The course and content is difficult, and the professor just reads off the materials in class, but that's because the materials he wrote for the course are detailed, and could be understood easily. The professor is really respected and sometimes humorous so it is not that bad.(171 last quarter) Update: I got A in his 172A. Very interesting course!
His grade policy is so bad! Over 50 in finals and final is very hard and dont have enough time. The curve is bad. Dont take his course!
Material builds up quickly in the course so you need to focus on the concepts. Do the homework and any practice problems he gives, you should be fine.
Professor Duncan is a nice, intelligent, and respectable person. However, he's not that good at teaching. I do understand that this is a hard class, but still, try to avoid taking his class if you can. If not, GL boys and girls...
Felt that he could've provided more info. to better prepare students. His attendance/availability could improve. Not the best professor.
Honestly, Ian is good and he is smart. Before i took his class this fall, i heard his class would be so hard. However, it's honestly not like that , if you do the midterm and final practice problems and try to throughly understand the first two chapters (time value of money and annuity), you should be fine.
He reads off the notes that he has made and puts on gauchospace so attendance isn't that required. The average on our midterm was a 29%. I thought I was gonna fail the class but ended up with a B- some maical way. It seems like if you do your homeowrk and show up to the final and midterm you'll pass. The class material is super tough and boring.
2018 summer A The final exam is very hard. he finished all the lecture in 4.5 weeks. we didn't have lecture the week before final
Duncan is brilliant but he makes this class incredibly difficult to pass. The exams weren't too hard but you get no cheat sheet during the exams for a class that is solely made up of formulas. I enjoyed the material but bombed both the midterm and final because its impossible to understand/memorize all of those formulas. Homework is a grade booster
I got 2 A's.
Professor Duncan is a great teacher for those interested in the subject he's teaching. He's very passionate. Like any other math class, if you put in the work you'll do fine. Warning: if you have the option, don't take this class in summer! I loved the material but 6 weeks wasn't enough time to grasp everything.
Arrogant, skips a lot of classes, makes fun of students. Lecture examples are ridiculously simple, while homework is hard, and tests are extremely difficult. Midterm average was 36% and he decided not to curve it. I did better than 70% of the class and got a B-
Ian's experience in the industry is unmatched. If you want to learn what it means to be an actuary, you must talk to him. That said, this is a very hard class and you should probably only take 172 if you plan to sit for MLC
Duncan is very good at explaining concepts and is definitely willing to help, however, his exams are quite tough. He has used exam FM questions on his tests which helps prepare for FM. There is weekly homework which is moderately challenging but definitely doable.
Seriously, Prof. Duncan is an expert in this area. Though he was busy, he held office hours on Sundays, which I enjoyed. His explanations are crystal clear. Exams might be little bit challenge, but not that hard if you truly understand the material. But it's unlikely if you hope to get A by learning everything one night before exams.
Just awful. Easily the most arrogant person I've ever met. Doesn't post grades. Gave pretty much everyone C's.
The notes are worthless I've relied on outside sources for everything The class is not helping students to learn Ideas on exams were never introduced Midterm average was 10/25
Great classs and grat professor, I really enjoyed going to class!
Duncan is not very organized and does not grade very fairly. It seems as though he does not know the material very well because everything he says and write comes off of paper. Relies on students to do tedious problems on the board while the other 30 students watch a basic integral calculation for 15 minutes. Also switches syllabus on week 9.
Calls on people during lecture and insults them if they do not know the answer to the question asked. No grades entered into Gauchospace so had no idea about my grade going into exams. Exams did not reflect the difficulty of homework and example problems. Lectures are long and boring, and he goes off on tangents on unrelated subjects.
Did not show up to half of lectures. When he does show up he just copies his notes onto the board and doesn't really teach. Exams can be quite different from hw and he is almost never available for office hours. Doesn't check exams for typos and doesn't show up on exam days to correct them. Needs students to help him solve basic integrals.
Great lecturer and fantastic source of information.