MATH 34A
GARFIELD P M
Peter Garfield
3.8
219 reviews

219
3.8
34B . Garfield P M 11 Months Ago

The grading criteria for the class was clear, midterms are exactly like the practice midterms uploaded. Taught in a way that was useful for me to understand.

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34B . Garfield P M 1 Year, 1 Day Ago

3 midterms + a final, but old versions are given out and they're very similar to the exams. HW due before each lecture (3x a week), which is excessive. Final worth as much as all 3 midterms put together (35%). HW and section worksheets not relevant to actual exam material. Garfield is sometimes bad at explaining, but he's nice. Very doable class.

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34B . Garfield P M 1 Year, 3 Days Ago

Made calculus very easy to understand. Homework was pretty straight forward & lectures were manageable. Only complaint was that our 3rd midterm grade wasn't released until after we took our final.

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34B . Garfield P M 1 Year, 7 Days Ago

Peter is super kind and accessible outside of class. He has office hours 5 days a week (in person and zoom) which were super helpful for doing the harder homework problems. Sometimes he could break examples down a little better in lecture but for the most part he did a good job lecturing. Also his practice exams are SO HELPFUL! Overall an easy A.

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34B . Garfield P M 1 Year, 7 Days Ago

Peter isn't the best lecturer, but his lecture slides are AMAZING. Downloading his lecture slides and working through them independently in lecture was the best method for learning the concepts. Tests are super easy, they're just like the practice tests. Peter is SUPER accessible outside of class. It's an easy A, as long as you put in the work.

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34B . Garfield P M 1 Year, 14 Days Ago

There were 23 homework assignments this quarter (2-3 a week) worth 12 and he drops the 3 lowest- homework is frequent but doable. He is SO slow at getting exam grades in! The final is over and we are still waiting for our last midterm scores to be released. Disappointing!! Overall easy A though, exams are just like the practice exams he posts.

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 23 Days Ago

Good at lecturing, and when I went I understood the concepts pretty well, but on the quizzes/final he clearly wanted you to actually think because there were always a few curveballs. Go to lectures and its not hard to pass, attendance is "mandatory" and he uses iClicker w/o the geolocation so you can check in from anywhere. Section is mandatory.

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 23 Days Ago

I already knew calc 1 before this class, but if you've never taken it before I think you would have a hard-ish time. He is an okay lecturer, better than most of the math department here, but you will probably still have to self teach. Weekly homework, 10 problems. No calculator exams, so they're pretty easy. Know the concepts and how to do stuff.

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 1 Month Ago

A better lecturer than other math professors I've had and usually I wasn't too lost. Webwork homework could be frustrating but was helpful. There were weekly quizzes instead of a midterm, and they alternated between in-person and online. Biggest complaint was that he took forever to grade them.

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 2 Months Ago

Peter Garfield was a great professor that gave lots of resources to succeed in his class. He does have weekly quizzes and there is more homework in this class compared to other math classes but the homework really helped me. No midterm, only weekly quizzes and a final. Calculus is not my favorite subject but his class was a great introduction!

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 2 Months Ago

he's the goat

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 2 Months Ago

Great professor, gives numerous resources to help out students and clearly cares about his class.

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 2 Months Ago

I have a hard time with math and that's always going to stay the same. Professor Garfield was an amazing professor and he geniunely tried his hardest with this students. He would go over a version of all the problems in his office hours (TAKE ADVANTAGE) and the grading wasn't pure tests. He was very funny and gave a lot of grace. 10/10

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 2 Months Ago

Nice guy, not a good teacher. Lectures covered concepts but weren't helpful at all for homework or quizzes. Be ready to self teach, especially for applications (related rates, optimization, etc.) as lectures are useless. LOTS of homework, but he drops your lowest homework and quiz. Don't take this class unless you already have calc experience.

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 3 Months Ago

Lectures never really covered what was on the homework or even exams, had to rely on YouTube videos and my notes from AP Calc from high school to get me through. The final was 35% of our grade and had content on it that was barely discussed in the class. If I had never taken calculus before I would have failed this class.

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 3 Months Ago

Garfield is a great professor. His lectures are clear and concise and go over concepts. The homework will often get WAY more advanced than in class but the TA's help with that. All together, I would 100% suggest taking peter if you have the option. But, be prepared because the homework is stupid. Honestly, attempt every single problem on quizzes!

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 3 Months Ago

Never took calculus before coming into this class and I absolutely learned nothing from lecture. Peter is a good person, but he honestly cannot teach at all. This caused me to learn everything myself through Youtube videos and his homework assignments are so much harder than what he shows in lecture. Don't recommend unless you know calc already.

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 3 Months Ago

I mean he is a nice guy 100%. As a freshman with a disability, I went to CLAS, Sections, and even to the Professor office hours, but it was just really everywhere and homework was more intense and more stressful compared to being fully prepared for the weekly test. Overall, it was difficult to understand the concepts in his course.

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 4 Months Ago

Nice person, awful professor. Homework is unrelated to lectures and quizzes based on the homework are even more difficult and are unrelated to the homework. This is a beginner calculus course but there will be random Calculus 2 homework problems on the homework as if he isn't aware of what he is assigning students. Lazy on grading quizzes.

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 4 Months Ago

Peter Garfield is one of the nicest professors I have come into contact with so far, however, being a nice professor does not mean that they are good at teaching beginners calculus. I go to everyone of his office hours, and it leaves me more confused than before. The homework is much harder than the lectures, and the content doesn't even match.

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 4 Months Ago

Peter is an amazing person, but his quizzes and homework do not match up to what we are learning. At times, the quizzes are not related to the class and no grades are in so it is hard to know how I am doing. I have gone to my TA, math lab, and office hours, where nothing becomes more clear. I study lots and go to lectures as well.

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 4 Months Ago

Overall good professor! Homeworks are challenging. And lectures sometimes go really fast. However, when you review the material again after the lecture, it should mostly make sense. Secondly, the people writing the negative comments are those who don't go to office hours, where professor go over every single homework problem and try to help you!

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 4 Months Ago

Even his TA and CLAS tutor do not know how to do his homework.

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MATH3A . Garfield P M 1 Year, 4 Months Ago

Homework is so hard because he never teach anything helpful in class. Everyone in my section feels behind and nobody know how to do the homework, and we all did really bad on the quiz. Peter if you are reading this, either make your homework easier or teach something useful in class, because homework does count A LOT in our grade.

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