Karel is good professor but he could be more engaging to the class, it seems like he's talking to himself when lecturing which can cause him to go fast and miss important details. Other than that he's helpful in office hours(he's a little awkward sometimes) and tests are pretty fair just know your definitions inside and out.
Math 117 is like Math 8 on steroids. It's challenging, but Karel is more than aware of this and tries to make this class manageable. He's knowledgeable and his lectures are relatively organized. Difficult exams, however he gives extra credit and preps you with similar exam questions. He's really friendly guy and easy on the eyes. I recommend him.
He is disorganized... But he gives out great scores on a class that used to be hard... And he is a kind teacher...
His lectures were very clear and very structured. Some of the homeworks were a little confusing but not impossible like other profs. He answers questions very well, and definitely wants you to understand the material.
Bigelow has good intentions and tries to teach to the level of understanding of the class. However, the book is very vague and clear answers are never given. The grader is harsh and has different expectations than the teacher. I took this class thinking it would be interesting and on the easy side, but it ended up being much harder than expected.
I can't speak to how Professor Bigelow is for lower divs, but I absolutely loved his Non-Euclidean Geometry class. He is great at teaching the intuition behind what is going on. The homework problems are really cool, and he helps get you started in class. Attending and participating in class will help you greatly to understand the material.
Makes this class easy and is very helpful. He's also kind of funny. Go to class and you'll pass.
Bigelow is my favorite. My entire class was obsessed with him for some reason. The class was super easy, if you know what you're doing you'll ace it. I literally got 100% in the class (with the exception of iclicker, because I skipped a lot of class). Bigelow literally wrote a summary of each unit before the midterm (memorized it and got 100%).
Lectures are pretty easy to follow and the hw is so easy! You need to go to lecture because of Iclicker. Midterms and final were straightforward except the TF questions were kind of hard. If you get an A on the final you get an A in the class.
Bigelow is clear and makes subject interesting. CLAS helps a lot. HW is too easy and does not prepare you enough. Midterms and final were straightforward except for TF questions.
If you attend lecture and do all of the homework, then you should have no problem passing the class. I would also recommend taking CLAS if it is confusing for you at first. Bigelow is a wizard!
He's a hilarious guy and is loved by students. His lectures are good but I found his explanations a bit confusing. You get an A as long as you understand the basics of basics of the class. So the tests are really easy. Wish I could have got a bit more out of the class though.
Bigelow gave great lectures w examples to reinforce the core skills that he expected you to know for the tests. The tests were straight forward and you'll do well as long as you understand examples from the notes. Bigelow held three office hour sessions per week and was more than happy to answer any clarification questions. Awesome teacher!
Pretty straightforward teacher, and I imagine one of the easiest math professors at UCSB. His tests are pretty straight forward, but you'll have to do more than the homework to be prepared for them. His homework doesn't prepare you at all for his tests, so don't think that you can just do the homework and not study a lot and be ready to do well.
One of the best math professors I've taken thus far. Ended up with an A by doing the following: doing MyMathLab hw (worth the investment, his hw is too short!), allowing myself to miss a couple lectures (slides are posted online), and CLAS (cannot exaggerate how helpful this is). I also felt like the book was pretty useless. Anyways, TAKE HIM!
Bigelow puts all his lectures online which really helps. Allows a 3x5 card for 2 midterms and final exam. Clas helps you do well in the Clas. He made his tests pretty straightforward. Gives a little bit of HW, not enough to master topics.
He knows we just want to memorize procedures and gtfo, so his tests let you get away with that. Pretty easy class. Funny guy. Somewhat unclear in lecture if you actually want to understand.
Best math teacherprofessor I have ever had. So hilarious and really loves math. Just go to lecture and take good notes and you will be fine. The midterms are fair and there are no tricks- everything is pretty straightforward.
He is a wizard
Two midterms and a final. iClicker points won't help you. Homework is sparse (5-8 problems every two weeks, ish) and nothing at all like his tests. The tests are purely theoretical. He tries to jump into theory before actually teaching you what a matrix is (typically it's the opposite). He's funny though, and an A on the final is an A in the class.
This class is really simple. All the exams were easy and straight to the point. I attend lecture and CLAS but I don't think CLAS was necessary. He is a good teacher in lecture and office hours. Highly recommend you take Bigelow the math wizard of Campbell Hall!!
I love this professor!
lectures and tests are straight forward, nice professor and helps to go to office hours
Hard class, wonderful professor. Dr. Bigelow is one of the most helpful professors on campus. Make sure to go to his office hours as he will often go above and beyond to help you learn the material. Teaching style is very straight forward, but this is much preferred to some professors that jump all over the place. Happy I took this class with him.
