MATH 31A
Differential and Integral Calculus
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Preparation: at least three and one half years of high school mathematics (including some coordinate geometry and trigonometry). Requisite: successful completion of Mathematics Diagnostic Test or course 1 with grade of C- or better. Differential calculus and applications; introduction to integration. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Let me begin my evaluation by stating that I got an A in Watson's class. If you are thinking about taking Watson, be prepared for someone who has very well organized lecture material and great ways of explaining concepts. Students say he is not approachable, but I never went to office hours any way so I guess I wouldn't know. What I do know is that he answered everyone's questions during class and that as long as you payed attention, you would understand. FORMULA FOR SUCCESS: 1. Notes- Watson gives some pretty distinct hints on what he will be testing on, write that shit down. I remember a huge proof he did in the first week of class, then referred back to later on, and hinted that it might be good to know it, so I memorized it before the test. It was the last problem (most points) and it threw everyone off, throwing me above the curve. 2. Studying - do the problems in the book, all of them. There are only a limited amount of problem types he assigns for hmwk, do all of the books examples of those. Watson's test are really fair. Nothing was ever like "never seen this shit before" Encourage yourself to gain a firm understanding on not only the process, but the proofs and reasoning behind what you are learning.
Let me begin my evaluation by stating that I got an A in Watson's class. If you are thinking about taking Watson, be prepared for someone who has very well organized lecture material and great ways of explaining concepts. Students say he is not approachable, but I never went to office hours any way so I guess I wouldn't know. What I do know is that he answered everyone's questions during class and that as long as you payed attention, you would understand. FORMULA FOR SUCCESS: 1. Notes- Watson gives some pretty distinct hints on what he will be testing on, write that shit down. I remember a huge proof he did in the first week of class, then referred back to later on, and hinted that it might be good to know it, so I memorized it before the test. It was the last problem (most points) and it threw everyone off, throwing me above the curve. 2. Studying - do the problems in the book, all of them. There are only a limited amount of problem types he assigns for hmwk, do all of the books examples of those. Watson's test are really fair. Nothing was ever like "never seen this shit before" Encourage yourself to gain a firm understanding on not only the process, but the proofs and reasoning behind what you are learning.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2022 - This class was very straightforward and honestly enjoyable--the professor's lectures were often full of humorous remarks which made going to class more motivating. Additionally, homework assignments were adequate in preparing me for quizzes and exams. The grading scheme is very fair--he allows you to drop your lowest midterm grade, as well as your lowest quiz and homework assignment grade.
Fall 2022 - This class was very straightforward and honestly enjoyable--the professor's lectures were often full of humorous remarks which made going to class more motivating. Additionally, homework assignments were adequate in preparing me for quizzes and exams. The grading scheme is very fair--he allows you to drop your lowest midterm grade, as well as your lowest quiz and homework assignment grade.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Prof. Willis is a fantastic lecturer; he's really responsive during lectures and actually pays attention to the questions asked in the chat (he'll actually answer all of them and make sure you understand by demonstrating with examples). His pacing during lectures is pretty much perfect, and the concepts were explained super clearly. He's also pretty funny and will interact with the students in the chat. Workload for this class is decent, there's a few written homework problems paired with online Sapling homework due every week. If there were any homework problems students were stuck on, Prof. Willis and the TAs would be super helpful during their office hours. The midterms and final were open-note, 24-hour window assignment-like exams submitted through Gradescope. The lectures were recorded, and attendance wasn't required for either the lectures or discussions. (Michael Johnson was also a pretty awesome TA; he was super helpful.)
Fall 2020 - Prof. Willis is a fantastic lecturer; he's really responsive during lectures and actually pays attention to the questions asked in the chat (he'll actually answer all of them and make sure you understand by demonstrating with examples). His pacing during lectures is pretty much perfect, and the concepts were explained super clearly. He's also pretty funny and will interact with the students in the chat. Workload for this class is decent, there's a few written homework problems paired with online Sapling homework due every week. If there were any homework problems students were stuck on, Prof. Willis and the TAs would be super helpful during their office hours. The midterms and final were open-note, 24-hour window assignment-like exams submitted through Gradescope. The lectures were recorded, and attendance wasn't required for either the lectures or discussions. (Michael Johnson was also a pretty awesome TA; he was super helpful.)
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2022 - Teaching Style/Lecture: Professor Wu is a brand new teacher and he simply doesn't know how to teach. He's super qualified in the math field and is definitely a smart guy, but he genuinely made this basic calculus class way too hard and confusing. If you haven't taken AP Calculus AB I can see this class being extremely difficult to follow. The material is easy to learn with other online resources like Khan Academy, but the issue is that his midterms and final are solely based on lecture problems and homework problems, so you have to attend lecture or watch lecture (since they're recorded). He made easy topics way too confusing, he moved super fast, and he didn't always finish his own example problems. Oftentimes, he'd tell us to just reference his notes (which can be found on the Canvas site) because he always ran out of time. Also, I'm pretty sure the examples he did were just found in the book, but he didn't even explain them well and he had really particular ways of doing it. If he didn't have his notes to glance at, sometimes he'd even get stuck doing his own problems. Homework: The homework is super manageable and he pulls his test questions pretty much directly from them or from lectures. But, he never does examples in class quite like the homework, and you never get an answer key for them. He gave us extra practice problems too, but without answer keys, it's hard to check if you're really doing it right. Also at the beginning of the quarter, nobody knew if the homework was graded on completion or correctness (it was correctness). Tests: We never got notes, flashcards, etc. even when the other Math 31A classes got them. He's also super vague when it comes to what to expect on the midterms and final. The first midterm was graded out of 100 but you could get up to 160 points, so you had 60 to spare. But the second midterm was graded on only 2 out of the 5 problems on the test, without any extra points this time. It was super random and the class average for the second midterm was a high D but he said that getting a C is really good in his class, even though most people got 100 on the first midterm (which makes no sense to me). The final had questions we had already seen on each of the midterms, and it barely tested us on the entire second half of the course (integrals and FTC). Office Hours/TAs: His office hours were not helpful at all and only made me more confused. They were held in this little room where people sat on the floor, and some people had to stand outside the door simply because there was no room (where you couldn't even see). His class was so confusing and he communicated poorly with the TAs too. I loved my TA though, he was so helpful (until the strike occurred so we stopped getting help) but the TAs never knew what the midterms would look like and they didn't really know what we were learning in class. Overall: I'm usually super good at math and I've taken this course before, but it was taught in a way that made it more difficult than it should've been. This class itself shouldn't be hard, but I definitely don't feel prepared for 31B. In the end, I don't know how he graded the final or whether this class was curved (because he said it might be). He also never responded to 3 emails I sent him. If I didn't get an A I think I would've been far more frustrated, I'm just glad I passed. I think he knew so many kids were frustrated and kind of handed out As at the end.
Fall 2022 - Teaching Style/Lecture: Professor Wu is a brand new teacher and he simply doesn't know how to teach. He's super qualified in the math field and is definitely a smart guy, but he genuinely made this basic calculus class way too hard and confusing. If you haven't taken AP Calculus AB I can see this class being extremely difficult to follow. The material is easy to learn with other online resources like Khan Academy, but the issue is that his midterms and final are solely based on lecture problems and homework problems, so you have to attend lecture or watch lecture (since they're recorded). He made easy topics way too confusing, he moved super fast, and he didn't always finish his own example problems. Oftentimes, he'd tell us to just reference his notes (which can be found on the Canvas site) because he always ran out of time. Also, I'm pretty sure the examples he did were just found in the book, but he didn't even explain them well and he had really particular ways of doing it. If he didn't have his notes to glance at, sometimes he'd even get stuck doing his own problems. Homework: The homework is super manageable and he pulls his test questions pretty much directly from them or from lectures. But, he never does examples in class quite like the homework, and you never get an answer key for them. He gave us extra practice problems too, but without answer keys, it's hard to check if you're really doing it right. Also at the beginning of the quarter, nobody knew if the homework was graded on completion or correctness (it was correctness). Tests: We never got notes, flashcards, etc. even when the other Math 31A classes got them. He's also super vague when it comes to what to expect on the midterms and final. The first midterm was graded out of 100 but you could get up to 160 points, so you had 60 to spare. But the second midterm was graded on only 2 out of the 5 problems on the test, without any extra points this time. It was super random and the class average for the second midterm was a high D but he said that getting a C is really good in his class, even though most people got 100 on the first midterm (which makes no sense to me). The final had questions we had already seen on each of the midterms, and it barely tested us on the entire second half of the course (integrals and FTC). Office Hours/TAs: His office hours were not helpful at all and only made me more confused. They were held in this little room where people sat on the floor, and some people had to stand outside the door simply because there was no room (where you couldn't even see). His class was so confusing and he communicated poorly with the TAs too. I loved my TA though, he was so helpful (until the strike occurred so we stopped getting help) but the TAs never knew what the midterms would look like and they didn't really know what we were learning in class. Overall: I'm usually super good at math and I've taken this course before, but it was taught in a way that made it more difficult than it should've been. This class itself shouldn't be hard, but I definitely don't feel prepared for 31B. In the end, I don't know how he graded the final or whether this class was curved (because he said it might be). He also never responded to 3 emails I sent him. If I didn't get an A I think I would've been far more frustrated, I'm just glad I passed. I think he knew so many kids were frustrated and kind of handed out As at the end.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2016 - Short homework, although he only chooses all even problems so you can't check your answers in the back of the textbook. Tests are EXTREMELY HARD (final average was a 39%). Elementary calculus should never be this tough. Lectures are pointless, as he pretty much only proves theorems. However, the curve is pretty generous given that everybody fails his tests. He's definitely a genius from a different planet, but doesn't have a clue about how to teach.
Winter 2016 - Short homework, although he only chooses all even problems so you can't check your answers in the back of the textbook. Tests are EXTREMELY HARD (final average was a 39%). Elementary calculus should never be this tough. Lectures are pointless, as he pretty much only proves theorems. However, the curve is pretty generous given that everybody fails his tests. He's definitely a genius from a different planet, but doesn't have a clue about how to teach.
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