Prof. Long is the best math professor I've had at UCSB. His class was appropriately challenging, and the homework was a perfect preparation for the midterm and final. His lectures were entertaining and engaging. I want to have him again for upper div courses.
I loved math until this class came along. His accent made it difficult for me to understand, and he assumes that students know everything as he's writing on the overhead
An excellent professor and a sweet guy. He really cares about the students and what you learn. You don't need to read the book that much, unless it is to clarify something in lecture, though these are pretty clear. He is very passionate about this material! If you go to his office hours and talk to him he can clarify anything.
Hands down the worst professor I have ever had to try to learn from. I went in expecting to learn calculus and he just assumed we already knew it. He did not respond to emails whatsoever and was rude during office hours. Unhelpful and overall a terrible professor. I would never willingly take his class.
Excellent professor. Attend lecture and take good notes, do the homework and you will be fine. Very clear and writes great transparencies, which he posts on the web. OVerall couldn't be better.
It took me a few classes to become used to the professor's lecturing style, but then I quickly fell in love with the material. Some of the homework isn't easy, but his exams are fair. He really wants you to think and learn from the homework. If you put in the time, you will learn a ton from this class.
The class was a pretty easy class. Homework was complicated though but do-able. There is always help. The TA's are very helpful. He is a FUNNY professor. Always tells jokes during lecture. I loved his class!
I have mixed feelings about this professor. The class was difficult up from for me as he expected us to know a decent bit of calculus. But he got better later on. Wildly entertaining with his jokes. I initially hated math but left loving it because Darren focuses on teaching applications, which make the subject incredibly interesting!
Not a very hard class, but I think that way because CLAS was extremely helpful! I would rather have attended only CLAS than the actual lecture, where I did not learn much. The final was pretty hard. Sometimes Prof. Long puts problems that he did not talk about on his tests, but most problems are from homework.
Professor Long is hands down the most funny professor I have ever had. Great personality which was the only reason I attended lecture. All the problems on his tests he does in lectures beforehand. Easy class if you try. It is worth taking an 8 AM just to have Prof Long!
He has a great European accent; explains the calculus very clearly but deems it "lowbrow math" and expects you to have mastered precalc concepts and equations. Class was an overview of concepts we needed to know to do homework on a basic level, and all the lectures were online. However, tests were VERY difficult, especially the final.
Great teacher, although you need to pay attention. Posts lectures online, answers all questions well, there a practice sheet for midterms. Final exam was totally straighforward.
In the beginning this class seems promising, very entertaining with his daily jokes, however have knowledge of calc before you take the class because he assumes everyone knows. The CLAS was very helpful, Attend the midterm reviews and you'll do fine but the final was what we learned in class but much much harder and he doesn't curve
Horrible Teacher. Even if you do well in the class you aren't guaranteed any grade. He doesn't teach you anything in class and the tests are stupidly hard. The only part of his class worth anything are his jokes.
GREAT professor! Awesome. He made lecture enjoyable. I definetely recommend taking calculus with him. Tests fairly.
Darren is a wonderful teacher. Clear, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. I hope I get to take another class from him in the future.
At times, Prof. Long seemed more interested in cracking a joke than continuing with the lecture. Absolutely terrible lecturer. The only good part was that he posted his lecture slides online.
The lectures are extremely clear and organized. He takes it really slow, almost too slow sometimes, fields all questions, and makes very clear explanations when things may be hard to understand. The homework can be difficult but that's why we have section. The midterms are difficult but doing the practice problems on webworks makes them manageable.
Sensational. Makes the math so clear.
This professor assumes that we know everything and his hw has nothing to do with his lectures and his hw is ridiculously hard with stupid numbers
Hilarious professor! Keeps you interested. Definitely unusual to have a math teacher like this, in the best of ways. He's awesome.
Going to class was useless. I got a %100 on the first midterm and went to every single class and still ended up with a C since he lowered everyones grade at the end since too many people did well(My only C all year). I didnt like this guy, the class seemed too easy to be true and in the end it was.
Absolutely superlative teacher. He has an incredible command over the material and is extremely funny! He is tough but fair. By far the best Math prof I have ever had.
class was completely useless. did not understand a single thing in lecture. CLAS taught me more than he did and ever planned to. The tests are not like webwork. got -20% on my test for writing answer in same format as webwork. tests are only 5 questions and each one is out of 5. a single mistake (forgetting to write "span") will lower your grade 4%
