Labutin's lectures are very abstract most of the time and hard to understand. You have to go back and look through the examples on the slides in order to really understand what's going on. If you know calculus from high school, you'll be fine in 3B. If not - go to CLAS and TA office hours. I got an A+ because Labutin gives so much EC on exams.

This man is the definition of BRUTE manliness. Yet, he also exhibits the tender love of a mother that is missing while you are away from home. Sure, he has an accent heavier than the snowfall of a Russian winter. Sure, his lectures are mostly abstract. However, he offers so much extra credit in the tests, that you'll be fine in his warm embrace.

He has a russian accent that I had a very hard time understanding, which meant that I struggled through my quarter. I only passed because I remembered some material from taking Calc in high school, CLAS, sections, and CLAS drop ins. So be prepared to be spending a lot of extra time for the class if you're not great at math.

He makes the material very easy to understand, but if you don't get something, he highly encourages you to ask questions. Homework isn't bad at all. If you can do his homework, you'll do great in his exams. Usually does at least one take-home exam! He is also relatively lenient when it comes to grading, especially if it's a mistake most people do.

Professor Labutin was a great professor to take my first quarter at UCSB. As other reviewers have mentioned, he does have a Russian accent, however it is not difficult to understand and doesn't affect his teaching abilities. As long as you pay attention to lecture and do the homework. you'll do fine on the exam.

His lectures are clear, complete, and occasionally very funny. He does a great job of connecting the material of the class to other disciplines of math and bringing in connections to other areas of math to make the content more clear. He does a good job of not getting bogged down in the details and presenting the subject very clearly.

Best professor in UCSB

Labutin is fine, neither excellent nor bad at teaching. His class is not very hard. And he has accent but is not hard to understand. Some said he grades easy, but this is not the case for 118(seems he doesn't curve), e.g. 91.5 is A-.

I think his lectures would be easier to understand if I spoke Russian

Honestly, this is one of the most clear professors in terms of what he expects of you. His exams in the lower division classes (except for math 8, I think) are very heavily based off the homework you get. Leaves so much wiggle room for you to do well in class. Drops your lowest midterm score. Gives extra credit. If you can, take him for a class.

One of the best professors in UCSB. He gives a lot of extra credits and have take home final. He wants every student in his class to get an A, so he drops 2 of your lowest homework and 1 lower midterm. If you hand in homework for week 10, you get 100% credit of that homework.

Labutin has a very strong accent that sounds like French and Russian smushed together. His lectures are confusing but the amount of material in 4A is so minimal you can easily learn it on your own in a day. If that scares you then go to CLAS instead of lecture, as his lectures are very confusing due to his horrible lecture slides and techniques.

Didn't really understand what he was saying because of his accent. His slides back-track a lot, and makes the lesson go all over the place. He seems nervous when he lectures. Section is where you'll get the most help. And go to CLAS. On the bright side, the midterm and final are almost the same as the practice exams he gives out.

Lecture is rambling, and attendance is not mandatory. Just go to section and do the weekly assignments online. very easy class, he curves each individual test generously. 1 take home midterm, 1 in class midterm, and in class final. definitely an easy A

All of the notes are posted online, you don't even need to attend the class. Tests are pretty easy if you have done the practice tests and make them understand. If you don't love math so much but just for good grade, here is for you.

Went to lecture maybe 4 times. The lectures do not help, this was mostly a self-taught class.

I don't understand him for the whole quarter, and I self-studied by reading textbook and going to CLAS. However, tests are easy and he curved a lot. Easy A as long as you study. Going to lectures is unnecessary.

Struggled to enjoy this class. A combination of Labutin's thick accent and excessively detailed slides made lecture boring and confusing. Homework takes time, be warned. I relied on section, CLAS and the (awesome) textbook to get me through the class. Overall, the class was not unreasonable--tests were manageable (and that's most of your grade).

Terrible at teaching the material however his exams tests and exams are considerably easy and so if you study independently, it should't be too bad

I don't know a single person that found his lectures even little bit useful. He has an accent, which you get used to, but he is very, very conceptual. Expect to do most of the learning on your own. Most students skipped lecture altogether. That said, the tests are not all that difficult and he offers extra credit, so an A is possible if not easy.

Don't need to go to lecture ever- they're pretty awful. You get a full page cheat sheet on the midterm and final and there's ec so don't worry you'll do fine.

One of the worst lecturers I've ever had. Hard to follow even when I already knew the material. Expect to self-study most of the course. On the other hand, he curves the tests a lot -- average score on the first midterm was 105%.

His lectures could often be confusing when they didn't have to be because he explained all concepts in convoluted variable expressions/hardly ever used examples with real numbers to clear things up. That being said, this class was very easy to get an A in: extra credit and take home midterms with a fair final; go to CLAS if you need help.

Thick but decipherable accent. He obviously knows a lot about linear algebra, and can prove the concepts on the spot for you, but he moves fast between slides and tends to not be very concise or planned in his lectures. If you do the homework and learn from the book you'll be fine. I passed with more than 100%, but I'm already a math major. Sry :/