HW: 40-60 problems due at end of weekend each week. Gave whole class extensions to Monday afternoon, multiple times. If you turn in the HW late, admittedly the course readers never enforced the 10% late penalty (half my HWs were late). You do have to put in effort & show work, but HW grade is based on complete attempt at problems, not correctness. Yes, the HW takes a lot of time.... don't always start on Sunday like me.
Worksheet: As stated before, worksheets were 5-6 problems, and you only had to do ~50% of the worksheet to receive full credit for it.
Post Lecture: There is a post lecture question graded on correctness to assess your understanding due at the end of each lecture day. There is also a post lecture, 1-2 sentence reflection on what you learned that day. Takes under 5 minutes to do.

Midterms/Final:
He gives practice exams and detailed study guides for each midterm/final, detailing concepts, specific questions he assigned relating to said concepts, and exam format. Jukka literally has a paper in there telling you HOW to study for the exam (what to do, in what order). He also hosted office hours going over practice exams/midterm/final content.

Practice exams were just like the actual midterms/final, down to question format and everything. He gave away the second midterm on a silver platter by giving "hints" on each question and by asking the minimum/max of a function... and then showing the graph of said function afterwards. Class median on midterms/final was 87, 92, and 85. That should tell you all you need to know.

I took the time to do this whole writeup because of the previous reviews. If you failed Math 31AL this quarter, one of the following is true:
- You need to speak to CAE
- You need to reconsider the attitude/effort you approach school with
- You need to fix your study habits

I believe Jukka is a great teacher. If you fail this class, it won't be because of him or his tests.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Oct. 1, 2024
Quarter: Spring 2024
Grade: A+

Jukka is probably the best professor I have ever had at UCLA. His lectures are engaging, he clearly loves teaching, and he provides the most academic assistance I have ever seen from a professor. He holds multiple hours of office hours every week and hosts two review sessions before each exam. He is very adamant on ensuring that all students in the class do well and are actually learning the material as well. If I could take another class with Jukka, even if it's not math, I definitely would.

tl;dr: Jukka is the goat

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Aug. 12, 2024
Quarter: Summer 2024
Grade: A-

Keranen is an absolutely amazing professor. There's no reason to hesitate when picking Keranen. If you can take him, DO IT. Decently easy A and you also learn a lot.

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 31AL
Quarter: Winter 2025
Grade: A
March 31, 2025

Actually the best class I've ever taken so far. There were lowkey a lot of problems but I guarantee all the people complaining started it last second. If you started it at the beginning of the week and do a little a day, you'd literally be fine. Also, he legit gives us like half the answers so like ??? Most sweetest professor I've had, genuinely cares about his students and is just an amazing person overall. Minimal studying on the final and clutched the class due to how much work I put on the assignments leading up to it. Take Jukka!!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 31AL
Quarter: Winter 2025
Grade: A
March 30, 2025

Best math class!!
If you need to take 31A, I would highly suggest taking 31AL with Jukka. The extra discussion is extremely helpful and not an extra hassle. Jukka overall is very supportive to his students, he prepares you well for the midterms. Often doing extra office hours going over the practice midterms, explaining them, and answering questions. This helped me stay accountable with studying. He drops the lowest score of each category, however he doesn't drop finals or midterms. His lectures are easy to follow and really fun. Jukka is hilarious! I can't suggest this math class enough, do yourself a favor and take Jukka!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 31AL
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A+
March 27, 2025

This was a great class! It was a lot of work but the effort you put in is what you are going to get out of it. He is such a kind teacher and truly wants you to learn!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 31AL
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A+
March 17, 2025

Professor Keranen is a very nice and helpful professor who's really willing to answer students' questions. His practice exams are super super useful and very similar to the actual exams.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 31AL
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: B+
Feb. 17, 2025

This professor was very reasonable; he gave a lot of homework but it helped prepare for the midterms; overall the class was helpful but be prepared for the heavy workload.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 31AL
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A
Feb. 17, 2025

Class was only easy because I took calc AB in high school. Jukka is a nice professor but goes really fast in terms of lecture materials. BUT, TESTS/MIDTERM/QUIZ/FINAL are very similar to the practice one he gives, so just study that. Also he lets u use note cards for the midterm/final, which is really helpful.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 31AL
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: B
Dec. 15, 2023

First of all, let's denounce the first comment as I agree with the second comment:
- "I would argue that the aspect of 'support' comes from the fact that the extensive homework (which is due at the end of each week, making it manageable if you start early) actually allows you get in lots of practice."
What are you insinuating? That those who do argue that the homework is extensive are lazy? You do realize that we have other classes to attend, other essays to write, other homework to complete for other classes right? Completing 50 guaranteed to 58 questions per week and studying for the weekly quizzes is too much. Forget about the discussion work, as we only have to do some of it to get complete credit. Fix your diction and tone.
- ". . . he will take so much time out of his week to not only give extensive office hours to those struggling, but to craft study guides for midterms and finals that really prepare you for the exams. . ."
Almost every professor creates study guides. Come on now. Be realistic.
- "Jukka is the type of person to check in with you and tell you to not worry when you're stressed. (He actually cares about you as a person!)."
This person is just boosting at this point. He doesn't check in with you when you're stressed.
- "He gave us an extra credit opportunity to make up our midterm grades."
He basically had to because after the midterm, students swarmed to him asking him to curve it or make a make up one. He also reached a bunch of emails. So "gave" or was "obliged," which is the better choice?
Closing statement, this class will take a whole lot of your time. I have no idea what the first person was on. If you like learning from slides and NEVER seeing a problem being solved by hand in lecture, this is the class for you. If you like to have to go to discussion just to see problems solved by hand, this is the class for you. Essentially, this was a class to support us but no support existed. No hate to the professor, but his teaching methods are not it.

Helpful?

0 2 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 31AL
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A+
Dec. 23, 2024

To the new Bruins who sucked at Math in HS/did not do great on the placement exam,

You will do great in this class. This class was far easier than LS 30A this quarter.

Jukka provides an immense amount of support in this class and genuinely wants to see all of his students succeed. He will do his best to make sure you understand the concepts presented in lecture & will make himself available to ensure your success. He offered online office hours twice a week, in person student hours twice a week after lecture, and individual appointments if you ever asked. If you do not understand a concept, the resources are there to help you.

About the class in general:

Lecture sessions involved a slideshow with participation iClickers - correct/incorrect answers did not matter. You got the iClicker points as long as you participated. He will discuss the proofs behind the famous trig limits/power rule/etc, but you don't need to know any proofs for his tests. If you really don't want to show up, make a few friends in the class & have them tell you when the iClicker is coming (not that I condone skipping lecture - I did not skip lectures).
Lab session involved a weekly quiz starting Week 2, followed by a lecture on whatever he felt we needed help with. Quizzes are extremely basic problems (2) about concepts from previous week's HW. As long as you did the homework and checked your answers with the solutions he posted on Monday, the quizzes are easy points.
TA sections involve a worksheet, 5-6 problems, relating to a concept he taught in lecture that week. My TA spent 20ish mins each section re-explaining the concept on the worksheet, and then you had the remainder of the time to work on the worksheet. If you don't want to come to the discussions, there is no penalty, but you are responsible for the worksheet, due Sunday.

Workload:

HW: 40-60 problems due at end of weekend each week. Gave whole class extensions to Monday afternoon, multiple times. If you turn in the HW late, admittedly the course readers never enforced the 10% late penalty (half my HWs were late). You do have to put in effort & show work, but HW grade is based on complete attempt at problems, not correctness. Yes, the HW takes a lot of time.... don't always start on Sunday like me.
Worksheet: As stated before, worksheets were 5-6 problems, and you only had to do ~50% of the worksheet to receive full credit for it.
Post Lecture: There is a post lecture question graded on correctness to assess your understanding due at the end of each lecture day. There is also a post lecture, 1-2 sentence reflection on what you learned that day. Takes under 5 minutes to do.

Midterms/Final:
He gives practice exams and detailed study guides for each midterm/final, detailing concepts, specific questions he assigned relating to said concepts, and exam format. Jukka literally has a paper in there telling you HOW to study for the exam (what to do, in what order). He also hosted office hours going over practice exams/midterm/final content.

Practice exams were just like the actual midterms/final, down to question format and everything. He gave away the second midterm on a silver platter by giving "hints" on each question and by asking the minimum/max of a function... and then showing the graph of said function afterwards. Class median on midterms/final was 87, 92, and 85. That should tell you all you need to know.

I took the time to do this whole writeup because of the previous reviews. If you failed Math 31AL this quarter, one of the following is true:
- You need to speak to CAE
- You need to reconsider the attitude/effort you approach school with
- You need to fix your study habits

I believe Jukka is a great teacher. If you fail this class, it won't be because of him or his tests.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 115A
Quarter: Spring 2024
Grade: A+
Oct. 1, 2024

Jukka is probably the best professor I have ever had at UCLA. His lectures are engaging, he clearly loves teaching, and he provides the most academic assistance I have ever seen from a professor. He holds multiple hours of office hours every week and hosts two review sessions before each exam. He is very adamant on ensuring that all students in the class do well and are actually learning the material as well. If I could take another class with Jukka, even if it's not math, I definitely would.

tl;dr: Jukka is the goat

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 115A
Quarter: Summer 2024
Grade: A-
Aug. 12, 2024

Keranen is an absolutely amazing professor. There's no reason to hesitate when picking Keranen. If you can take him, DO IT. Decently easy A and you also learn a lot.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
15 of 17
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