Systems of linear equations, matrix algebra, determinants, vector spaces and subspaces, basis and dimension, linear transformations, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, diagonalization, and orthogonality.
4
UnitsOptional
Grading1
PasstimeUndergraduate students only
Level LimitLetters and science
CollegeLecture
Sections
Lectures are incomprehensible, with completely illegible handwriting. Professor makes little effort to communicate with students. Homework is annoyingly lengthy. The only redeeming factor for this professor was a very easy final.
Super nice guy but lectures felt a bit all over the place and he did not explain small but key ideas that really made studying quite difficult. I don't think I learned much from this class even though I went to lecture and did HW but if I had kept up better I could have easily gotten an A because the final was light.
Gustavo Ponce's lectures can be quite hard to follow if you are trying to take notes while listening. I'd recommend just listening during the lecture and taking notes afterward. As long as you can grasp the problems and understand the homework, the midterm and final exam will be easy for you.
Midterms were easy, final was also easy but had no partial credit and very few problems. This causes so much unnecessary stress and puts too much emphasis on answers instead of understanding. Lectures were actually very useful, but only in the last month of class. He is not approachable and definitely does not care much about lower div classes.
Lectures are useless, he uses another's professor's slides, which he learns WHILE teaching. It is better to learn the material through self-studying the slides he posts. CLAS Canvas course is VERY useful, so sign up for that. Two easy midterms online, and a 50% final. Practice final was VERY hard, and not at all representative of the actual final.
Professor Ponce is a horrible lecturer. A heavy accent combined with incomprehensible handwriting makes it impossible to learn in class. The homework assignments are also rather difficult and tedious. The two online midterms and the in-person final were all reasonably easy, but Ponce's sheer teaching inability is impossible to ignore.