I absolutely could not imagine a better first professor to start UCLA with. Not only is he a great lecturer, he's also super encouraging! Any question you ask will likely be met with an amazing answer, even if you consider it "a stupid question." You are actively encouraged to ask any and all questions that come to mind, which is wonderful. While there was a decent amount of work, it never felt like a chore, nor did any of the work feel like busy work. The lecture slides are clear and concise, which is also wonderful considering their usefulness for the midterm and final. As long as you attend lecture, ask questions, engage in class, and go to office hours regularly, you should have no trouble with this class. Additionally, the topics, for me at least, were super interesting, especially considering its relevance to certain "current events" (disease modeling).

This class is split into 2 parts, lectures and labs. In labs, you are taught the basics of Python (a programming language) and how to apply it to certain models and graphs. Points are split between the two parts, and homework and lab grades do matter in the long run (50% of your total grade combined). Professor Bennoun also offers extra credit, which should make up for some points lost here and there. There is one midterm and final, which are very manageable as long as you've done the homework and attended the special review office hours. Professor Bennoun also does some review in class before both tests which were super helpful.

Overall, this is a class I'd love to take again. The class is interesting, the professor is wonderful, and the workload is definitely manageable! I definitely recommend this class to anybody who is interested.

Dr. Bennoun is quite possibly the greatest math educator I have ever had. He is incredibly clear during lectures, open to any and every question, goes out of his way to assist struggling students, and is overall very pleasant to be around. He is so approachable and it's clear he wants his students to succeed. In terms of the class workload, it's very similar to other LS 30A classes, and there is a decent amount of work ahead of you. Knowing calculus before taking this class is by no means a requirement, but it makes a lot of the homework much easier. That being said, Bennoun still provides A TON of resources for students with no calc background. He also uploads a lot of resources before the midterm and final, including practice exams, courselets, and office hours that he uploads, in which he goes through any homework question students are struggling on. Overall, this class was a highlight of my quarter, and I genuinely enjoyed it. I would take it again just for Bennoun :)

Professor Bennoun was a great professor to have this quarter. His lectures were engaging and informative and the clicker questions really helped to supplement the material. The class content itself is definitely different than high school math with the only similarity being basic calculus (derivatives and integrals) but I found it a lot more interesting than anything I did in high school.

Every week there was a coding project, quiz based on the lecture material, homework set, and pre-lab videos and quiz. The coding projects are done in a small group during discussion and most of the time you can finish or get most of the way through them then. The TAs also hold office hours where you can get help on the projects. The homework is sometimes confusing because of the textbook and was pretty long so I would definitely not try to do it all the night before it's due. The lowest two homework scores, lowest quiz grade, and lowest lab score were also dropped! There was one midterm and a final and I found both of them not overly difficult. He provided a lot of practice tests and held office hours which were both really helpful for the tests. Overall, I would recommend to take this class with him.

It's a pretty easy class if you keep up with assignments and go to office hours. He is really nice and his midterms are exactly what you learn in class. He is also very flexible, if you can come to class, he posts them online so you can do them for participation 10/10 . The labs can be a little challenging bur the TA's are extremely helpful

Only take this class if you already have experience with calculus!! Bennoun is a kind, good lecturer. However, his tests are unfairly hard and he often gives long homework assignments that feel like busy work.

LS30A was definitely a struggle - this was pretty evident based on the overflowing office hours that kept increasing in attendance as the quarter went on, and sentiments from friends/peers. This class is not curved, so you really need to have a solid understanding of all the concepts to do well. The midterm (for F23) was extremely challenging, like some others mentioned - I studied literally so hard for it, thought it was difficult (everyone did), and got an 81%. However, Professor Bennoun has 3 different grading schemes that you can use to get the best possible grade in this class - which is really nice. I got a 99% on the final (I thought it was way easier than the midterm), so I was able to pull my grade back up using a different scheme. The lab portion of this class is also pretty challenging, especially for people with no coding experience (basically everyone). They start out pretty simple and guided with a lot of instructions, but they get harder pretty quickly with less instruction and more "figure it out on your own"! It also didn't help that labs were almost nothing related to the class/lecture content. Therefore, I thought the lab practical (the coding "final" of the class) was pretty difficult, but I still got a 90% somehow through generous partial credit, I guess. Ending with some tips:

- GO TO MANY TA OFFICE HOURS. Pick your favorite TAs, and go to their OHs every week. And don't just go to get answers to your homework and labs. Try to really understand and learn from office hours, because if you're just copying the TA's answers, you won't do well on the exams. You have to know what they're doing and be able to replicate the work/concepts yourself.
- Study consistently for this class - try not to cram before exams. Review your lecture notes after each lecture, make them more organized, and see if you understood everything.
- Try to get help on and understand the labs and the *meaning* of the code. Again, you can copy code from peers and TAs who help you, but you'll have to understand it when the lab practical rolls around in week 10.

Overall, an interesting and doable class that requires a lot of hard work and persistence. I did have a breakdown in one LS30A lecture this quarter because I was so overwhelmed. Just know it'll all work out and be fine in the end - all you can do is study hard and try your best. You got this!

Enjoyed this class and much easier than traditional calculus for sure! Great option for all those bio majors who want to avoid calc at all costs! Be prepared to code, but as long as you ask your TAs and LAs for help you’ll be okay!

This class (in my opinion) is a really stupid class. All the material feels made up and it is intergraded with coding that doesn't relate to the material you are learning about. You have 2 lectures a week in which the professor will do notes on slides that he provides in Bruin learn and you have a lab once a week that is a coding lab with your TA. This lab will make you want to die if you have never coded before. You have one homework assignment, one pre-lab quiz, and your lab that is due each week. Your total grade will be composed of all these things plus a midterm, final, clicker questions (participation), and a lab practical (test on coding). You will be provided practice tests for the midterm and finals that are pretty true to what you will be given- but don't be fooled because he gives other professors practice tests instead of his own so you'll have to determine for yourself if all the info given is useful or not. In conclusion it's rough.
I really liked this professor. He is nice and remembers your name if you go to his office hours. He tries to help his students the best that he can and he'll get annoyed if the class is struggling but not showing up to office hours. He give extra credit every now and again that in the end will bump you up to the next grade if you need it. I think he takes pity on us because everyone was so confused the entire. Live laugh love Bennounie

I loved LS 30A and now am a Learning Assistant for 30A and B. Lecture attendance is tracked by iClicker. Some background in calculus could help in this class, but is by no means necessary; you don't learn much more beyond basic derivative rules. I found this class really interesting because of its applications of mathematical concepts. It will definitely be different from what you might expect from a typical math course, which I honestly really appreciated as someone who usually finds a hard time in math. I remember Dr. Bennoun being very helpful during office hours, which I attended more often in taking LS 30B, which was more math-heavy. Definitely utilize Problem-Solving Sessions, even if Dr. Bennoun doesn't advertise them anymore-you can find the schedules from Shevstov's class. They are changing the content of the course to Python in Fall 2024, so labs will be different.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not take this class. Your NSA will tell you to, and you’re probably thinking “Wow this sounds super awesome and applicable to my major and life science.” Do not take this class. It’s awful. I know not a singular soul who doesn’t regret taking this wishing they took regular calculus instead. It’s made up math, the accent of the teacher and the TAs is hard to understand, the coding is teach yourself, and office hours are out of the door full. I know the grade distribution looks fine. It's not. It's from COVID, it’s not true. I know a handful of people who failed. While I got 98, it was the worst experience of my life. I wish I was kidding. It’s actually horrible. It’s fake math (the teacher made it up), it makes no sense, the tests are hard, the coding for the smaller section isn’t even related. Please kid, take my advice. I'm giving you what I wish I had. I swear dud you don't wanna take this. I got a 5 on AP BC calc and didn’t listen when people said it sucks. It sucks. You can do it and get n A whatever, BUT YOU DONT WANT TO PLEASE PLEASE IM PRAYING FOR YOU