MATH 3A

Calculus for Life Sciences Students

Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Preparation: three and one half years of high school mathematics (including trigonometry). Enforced requisite: successful completion of Mathematics Diagnostic Test (score of 48 or better) or course 1 with grade of C- or better. Not open for credit to students with credit in another calculus sequence. Modeling with functions, limits, and derivatives, decisions and optimization in biology, derivative rules and tools. P/NP or letter grading.

Units: 4.0
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Overall Rating N/A
Easiness N/A/ 5
Clarity N/A/ 5
Workload N/A/ 5
Helpfulness N/A/ 5
Overall Rating N/A
Easiness N/A/ 5
Clarity N/A/ 5
Workload N/A/ 5
Helpfulness N/A/ 5
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Overall Rating 2.8
Easiness 1.0/ 5
Clarity 2.8/ 5
Workload 1.0/ 5
Helpfulness 3.5/ 5
Overall Rating 3.2
Easiness 3.5/ 5
Clarity 2.8/ 5
Workload 3.8/ 5
Helpfulness 3.8/ 5
Most Helpful Review
Grade breakdown: 10% homework 25% midterm 1 25% midterm 2 40% final OR 100% final Whichever was higher was the grade you got for the class. The final and the overall grades of the class were curved at the end of the quarter. In the beginning I wasn't happy with her teaching strategy. I thought she went too slow and went too in depth into things in a way that was too confusing. However, as the quarter progressed, I got more used to how she taught and am actually not too opposed to her teaching anymore. For many in my class she was a horrible professor, but for me personally, I thought she was helpful in explaining the conceptual aspects of calculus. It may be because I took AP Calculus AB my senior year of high school, but I feel like once you have a firm grasp on the math conceptually, you should be doing more than fine on the midterms and final. She was a very concerned professor and answered everyone's questions in class. Just know that she most likely won't go over actual problems in class. That's where discussion comes in. My TA, Chuyuan Fu, was not very effective at all. She was very quiet and couldn't really answer questions that well, which is why discussion attendance dwindled quickly week after week. However, she tried her best teaching, and I admire that, but it just wasn't for her. As far as homework goes, it was incredibly easy. Not a big work load at all. Around ten problems due each week online. There were a couple to a few conceptual questions each week. With the computational questions, it was good because you could put in your answer and check it to see if it was right. If it was wrong, you could put in a new answer and check it again, but it would not show you the right answer. You could also work on it throughout the week and save your progress before turning it in. If you don't turn it in by the deadline, it turns itself in automatically. DO NOT BUY THE MATH TEXTBOOK. She never touches it. It may be used by other professors, but for Brown, no. There were eight assignments total. Homework grade: 90.83% There were two midterms which were nine questions each. I didn't think they were very difficult. As long as you understood the conceptual parts of it, you were fine. One thing I really liked though was how quickly she grades. For the second midterm, I took it on a Monday, and I got it back that same Wednesday. I thought this was excellent. Midterm 1 grade: 44/45 98% Class mean grade: 34/45 76% Midterm 2 grade: 42/45 93% Class mean grade: 30.9/45 69% The final was fifteen questions and was similar to the midterms. It covered the whole breadth of the course and included both conceptual and computational questions. I was stuck on two problems in total. This too was graded quickly. Took it on Monday and saw my grade online on Friday. Final grade: 62/70 89% Class mean grade: 46.9/70 67% Overall it was an okay class. Easy for me in particular, more difficult for some. But the professor, all in all, was fair. Final course grade: A
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