Professor
Michael Hall
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Most Helpful Review
I'm not sure why Hall has such high ratings on here. He is an okay teacher in my opinion. I was heavily warned not to take his class by friends who had taken him Fall quarter, but I had no other option. He wasn't as terrible as they had told me, but I definitely understood their woes, especially for those who had never taken Calculus before and were attempting to learn from him. Hall seems to explain some concepts that are unnecessary for Life Sciences students. I think that he sometimes forgets that we don't necessarily need to know every single proof and definition of the most obscure formulas. He often will explain things in class, and then when I went to do the homework, I found that his class notes did not help at all, but that I could find a SIMPLE formula in the book that made the homework not seem so hard. I have no idea why he didn't just go over the formulas in lecture instead of trying to do all this super weird math that I could barely follow. However, I went to my TAs office hours every week and got help on the homework, and ended up getting 100% on every homework I turned in (which really helped my grade in the class.) I did pretty well on both of the midterms, but I attribute this to a) already haven taken Calculus in high school, therefore having background knowledge of what we were learning in class, and b) going to office hours EVERY week. The first midterm I got an 80% uncurved, and the class average was a 48%. Second midterm I got an 84%, and the class average was a 69%. The first midterm was way too long for the amount of time we had (just the 50 minutes in class) and almost no one finished; thus, the low average. The second midterm was MUCH better. The final was more difficult than I was expecting, and I think I did so-so on it. However, everyone else seemed to be struggling just as much, and I know that with the curve + my first two midterm grades, I'll probably still end up with an A in his class. Hall's teaching style was relatively straightforward (besides all the random math that didn't seem relevant.) He has REALLY nice handwriting and all of his notes are easy to follow and organized on the board, which helps if you come in late and miss the beginning. He does stammer a lot, but it is kind of adorable. He's very quirky and dorky, yet he's interesting to listen to and his lectures aren't too boring. Despite the likelihood of getting an A in his class, I still had to work to make sure that I would get it, and if given the option to take another professor, I would have. If you've never taken Calculus before, I STRONGLY discourage you from taking him. I think it would be exceptionally difficult to learn from him, as he would often explain relatively simple calculus concepts (like integration) in a way that I would have thought would be confusing had I not already taken Calc in high school. However, if you have taken Calc before, you can definitely get by in this class. To sum it up, Hall isn't impossible, but I would suggest looking into other professors who are available. You can definitely pull an A in his class, but it won't be as easy as it will be with other math professors. I had Gilles for 3A and I LOVED him!!! So see what other options you have, but don't be too discouraged if you end up with Hall. Just be prepared to put in the extra work.
I'm not sure why Hall has such high ratings on here. He is an okay teacher in my opinion. I was heavily warned not to take his class by friends who had taken him Fall quarter, but I had no other option. He wasn't as terrible as they had told me, but I definitely understood their woes, especially for those who had never taken Calculus before and were attempting to learn from him. Hall seems to explain some concepts that are unnecessary for Life Sciences students. I think that he sometimes forgets that we don't necessarily need to know every single proof and definition of the most obscure formulas. He often will explain things in class, and then when I went to do the homework, I found that his class notes did not help at all, but that I could find a SIMPLE formula in the book that made the homework not seem so hard. I have no idea why he didn't just go over the formulas in lecture instead of trying to do all this super weird math that I could barely follow. However, I went to my TAs office hours every week and got help on the homework, and ended up getting 100% on every homework I turned in (which really helped my grade in the class.) I did pretty well on both of the midterms, but I attribute this to a) already haven taken Calculus in high school, therefore having background knowledge of what we were learning in class, and b) going to office hours EVERY week. The first midterm I got an 80% uncurved, and the class average was a 48%. Second midterm I got an 84%, and the class average was a 69%. The first midterm was way too long for the amount of time we had (just the 50 minutes in class) and almost no one finished; thus, the low average. The second midterm was MUCH better. The final was more difficult than I was expecting, and I think I did so-so on it. However, everyone else seemed to be struggling just as much, and I know that with the curve + my first two midterm grades, I'll probably still end up with an A in his class. Hall's teaching style was relatively straightforward (besides all the random math that didn't seem relevant.) He has REALLY nice handwriting and all of his notes are easy to follow and organized on the board, which helps if you come in late and miss the beginning. He does stammer a lot, but it is kind of adorable. He's very quirky and dorky, yet he's interesting to listen to and his lectures aren't too boring. Despite the likelihood of getting an A in his class, I still had to work to make sure that I would get it, and if given the option to take another professor, I would have. If you've never taken Calculus before, I STRONGLY discourage you from taking him. I think it would be exceptionally difficult to learn from him, as he would often explain relatively simple calculus concepts (like integration) in a way that I would have thought would be confusing had I not already taken Calc in high school. However, if you have taken Calc before, you can definitely get by in this class. To sum it up, Hall isn't impossible, but I would suggest looking into other professors who are available. You can definitely pull an A in his class, but it won't be as easy as it will be with other math professors. I had Gilles for 3A and I LOVED him!!! So see what other options you have, but don't be too discouraged if you end up with Hall. Just be prepared to put in the extra work.
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Most Helpful Review
MATH 3C SELLING BOOK!!! Calculus for Biology & Med (3rd) with solution manual!! Neuhauser pub: Pearson Edu ISBN: **********642 looking for $100 or best offer!!! HMU (text) ********** I took Hall spring quarter last 2014. That was when he just started teaching I think. He was a TA before. I did not enjoy his class one bit. His lectures were confusing and he seemed awkward and uncomfortable. Often times we would be left confused about problems rather than have learned something useful. Its basic high school calculus, so if you did fine in high school, just bring that knowledge back and apply it here. I'm not sure if it was because it was his first time teaching or if he is still like that but he was not great! Didn't like him at all because we had to basically teach ourselves how to do the problems.
MATH 3C SELLING BOOK!!! Calculus for Biology & Med (3rd) with solution manual!! Neuhauser pub: Pearson Edu ISBN: **********642 looking for $100 or best offer!!! HMU (text) ********** I took Hall spring quarter last 2014. That was when he just started teaching I think. He was a TA before. I did not enjoy his class one bit. His lectures were confusing and he seemed awkward and uncomfortable. Often times we would be left confused about problems rather than have learned something useful. Its basic high school calculus, so if you did fine in high school, just bring that knowledge back and apply it here. I'm not sure if it was because it was his first time teaching or if he is still like that but he was not great! Didn't like him at all because we had to basically teach ourselves how to do the problems.
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