Doesn't seem super inspired, maybe because of online classes. Lectures are async and boring. Homework on webwork 2x a week. Expects you to do problems in textbook for no credit. Tests are on gradescope and are difficult, every two weeks. He does make some interesting/funny questions for the tests though.
Took this class during COVID, his grading policy was reasonable. 30% HW with unlimited attempts so it's easy to get 100 and 70% Tests and he drops 1 of the 5 tests. His lectures were slow and his explanations weren't the best. TA's, CLAS, and Khan Academy are grade savers in this class. Tests are reasonable.
The material was not that bad. He talked really slow over his videos. Had to put it to 1.5 or 2x speed. He does not explain well, so used outside sources. the TA section help, and the textbook was really helpful. I never used Kahn Academy that often but I did for his class. He also drops the lowest of the test scores, at least for the online class.
His lectures are really slow and boring and it's honestly better to just look up videos online on how to do calculus. But his tests are ridiculously easy and a basic understanding of the course material is good enough though.
Professor Sideris has clear grading criteria and his exams are not too difficult. He does post a lot of lectures per week and is a fairly slow talker, but he prepares you for the exams. He was very accessible during office hours and responded to emails quickly.
Online lectures are disorganized, hard to understand, and unclear. He seems like a nice person and communicates fairly quickly by email but besides that, his lectures are very boring. I normally don't write reviews but until we have in class teaching again, I don't recommend this class.
DO NOT TAKE ONLINE!!!!!! I have never seen such terrible lecture videos. They're torture. Talks so slow 2x speed is still frustrating. Doesn't even sound like he's making sentences just spitting out random words every 5 seconds as he slowly writes stuff out. Majority of his examples are straight out of the book which explains it much more clearly.
I've only been here a few weeks and already this is the most boring and hard class of my entire schedule. The lectures don't reflect the hw, he talks so slow that if you put him on 2x speed it will seem like he is talking normal. A lot of us are already using websites to learn concepts bc his lectures don't apply to the hw and midterms
To be fair, Prof Sideris is a good prof. Lectures well organized. Replies to emails fast, so accessible even if u never go to OHs. Avg good for HW&Exams. Grades tough but lists why taking pts off. Grader's responsible, willing to give pt back if request w/ a convincible rsn. Remote mode's hard for profs too, but Prof Sideris is doing quite well.
It is understandable, that Prof. Sederis did not have time to grade the homeworks, but the grader he hired was too harsh. He only took care about the harsh grading before drop deadline and after that no more concerns about the harsh grader. Honestly speaking, he was one the most irresponsible prof I have met at UCSB. Please ignore all his classes.
Lazy, boring, difficult. Don't do it, there's lots of actually decent math professors out there.
Professor Sideris is a great lecturer and is always happy to help each and every student that seeks some assistance. He is amazing!
Prof. Sideris is an excellent professor for upper div math. He genuinely cares about his students and will help you a ton in office hours. Expectations are clear and HW is doable. There are quizzes almost every class (on definitions, free points if you payed attention in the previous lecture) so attendance is a must. Highly recommend for 118.
Has quizzes exactly when class begins almost every class that are very short so you will miss them if you come 3+ min late. Low average on tests but there is a curve. Decent lecturer. Better than most of the math department at least.
Sideris had the potential to be a great professor but fell very short. He gave impossible homework assignments and an even more impossible final in which the average was in the 60s. The ending class average ended up as a C and he did NOT curve. The final was not representative of the class, or the homework. Avoid him at all costs.
Professor Sideris preludes the course with "Although my name is spelled like the comedian's, I'm not nearly as funny." This ends up true, but barely. He's a very sweet man with some really funny commentary, but hes just a bit reserved in how he speaks. He's fairly clear during lectures, and is able to keep the class' attention. Really nice guy!
Has a very calming voice that makes you want to sleep. Always repeat easy stuff on board and almost never finish his slides. He as a advisor is okay since he is super patient, but do not take his class.
He is a great lecturer. He is very easy to understand and goes with the text! He has very very very TOUGH grading, but a nice curve to go with it!
Goes off on tangents with his derivations in class. If you have an issue with any of the material he is very helpful and nice and will sit down with you after class and explain the material
easy midterm, tough final. not good at teaching, have to teach material to yourself. pretty tough stuff
Pretty bad professor. Lecture is really unhelpful, so don't even bother. He simply scrolls through notes, and lectures in monotone. First half of the quarter on differential equations was pretty easy. The second half, however, got confusing when we learned about vector spaces. He also threw a curve ball on the final. Don't take him if you can.
first half of class & midterm was easy and consistent with homework and CLAS; second half and the homework started to get confusing. Final was nothing like the homework, literally *nothing* like the homework. Would just read from slides and go too fast, no practice tests (apparently, hw doesn't help for the final). find another professor
Lecture will put you to sleep because he's very quiet and monotone and he scrolls through his notes and reads things to you. I should have stopped going from the start.
First half of the course was easy, easily had an A+. However nothing on the final was as easy as he, CLAS, and section made it seem. The final was incredibly hard and I definitely failed it. Probably shouldn't have even shown up to take it.