easy to get a high score. The exams will be easy if you can complete all the assignments successfully.

Sometimes lectures in a monotone voice, but overall easy to understand and pretty lenient on grades. Dropped our lowest 2 out of 3 exam scores so the final was optional due to the strike, as well as a few more homework assignments than originally stated. Posts lecture notes on Gauchospace too, as well as other resources.

Exactly what you want from a good professor

If you have the option, TAKE PORTER. Best decision ever. He is extremely nice and easygoing. His lectures were clear to understand. Make sure to try and get high scores on all your webworks as your grade depends on the homework and exams mostly.

Great professor! Super approachable, very nice about questions and all. The tests were super straightforward -- easier than the webwork and around the same as the review assignments. The class was relatively difficult, especially if you've never done calculus before, but definitely doable if you put the work in.

Definitely take him if you have the option. The tests are very similar to the review worksheets and are super easy. Homework completion is important. Overall, awesome and very considerate professor.

Math 2A is difficult if you have minimal pre-calculus experience, but doable. If you need help, utilize his office hours along with math lab and CLAS. Lectures are not mandatory, but would highly recommend attending, 8 am makes it easy to skip, but going will save your grade.

Easy grader. Boring lectures, though.

Took it during Winter 22 and the midterms and final exam were online. Lecture attendance doesn't matter but section attendance does count.

Genuinely cares about his students and their well-being. Took it during Fall 21 and the final exam was online. Lecture attendance doesn't matter but section attendance does count.

One of the best professors I've ever had! His lectures are very clear and all his notes + short videos are posted online, making it easy to catch up on things you may have missed. His grading is very generous with a majority of your grade being based on homework & exam practice problems rather than exams, which helped me learn the material better.

If you don't take his class, you will regret it for the rest of your life.

Take him for 4B. Easy grading scale and his class is super organized.

Great professor overall, extremely well-organized course site with generous grading. Lectures are a bit dry but I can't blame him because that's the nature of an ODEs course.

I think people like Prof. Porter because homework is 50% of the grade, so it's a very easy class to do well in, especially for diff eq. However, his lectures are so boring I find it hard to understand what he's saying. He speaks in a low monotonous voice all class. His notes are good and posted, so the lectures aren't even worth attending.

His lectures are super clear, he really makes statistics easy. I did online/asynchronous, but he was always accessible outside of class. Not an insane amount of work, but enough that you really get it. Just watch the videos and take notes on the blank notes he gives you and you will be fine. Homework is often more difficult than the exams.

He is SO FKING NICE!!!!! His homework takes 50%!!! His notes are very clear so we do not need any textbooks. He also provides a video of each chapter. PICK HIM! PICK HIM!

Only 2 weeks into the course and I'd say Matt is hands down one of the best Math prof at UCSB! His lectures are super clear, recorded(even the recording is high quality), organized, and very nice grading distribution towards the students (50% homework and 10% final).

Had Prof Porter for MATH 2A/2B and was able to do well on both with no precalculus experience beforehand. His lectures are a bit monotonous, but if you take notes and go to mathlab to complete the homework assignments you will grasp the content just fine. The grading scale is very fair and the study guides are quite reflective of the test material.

Amazing professor! He doesn't grade harshly at all and if you do bad on the midterms you'll most likely be fine. Most of your grade comes from the homework and attending section so it's not bad at all. He's also a really good professor, it takes a minute to get used to his teaching but once you do he's great!

I had a horrible experience with this professor, first professor I have had a bad experience with here. He was too quiet in lectures and has marked students wrong for correct answers on exams. You can still get an A in this course, 70% of your grade is homework but the professor is a bad teacher and harsh grader.

Very understanding and teaches you exactly what you're going to be tested on.

I had Prof Porter for both MATH 2A and MATH 2B, and have absolutely no complaints at all. He is very responsive to emails, and seems to really care about the success of students. Your grade really depends on the amount of effort you put in. There are so many resources to get an A in these classes.

Don't take this class. I physically cried during his midterm. Take literally any other professor. Is this the only math class open? I don't care. Take a math class next semester.