MATH 135
Ordinary Differential Equations
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisites: courses 33A, 33B. Selected topics in differential equations. Laplace transforms, existence and uniqueness theorems, Fourier series, separation of variable solutions to partial differential equations, Sturm/Liouville theory, calculus of variations, two-point boundary value problems, Green's functions. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
5 of 5
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Despite all his lower ratings, I think Professor Wink was great. MATH 135 is a very computational class and his lectures talk about the theory behind the equations more so than examples, which is my biggest complaint about Professor Wink. Even worse, the textbook is not the best and there are very few practice problems (especially when talking about Boundary Conditions and Calculus of Variation). I added this course in the end of week 3 so I had to play catch up. However, if you took 33B from a different institution, you might've already learned a good chunk of this course. The first six weeks are about Laplace Transforms, Existence and Uniqueness and Fourier Series, so if your 33B course already discussed this, then you should be set. His homework was a combination of textbook problems and problems he wrote. Professor and our TA, Ryan Wallace who is the GOAT, practically did the homework with us during discussion and office hours. We had four quizzes throughout the quarter which were essentially basic questions from material covered. They were 30 minutes each but could be done in 10-15. The midterms were fairly easy; the first midterm median was a 92% and the second midterm median was a 88%. However, the final was no joke. The Median was a 77% and was a difficult but fair exam. With that being said, the grading is VERY lenient. Their sole grading scheme was 30% Final, 20% Midterm 1, 20% Midterm 2, 10% Quizzes (Lowest Dropped), 19% HW (Lowest Dropped), 1% Professor Evaluation. Specifically, for the HW category, after the lowest was dropped, and 85% overall in the category constituted an 100% in that category (no extra credit for above 85% raw). The homework was also fairly easy, if you understand the material. At the beginning with Laplace Transforms it can be a bit tedious with annoying partial fraction decompositions and integration by parts but towards the end, it only took maybe 2 hours a week. Each homework was also maybe 5-10 questions which I feel is pretty standard. PROFESSOR DOES CURVE! I have no idea what the curve is, I had a 92.8% overall by the end of the quarter and got an A so there might've been anywhere from a slight curve to a larger one. Overall, the MATH 135 material is fun and engaging and I would definitely take another class with Professor Wink again.
Fall 2020 - Despite all his lower ratings, I think Professor Wink was great. MATH 135 is a very computational class and his lectures talk about the theory behind the equations more so than examples, which is my biggest complaint about Professor Wink. Even worse, the textbook is not the best and there are very few practice problems (especially when talking about Boundary Conditions and Calculus of Variation). I added this course in the end of week 3 so I had to play catch up. However, if you took 33B from a different institution, you might've already learned a good chunk of this course. The first six weeks are about Laplace Transforms, Existence and Uniqueness and Fourier Series, so if your 33B course already discussed this, then you should be set. His homework was a combination of textbook problems and problems he wrote. Professor and our TA, Ryan Wallace who is the GOAT, practically did the homework with us during discussion and office hours. We had four quizzes throughout the quarter which were essentially basic questions from material covered. They were 30 minutes each but could be done in 10-15. The midterms were fairly easy; the first midterm median was a 92% and the second midterm median was a 88%. However, the final was no joke. The Median was a 77% and was a difficult but fair exam. With that being said, the grading is VERY lenient. Their sole grading scheme was 30% Final, 20% Midterm 1, 20% Midterm 2, 10% Quizzes (Lowest Dropped), 19% HW (Lowest Dropped), 1% Professor Evaluation. Specifically, for the HW category, after the lowest was dropped, and 85% overall in the category constituted an 100% in that category (no extra credit for above 85% raw). The homework was also fairly easy, if you understand the material. At the beginning with Laplace Transforms it can be a bit tedious with annoying partial fraction decompositions and integration by parts but towards the end, it only took maybe 2 hours a week. Each homework was also maybe 5-10 questions which I feel is pretty standard. PROFESSOR DOES CURVE! I have no idea what the curve is, I had a 92.8% overall by the end of the quarter and got an A so there might've been anywhere from a slight curve to a larger one. Overall, the MATH 135 material is fun and engaging and I would definitely take another class with Professor Wink again.
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Most Helpful Review
Summer 2016 - Right off the bat: if strong accents are a hard limit for you, do not take this guy. Otherwise go to class, do your homework, and you'll be fine. Exam questions where on par (and often times easier) than homework problems. He lets you know what topics will be on exams and post practice exams. His lectures are average, but he is clear and provides plenty of examples. There are no surprises in this class; you'll pass it if you don't blow it off. I also liked the guy; he had a pretty unique personality. The grade breakdown was 20% Homework, 30% Midterm, 50% Final. We only had one midterm, but I think that is because it was a summer course.
Summer 2016 - Right off the bat: if strong accents are a hard limit for you, do not take this guy. Otherwise go to class, do your homework, and you'll be fine. Exam questions where on par (and often times easier) than homework problems. He lets you know what topics will be on exams and post practice exams. His lectures are average, but he is clear and provides plenty of examples. There are no surprises in this class; you'll pass it if you don't blow it off. I also liked the guy; he had a pretty unique personality. The grade breakdown was 20% Homework, 30% Midterm, 50% Final. We only had one midterm, but I think that is because it was a summer course.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2023 - Professor Zhou is on the easier side of the 135 instructors. He basically just follows the textbook. His lectures are very clear, which make things much easier to understand. If you have a busy quarter and need to take some less serious classes to balance out, take this one!
Fall 2023 - Professor Zhou is on the easier side of the 135 instructors. He basically just follows the textbook. His lectures are very clear, which make things much easier to understand. If you have a busy quarter and need to take some less serious classes to balance out, take this one!
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5 of 5
