John Helms

31 reviews
Would take again Tough grader Skip class? You won't pass. Caring Participation matters Tests are tough Amazing lectures Clear grading criteria Gives good feedback Lots of homework Respected
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MATH6A . 9 Years Ago

Homework every week, midterms were not bad but final was pretty hard. He should focus more during lecture on what we needed to know in order to complete the homework, since some questions were fairly difficult. Prepare for a lot of self-study on how to solve the problems. Lectures are long-winded but usually helpful. Overall a decent professor.

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MATH6A . 9 Years Ago

He is a good professor, but his lectures are often really confusing, but helpful. The class didn't have too much work, but you should spend a little extra time to make sure you understand the concepts. The midterms were straight forward, but the final was waaaay harder than the study guide he gave us. Don't bother getting the textbook.

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MATH3B . 9 Years Ago

Teaches using a combination of lecture slides and examples on chalkboard, which is quite effective in math. Gave hard homework questions that required considerable effort to complete. Tests are based off of understanding concepts, so understanding the homework is mandatory. Great professor overall; he challenges you to truly grasp the material.

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MATH117 . 9 Years Ago

Homework twice a week, 2-3pages each time. Super tough professor at MATH 117. 12 students get c or lower.

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6A . 9 Years Ago

Pros: As midterms has just passed, his tests are not tricky comparing with other professors here as far as I know. Besides, he is not an boring guy. Cons: prepared for a quiz each week. Fortunately they are similar to hw problems so it's not too bad. He might also spent a whole lecture dealing with one problem, which might be pointless sometimes.

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MATH6A . 9 Years Ago

Pretty decent professor. Tests are similar to homework so if you work hard no need to worry too much. It seems like grading is fair too. Better than 90% of LD math teachers here I guess.

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MATH3B . 9 Years Ago

Homework was harder than tests. If you do and understand 90% of it, you will do well.

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MATH6A . 9 Years Ago

Taking Math 6A with John Helms is the best thing that's ever happened to me at UCSB. I would marry him so hard tbh but really though the topics were interesting and he is one of the few helpful LD math professors here

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MATH6A . 10 Years Ago

This class was not necessarily difficult, but since he gave us practice midterms and finals, it turned out to be a difficult class due to his expectation on the actual midterm and final. He literally follows the textbook which was kind of nice but pointless at the same time. Make sure to go to CLAS andor watch videos on how to solve the problems.

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MATH6A . 10 Years Ago

Definitely would not recommend taking this professor. CLAS is the only reason I passed the course. He spends all of lecture on a single example problem, which is often very complex (he even admits this), and then expects you to be able to apply those concepts to other problems even though he never explains the general concept behind the example.

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MATH3B . 10 Years Ago

He's alright I guess

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MATH117 . 10 Years Ago

Into to Analysis is already a tough class - Helms really pushed us and I really appreciated that! I enjoyed his teaching style - plenty of opportunities to participate and ask questions. Final was tough but not impossible. Do all of the assignments and take this class seriously and you will be a better mathematician at the end of it.

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