Professor

Jukka Keranen

AD
4.5
Overall Ratings
Based on 218 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 (218)

8 of 16
8 of 16
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Dec. 17, 2019
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: A

Overall, the LS 30 series is very easy and I did enjoy having a chill time going through it. The only part that wasn’t cool was the labs. They got progressively harder in LS 30B, but Jukka made it much better. He’s so knowledgeable about the content and cares very much about his students. He’s been always making funny references in class and always tries to make the lectures more engaging. He also has fire shoe game.

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Dec. 19, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+

I have never met such an amazing professor or instructor until I was taught by Jukka. With this said, I do not find any weaknesses of his teaching or of him in general. I can only speak for his strengths. Jukka is an engaging professor, prioritizes his students, and will always listen to students' feedback in which he will make changes in regards to them. With his passion for teaching, it is clear that he wants his students to not only excel in the course but in the future of the LS30 series as well. Here is a basic outline of his course:

Lectures:
Engaging. In fact, he lectures so well that you do not even want to miss his lectures because it would make you feel as though you just missed a vital part of your life (seriously). His lectures are often times humorous even if it is not intended to be. He explains his material in depth, and if you do not understand a concept at first, you will definitely understand it by your midterm and final because of the immense amount of review sessions and office hours he holds for his students. Clickers are mandatory in this class for your grade (as for any LS course), but you can miss a couple of them and still get full credit (they are credited by participation, not correctness). You'll also fall in love with Flippy and Puffers!

Office Hours:
During my year, Jukka offered countless hours of office hours. He had one one-hour office hour session every single day (and three on Thursdays) just so his students could feel well prepared with the course material. I HIGHLY recommend attending his office hours because he goes over homework problems and helps you understand the concepts exceptionally well.

Homework:
Homework is time-consuming for this course. Plan your time accordingly. This is where you can utilize office hours to get additional help on homework. You can also work with peers or go to your TA's office hours too. Since the textbook is solely made for the UCLA LS30 course, you cannot find "answers" online, so it is something you would have to figure out yourself. Definitely read the paragraphs before and after the homework questions because sometimes the answers are located there! Homework is based on correctness (full 2 points per problem if you are headed in the right direction/your answer is correct, 1 point if you are somewhat heading in the right direction but not there yet, and 0 points if you are completely lost/wrong).

Labs:
Labs for this course are definitely difficult especially as you progress throughout the quarter. It is a good idea to pay attention to the fundamentals because they build upon each other until you have to utilize all of your skills as you get to the labs later on in the quarter. However, all LS30A courses complete the same labs, so it is not something you can avoid by choosing a different professor. You can only hope that your TA is great and can help you sufficiently during your 1 hour and 50 minute lab session. Nevertheless, you can always attend their office hours for additional help.

Midterm/Final:
Jukka prepares you incredibly well for these exams, so there is nothing you should worry about. He provides 4 practice exams before every exam from previous professors/years (he even provides his previous exam from a year or two before!) He holds multiple two-hour review sessions before these major exams to go over any practice problems from those practice exams or to go over any questions you have in general about the material. Trust me when I say that you will be prepared because I definitely felt over-prepared for all of his exams. As a heads up, his exams resemble his practice exams almost exactly!

Suggestion Box:
Jukka LISTENS to you. I would not be surprised if he received a lot of praise in his suggestion box my year because every student LOVED him. The suggestions are anonymous, and Jukka reads every single one of them. For my year, he dropped or altered the grading for so many assignments based on what students suggested. I felt as though he gave his students too much flexibility and privilege in the course because he would alter/drop so many different assignments simply because students thought it was "hard." Nevertheless, he would always find ways to help his students succeed in the class.

Overall, Jukka is one of those professors who sleeps less than his students to give his students the best experience in his course, which shows how much he cares. You can see him sending emails out at 4 AM in the morning reassuring his students as we all freak out over something. Jukka sends out emails constantly, but each email is so important, so please read them! He deserves so much for all he has done and does not receive enough credit for his hard work. If you are able to be one of his students, I can definitely say that you are lucky because you will be in good hands. Utilize all he has to give (because there is SO much), and I guarantee that you will 100% succeed.

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Dec. 21, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+

Jukka is an amazing person. He has a suggestion box where you can make suggestions, and he listens to them. I found this class really easy. It can be confusing because they're trying to teach calculus without using calculus terminology for the first few weeks but just run with it. There is a lab portion of this class where you code. Prior to this class, I already knew how to code, so I could complete the lab halfway through class. However, for my friends who didn't know how to code, the lab portion took them forever to complete. Tests are super easy. He gives you his exam from last year, and the actual test ends up being exactly like the practice test. If you ever have a chance to take a class with Jukka, take that opportunity.

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Dec. 23, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+

Hands down the best professor I have ever had. Very Helpful and literally has office hours on every day of the week. Genuinely wants his students to do well in his class. Even thought the labs and the homework can be tedious at times , going to office hours will help you you sort out any difficulties you have. I would recommend everyone to take his class for the LS series. If you attend Jukka's review sessions then you you are all set for the exams

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Dec. 23, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+

Jukka is a very considerate human being and has sympathy for us freshmen. He listens to his student's advice and never screws us over. The class itself is a mixture of basic calculus, modeling, the concept of equilibrium, and introductory operation of SageMath. Homework problems can be a little overwhelming in terms of quantity, but Jukka has made adjustments such as due date extension and truncating the number of problems assigned. The lab portion, where you learn about how to incorporate concepts into the Python-based program SageMath, can be tedious at first. But it's not that intimidating after all since you're allowed to collaborate. You should definitely go to the review sessions Jukka offered right before midterm and final exams; those are extremely helpful and will clarify every single confusion you may have. Absolutely recommend.

Helpful?

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Dec. 23, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+

If you get the opportunity to take Jukka's class, TAKE IT!! Jukka is the ABSOLUTE BEST. what a guy honestly. He has these two stuffed animals named Flippy and Puffers, and he puts them on the table and has the class say hello to them every lecture and it warms my heart every freaking time. He really sets you up for success. He tells you EXACTLY what to study for the midterm and final. and when I say exactly, I mean EXACTLY. Lectures are mandatory because of clicker points, but I would have gone even if they weren't because he's so funny and the slides are very helpful.

As far as labs go, the coding was kinda weird because we'd never really talk about the coding in lecture, so lecture and lab felt very disconnected. I had never coded before, but let me assure you that it's VERY DOABLE. You finish a pretty good chunk of the weekly coding labs during the lab itself, and Jukka canceled the lab final because he is a freaking g. He has this online anonymous suggestion box , and he is very good about addressing student concerns.

The math itself is MUCH easier than calc bc!! and it felt more practical too. I'm very happy I choose 30a over the other series, and I'm even happier I got Jukka because this dude is SO GOOD. The whole class absolutely LOVED him. I cannot praise him enough. Can't wait to have him again for 30b.

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Dec. 24, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+

Jukka is honestly one of the best professors I have had so far. He makes sure you're prepared for the midterm and the final, by literally holding review sessions that are pretty much the exact same things that will be on the tests. He literally uses past exam questions on the test! He holds so many office hours and just really wants you to succeed. The homework for this class isn't that bad and is honestly given to help you prepare. He also lectures really well and understanding the content isn't too bad. He genuinely cares about students and wants you to do well and offers you so many resources to do well. The labs are probably one of the harder things about this class but it isn't too bad given that you can get help.

Helpful?

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Dec. 27, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+

The class material was incredibly boring but wow did Jukka make this class tolerable. Jukka was an incredible professor. He's funny, nice, and truly cares about seeing his students succeeding and understanding the material. His office hours are so so helpful. In office hours, he goes over everything you're struggling with in the homework and the practice exam materials he gives. He has a suggestion box on CCLE where you can put in your suggestions and comments about the class and he actually takes each of those comments into consideration and applies them. His lectures help a lot with understanding the material because it's so abstract so you want to be going to lecture (also there are clicker questions so). The homework was pretty lengthy honestly but I really won't complain about it because the TAs, LAs, and Jukka were all really helpful with it (I woke up early on the days they were due and spent like the entire morning until lecture in the afternoon on them, including going to TA office hours). The textbook was sometimes unclear and had mistakes but Jukka would bring them up and fix them. My TA graded pretty hard on the homeworks but the lowest 2 homework scores were dropped so it wasn't a big deal. The hardest part about the class was definitely the labs but going to TA office hours for those also really helped. I didn't like how my TA set up his office hours so I just went to other TAs and loved theirs. The labs were also graded really leniently and after our suggestions, Jukka dropped our lowest lab grade as well. We were also supposed to have a lab exam but he made it into a significant amount of extra credit and distributed the weight of the exam to other components. He also has two grading schemes and automatically chooses the better one for your grade which is nice. The exams were also not difficult. Jukka gives a whole bunch of practice exams (which are past exams from other professors and one from himself) and holds two review sessions for each lecture (definitely recommend going to the primary review sessions,,,the secondary ones are more we ask questions, he answers). He pulls questions straight from his old exams so PLEASE do them. You definitely feel prepared for the exams and they also don't grade really hard on them either. I got an A- on the midterm with like 7 hours of studying and an A+ on the final with my only studying being doing the old practice final he gave us. I highly recommend this class and Jukka as a professor. If you took calculus in high school, the actual math in this class is really easy and even if you didn't, it still is not hard at all.

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Dec. 30, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+

Jukka was an amazing professor. He really cares about his students. Make sure you go to his office hours, he has a bunch. He prepares you really well for exams, don't be afraid.

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Feb. 3, 2020
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A

Jukka is one of the best professors in the LS department. He really cares about his students and cares if they understand the material or not. He is very understanding and will listen to student's comments/complaints. He is an actual educator, unlike many professors here on campus. Definitely take his class if given the chance!!!

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LIFESCI 30B
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: A
Dec. 17, 2019

Overall, the LS 30 series is very easy and I did enjoy having a chill time going through it. The only part that wasn’t cool was the labs. They got progressively harder in LS 30B, but Jukka made it much better. He’s so knowledgeable about the content and cares very much about his students. He’s been always making funny references in class and always tries to make the lectures more engaging. He also has fire shoe game.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
LIFESCI 30A
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+
Dec. 19, 2019

I have never met such an amazing professor or instructor until I was taught by Jukka. With this said, I do not find any weaknesses of his teaching or of him in general. I can only speak for his strengths. Jukka is an engaging professor, prioritizes his students, and will always listen to students' feedback in which he will make changes in regards to them. With his passion for teaching, it is clear that he wants his students to not only excel in the course but in the future of the LS30 series as well. Here is a basic outline of his course:

Lectures:
Engaging. In fact, he lectures so well that you do not even want to miss his lectures because it would make you feel as though you just missed a vital part of your life (seriously). His lectures are often times humorous even if it is not intended to be. He explains his material in depth, and if you do not understand a concept at first, you will definitely understand it by your midterm and final because of the immense amount of review sessions and office hours he holds for his students. Clickers are mandatory in this class for your grade (as for any LS course), but you can miss a couple of them and still get full credit (they are credited by participation, not correctness). You'll also fall in love with Flippy and Puffers!

Office Hours:
During my year, Jukka offered countless hours of office hours. He had one one-hour office hour session every single day (and three on Thursdays) just so his students could feel well prepared with the course material. I HIGHLY recommend attending his office hours because he goes over homework problems and helps you understand the concepts exceptionally well.

Homework:
Homework is time-consuming for this course. Plan your time accordingly. This is where you can utilize office hours to get additional help on homework. You can also work with peers or go to your TA's office hours too. Since the textbook is solely made for the UCLA LS30 course, you cannot find "answers" online, so it is something you would have to figure out yourself. Definitely read the paragraphs before and after the homework questions because sometimes the answers are located there! Homework is based on correctness (full 2 points per problem if you are headed in the right direction/your answer is correct, 1 point if you are somewhat heading in the right direction but not there yet, and 0 points if you are completely lost/wrong).

Labs:
Labs for this course are definitely difficult especially as you progress throughout the quarter. It is a good idea to pay attention to the fundamentals because they build upon each other until you have to utilize all of your skills as you get to the labs later on in the quarter. However, all LS30A courses complete the same labs, so it is not something you can avoid by choosing a different professor. You can only hope that your TA is great and can help you sufficiently during your 1 hour and 50 minute lab session. Nevertheless, you can always attend their office hours for additional help.

Midterm/Final:
Jukka prepares you incredibly well for these exams, so there is nothing you should worry about. He provides 4 practice exams before every exam from previous professors/years (he even provides his previous exam from a year or two before!) He holds multiple two-hour review sessions before these major exams to go over any practice problems from those practice exams or to go over any questions you have in general about the material. Trust me when I say that you will be prepared because I definitely felt over-prepared for all of his exams. As a heads up, his exams resemble his practice exams almost exactly!

Suggestion Box:
Jukka LISTENS to you. I would not be surprised if he received a lot of praise in his suggestion box my year because every student LOVED him. The suggestions are anonymous, and Jukka reads every single one of them. For my year, he dropped or altered the grading for so many assignments based on what students suggested. I felt as though he gave his students too much flexibility and privilege in the course because he would alter/drop so many different assignments simply because students thought it was "hard." Nevertheless, he would always find ways to help his students succeed in the class.

Overall, Jukka is one of those professors who sleeps less than his students to give his students the best experience in his course, which shows how much he cares. You can see him sending emails out at 4 AM in the morning reassuring his students as we all freak out over something. Jukka sends out emails constantly, but each email is so important, so please read them! He deserves so much for all he has done and does not receive enough credit for his hard work. If you are able to be one of his students, I can definitely say that you are lucky because you will be in good hands. Utilize all he has to give (because there is SO much), and I guarantee that you will 100% succeed.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
LIFESCI 30A
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+
Dec. 21, 2019

Jukka is an amazing person. He has a suggestion box where you can make suggestions, and he listens to them. I found this class really easy. It can be confusing because they're trying to teach calculus without using calculus terminology for the first few weeks but just run with it. There is a lab portion of this class where you code. Prior to this class, I already knew how to code, so I could complete the lab halfway through class. However, for my friends who didn't know how to code, the lab portion took them forever to complete. Tests are super easy. He gives you his exam from last year, and the actual test ends up being exactly like the practice test. If you ever have a chance to take a class with Jukka, take that opportunity.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
LIFESCI 30A
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+
Dec. 23, 2019

Hands down the best professor I have ever had. Very Helpful and literally has office hours on every day of the week. Genuinely wants his students to do well in his class. Even thought the labs and the homework can be tedious at times , going to office hours will help you you sort out any difficulties you have. I would recommend everyone to take his class for the LS series. If you attend Jukka's review sessions then you you are all set for the exams

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
LIFESCI 30A
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+
Dec. 23, 2019

Jukka is a very considerate human being and has sympathy for us freshmen. He listens to his student's advice and never screws us over. The class itself is a mixture of basic calculus, modeling, the concept of equilibrium, and introductory operation of SageMath. Homework problems can be a little overwhelming in terms of quantity, but Jukka has made adjustments such as due date extension and truncating the number of problems assigned. The lab portion, where you learn about how to incorporate concepts into the Python-based program SageMath, can be tedious at first. But it's not that intimidating after all since you're allowed to collaborate. You should definitely go to the review sessions Jukka offered right before midterm and final exams; those are extremely helpful and will clarify every single confusion you may have. Absolutely recommend.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
LIFESCI 30A
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+
Dec. 23, 2019

If you get the opportunity to take Jukka's class, TAKE IT!! Jukka is the ABSOLUTE BEST. what a guy honestly. He has these two stuffed animals named Flippy and Puffers, and he puts them on the table and has the class say hello to them every lecture and it warms my heart every freaking time. He really sets you up for success. He tells you EXACTLY what to study for the midterm and final. and when I say exactly, I mean EXACTLY. Lectures are mandatory because of clicker points, but I would have gone even if they weren't because he's so funny and the slides are very helpful.

As far as labs go, the coding was kinda weird because we'd never really talk about the coding in lecture, so lecture and lab felt very disconnected. I had never coded before, but let me assure you that it's VERY DOABLE. You finish a pretty good chunk of the weekly coding labs during the lab itself, and Jukka canceled the lab final because he is a freaking g. He has this online anonymous suggestion box , and he is very good about addressing student concerns.

The math itself is MUCH easier than calc bc!! and it felt more practical too. I'm very happy I choose 30a over the other series, and I'm even happier I got Jukka because this dude is SO GOOD. The whole class absolutely LOVED him. I cannot praise him enough. Can't wait to have him again for 30b.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
LIFESCI 30A
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+
Dec. 24, 2019

Jukka is honestly one of the best professors I have had so far. He makes sure you're prepared for the midterm and the final, by literally holding review sessions that are pretty much the exact same things that will be on the tests. He literally uses past exam questions on the test! He holds so many office hours and just really wants you to succeed. The homework for this class isn't that bad and is honestly given to help you prepare. He also lectures really well and understanding the content isn't too bad. He genuinely cares about students and wants you to do well and offers you so many resources to do well. The labs are probably one of the harder things about this class but it isn't too bad given that you can get help.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
LIFESCI 30A
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+
Dec. 27, 2019

The class material was incredibly boring but wow did Jukka make this class tolerable. Jukka was an incredible professor. He's funny, nice, and truly cares about seeing his students succeeding and understanding the material. His office hours are so so helpful. In office hours, he goes over everything you're struggling with in the homework and the practice exam materials he gives. He has a suggestion box on CCLE where you can put in your suggestions and comments about the class and he actually takes each of those comments into consideration and applies them. His lectures help a lot with understanding the material because it's so abstract so you want to be going to lecture (also there are clicker questions so). The homework was pretty lengthy honestly but I really won't complain about it because the TAs, LAs, and Jukka were all really helpful with it (I woke up early on the days they were due and spent like the entire morning until lecture in the afternoon on them, including going to TA office hours). The textbook was sometimes unclear and had mistakes but Jukka would bring them up and fix them. My TA graded pretty hard on the homeworks but the lowest 2 homework scores were dropped so it wasn't a big deal. The hardest part about the class was definitely the labs but going to TA office hours for those also really helped. I didn't like how my TA set up his office hours so I just went to other TAs and loved theirs. The labs were also graded really leniently and after our suggestions, Jukka dropped our lowest lab grade as well. We were also supposed to have a lab exam but he made it into a significant amount of extra credit and distributed the weight of the exam to other components. He also has two grading schemes and automatically chooses the better one for your grade which is nice. The exams were also not difficult. Jukka gives a whole bunch of practice exams (which are past exams from other professors and one from himself) and holds two review sessions for each lecture (definitely recommend going to the primary review sessions,,,the secondary ones are more we ask questions, he answers). He pulls questions straight from his old exams so PLEASE do them. You definitely feel prepared for the exams and they also don't grade really hard on them either. I got an A- on the midterm with like 7 hours of studying and an A+ on the final with my only studying being doing the old practice final he gave us. I highly recommend this class and Jukka as a professor. If you took calculus in high school, the actual math in this class is really easy and even if you didn't, it still is not hard at all.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
LIFESCI 30A
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+
Dec. 30, 2019

Jukka was an amazing professor. He really cares about his students. Make sure you go to his office hours, he has a bunch. He prepares you really well for exams, don't be afraid.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
LIFESCI 30A
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A
Feb. 3, 2020

Jukka is one of the best professors in the LS department. He really cares about his students and cares if they understand the material or not. He is very understanding and will listen to student's comments/complaints. He is an actual educator, unlike many professors here on campus. Definitely take his class if given the chance!!!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
8 of 16
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