Grade is exam heavy (worth 70% of overall grade) but Porter does a great job of providing work that accurately reflects exam difficulty and prepares you. Grading system is very generous and incredibly helpful. Lectures do a good job demonstrating concepts. I felt well prepared for exams and would 100% take this professor again.
the only math professor ever. weekly problem sets make up most of your grade and exams are light work if you use the practice exam for reference (very, very easy a). you can bring 1 flashcard of notes into the 2 midterms, 2 flashcards for the final. section is mandatory but nothing serious, mostly for attendance. i love him and his dry humor
very chill. his tests are fair so if you put in the work you should be chilling
Want to preface, I am the least math-able person you'll ever meet, but I was able to pass Math 34A fairly easily. As long as you attend all sections and submit all study guides for the exams, you're guaranteed to get a B. If you somehow don't, he can claim "extraordinary effort" and give you a B. To any freshman wondering to take the class, DO IT.
He does mumble through his lectures and they are boring, especially at 8 am. But he genuinely cares about his students and wants you to do well. Exams are super easy and he gives study guides that are harder than the actual tests. Extra credit is given, lowest homework grade is dropped, and he rounds up. Ended with a 99%. He's goated.
To be honest, Porter mumbles to himself all lecture, and just works through problems. It doesn't really feel like he's teaching or lecturing, kinda just like a join me if you want. His grading policies though are heavenly. I suck at math and carried a good grade all quarter. Also, no one really laughs at his jokes and I feel bad.
He is very great just kind of monotoned and I had him at 8am so his lectures were a little boring. However, his lectures are basically the exams plus he allows you to take a notecard on the exam so it is a lot easier. His practice exam is almost exactly the actual midterms/final. Really easy tho if you show up and learn.
Matt literally just mumbles to himself and doesn't teach. He uses examples but doesn't really explain how to do them. I've given up going to class and just went to CLAS because it was so much more helpful. He always cancels class and is always "under the weather". Just do the homework, study the review problems really hard and you will pass.
Everything is posted online. I only went to lecture maybe 4 times during the quarter. 2 midterms and a final which he lets you bring cheat sheets to all. There's homework due every week but you can honestly get by using chatgpt for each question. He's a nice dude but so boring, class was super easy tho and he has a very generous curve at the end.
i had porter for math 34a/b. i find that his lectures weren't super clear and his teaching can be a bit confusing at times. but, i did the CLAS tutoring sessions they were super helpful, and made the course much clearer. porter is also a lenient grader and is very understanding, also incorporated a huge grade curve at the end of the quarter.
Didn't show up much to lectures or seem to want to be there. But other than that, he was nice. He would teach the basics, then we would have to figure out the rest, but also extended dates for the weekly homework frequently. Our last homework assignment ended up being extra credit, and he changed the grading scale to help us succeed in the class.
lectures were boring and he sometimes didnt show up so i barely went and still got an A. weekly webwork for homework but thats it and we get a notecard on exams. lectures all posted online also im bad at math and thought this class was easy
Class is a joke. Lectures are boring/hard to understand. Often cancels lecture or doesn't show so I never made the effort to go. Weekly webwork hw is annoying but easy if you watch the lecture videos from a different prof. Still did well on the exams and you get to use a 3x5 card. Randomly changed the grading week 10 but made it easier to pass
goes rlly fast in lecture. but the tests are really easy
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.
Easy class
Great Porfessor! Definitely knows his stuff.
I came into this class already knowing the material from high school so it was easy for me. However, he really does explain the material until it makes since. He is always available and the tests are fair. I recommend taking his class!
He was very helpful!
MY KINGGG I love porter, math 2B is much harder than math 2A but he recognizes that and really wants people to pass his class. I had him for 2A too, he's really funny and a cool guy in general. I will say he doesn't really curve at all (rounds up to next percentage) but it's not too hard to pass his classes since the practice tests are good
he is a king and even if he is a bit quiet he is very nice. he cares about having people get good grades. i wish people laughed at his jokes more in lecture
Professor Porter was very chill and a good professor overall. His tests are not especially difficult and he gives extra credit on each one. Just do the work and make sure to do the homework. Study groups are very helpful with this foundational class. Office hours are always your friend.