Professor
Peter Petersen
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2016 - This is a very easy class for math majors to improve their major GPA, especially with Prof. Peterson. He has a mild European accent and a casual handwriting style which make his lectures a little bothering to understand, but other than that he is a very cool guy. Both two midterms are very easy. The final is relatively harder but still very straightforward. Anyways, easy class and cool professor. You will enjoy it.
Winter 2016 - This is a very easy class for math majors to improve their major GPA, especially with Prof. Peterson. He has a mild European accent and a casual handwriting style which make his lectures a little bothering to understand, but other than that he is a very cool guy. Both two midterms are very easy. The final is relatively harder but still very straightforward. Anyways, easy class and cool professor. You will enjoy it.
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Most Helpful Review
This was an interesting class. First of all, it is a class for pure math majors, yet they make math for teaching majors take it as well. That being said, Petersen is a great professor. He is clear and concise about explaining the material. It was not Petersen I had a problem with, it was the material. Most math classes I have been able to idly sit by and not study too much until the final...but this one really whipped me into shape. The HW grader was extremely harsh, so most people got between a 5 and a 7 on all homeworks. If you put a good deal of work into the class, it is easily manageable. He gives reviews before each test and recommends which problems you study from the homework before each exam...I'd say from the 10 questions on the final, 3 were on a final review sheet, 2 were from homework, 3 were simple applications from what we'd seen in class, and there were 2 harder questions. If you don't have to take 120a, then do not, by any means, take it. However, if it is required for your major, take it with Petersen. Just prepare for a hard-working quarter.
This was an interesting class. First of all, it is a class for pure math majors, yet they make math for teaching majors take it as well. That being said, Petersen is a great professor. He is clear and concise about explaining the material. It was not Petersen I had a problem with, it was the material. Most math classes I have been able to idly sit by and not study too much until the final...but this one really whipped me into shape. The HW grader was extremely harsh, so most people got between a 5 and a 7 on all homeworks. If you put a good deal of work into the class, it is easily manageable. He gives reviews before each test and recommends which problems you study from the homework before each exam...I'd say from the 10 questions on the final, 3 were on a final review sheet, 2 were from homework, 3 were simple applications from what we'd seen in class, and there were 2 harder questions. If you don't have to take 120a, then do not, by any means, take it. However, if it is required for your major, take it with Petersen. Just prepare for a hard-working quarter.
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2017 - Taking this class with Professor Petersen was a very positive experience. Math 134 is a relatively easy upper division math course due to the fact that qualitative behavior is emphasized instead of pure mathematical rigor. As for Professor Petersen himself, you can already tell how easygoing and casual he is with the way he dresses and with the way he teaches the course. Though he does have a bit of a European accent, his lectures are still very clear and understandable. His weekly homeworks come straight from the book and do not take too long to finish. In fact, the two lowest out of five homework scores are dropped, so it is not too difficult to get the full 20% of the total grade. His exams are definitely on the easier side, and there is plenty of time since there are 5-6 questions for two hours. He gives sufficient study materials, including past/sample exams; plus he gives a review including solutions to practice exams before the exam. Discussions are probably not necessary, as the content is not too difficult and there are plenty of other resources such as office hours and the textbook. All in all, I would recommend Professor Petersen for this class.
Summer 2017 - Taking this class with Professor Petersen was a very positive experience. Math 134 is a relatively easy upper division math course due to the fact that qualitative behavior is emphasized instead of pure mathematical rigor. As for Professor Petersen himself, you can already tell how easygoing and casual he is with the way he dresses and with the way he teaches the course. Though he does have a bit of a European accent, his lectures are still very clear and understandable. His weekly homeworks come straight from the book and do not take too long to finish. In fact, the two lowest out of five homework scores are dropped, so it is not too difficult to get the full 20% of the total grade. His exams are definitely on the easier side, and there is plenty of time since there are 5-6 questions for two hours. He gives sufficient study materials, including past/sample exams; plus he gives a review including solutions to practice exams before the exam. Discussions are probably not necessary, as the content is not too difficult and there are plenty of other resources such as office hours and the textbook. All in all, I would recommend Professor Petersen for this class.
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