MATH140 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2024	Dr. Williams is the epitome of a class act. As someone who took AP Calculus AB and BC in high school, taking MATH140 with Dr. Williams was one of the best decisions of my life. Coming from someone who did good in both AP Calculus courses, I still learned a lot and saw so much value in this course. Amazing lectures and loves to help his students. Also, it is clear that he cares about his students including during office hours. His class is not easy, and he will push you but in a good way. If you stick with Dr. Williams until the end you will get better at calculus and will understand calculus in a more critical way.
Shin Song MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2024	She’s a pretty good teacher and is fair with her exams.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2024	I took calc 1, 2, and 3 in high school but my school didn't do APs so the credits didn't transfer. Here I was back in calc 1... when I looked up Tim P. on this website after registering for this class I was horrified by the reviews, but told myself that math was my strongest subject and I'd probably make it through with a bad teacher since I've already taken calc 1 anyways (and literally finished that class in high school with a 100%). Lesson learned - this man literally made my life a living hell for 4 months. He is just all around awful - he screams at students in the moments before exams begin, creating an EXTREMELY stressful environment, during lectures he flips through the slides at lightning speed with little to no explanation (this is where my previous calc knowledge proved to be useful as I'm not sure how someone with no calc experience could possibly understand anything he says), and his seemingly "generous" grade calculations at the end of the semester where he rounds grades up and cuts your lowest exam's weight in half actually makes no difference, because the students who have fallen behind have performed WAY too poorly for his "generosity" to make any difference. Thankfully, I scraped by with an A, but I owe NONE of that to him - it was all from reviewing on my own time and having already taken this class before. If you have never taken calc before, and you are taking him, you should probably switch while you can, but if you can't, just prepare yourself to be content with a C+ if you're lucky (the class average on all four of our midterms ranged from 60-70%). Not to mention that the TAs are HORRIFIC graders... I once got 2 out of 11 points on an exam question that I answered completely correctly but didn't use the exact theorem we were taught in class. If you have taken calc before, and you remember most of it, you will probably be okay, but just save yourself the headache and take literally any other professor but him. This class is already rough for most students and he will make it ten times worse than the other professors. Please do not take this class with him.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/19/2024	I did not take a calculus course in high school, so this class was a journey for me. This class is most certainly a weed-out class, so be prepared. I had to teach myself everything outside of class. The lectures consisted of Dr. Williams having us write notes and then jumping into example/practice problems from the textbook. One aspect that bothered me was that he would often make mistakes when solving problems. Sometimes he would realize them, but in most instances, he did not, and by the time we found out about them, it was too late and there was no point. However, I did appreciate him recording every single lecture and putting in the time to answer questions. The webassign homework assignments were difficult and graded harshly for no reason and only gave you 3 tries per part. Some of the lowest grades were dropped, but I believe that homework should be for learning and practicing the newly learned content rather than worrying about whether it is correct or affects your final grade or not. This was the same exact issue with the discussion worksheets, which were super difficult and had limited time to complete. Additionally, the textbook was not that useful. Oftentimes, Dr. Williams would teach the content differently and the textbook covered the lesson in a complicated, unnecessary way. There were 4 midterms and a final exam, and they were worth a large portion of your grade. The exam questions were long and complex. They were graded very harshly, and there were no curves or extra credit opportunities. I will note that no answer keys were provided for the practice exams and worksheets. This wasted much of my time in that I had to find the answers online or ask the people around me just to check my answers, making my studying experience even more difficult.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2024	Dr. Williams is the epitome of a class act. As someone who took AP Calculus AB and BC in high school, taking MATH140 with Dr. Williams was one of the best decisions of my life. Coming from someone who did good in both AP Calculus courses, I still learned a lot and saw so much value in this course. Amazing lectures and loves to help his students. Also, it is clear that he cares about his students including during office hours. His class is not easy, and he will push you but in a good way. If you stick with Dr. Williams until the end you will get better at calculus and will understand calculus in a more critical way.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/19/2024	DON'T TAKE THIS PROFESSOR AT ALL COSTS!! I've previously taken Calc in high school, but didn't get the credit. However, I still managed to get terrible grades in his class. Never in my 18 years of living have a seen a math teacher using powerpoint for math lectures. He never writes down anything on the white boards and he spends more time singing in his classes than actually teaching. Even when I knew the material extremely well, the phrasing of his questions are weird and they confuse you for absolutely no reason. If there was an option to give him negative stars I would. The worst math teacher I have ever had in my life!!
Zaire Caldwell MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2024	Zaire is a great TA. He knows his stuff and is very willing to help you during discussions, whether that's on the discussion worksheets or if you have another question about MATH140. His teaching style could use a little work, but otherwise, he is probably one of the best TAs you can get for this class.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2024	Boyu is a really kind professor with a great understanding of calculus. He wants you to understand calculus as well as he does, which is both good and bad (I'll explain later). He teaches exclusively using the blackboard and does not record his lectures, so it may be helpful to attend them, especially since he occasionally drops an example that turns out to be very similar to a question on his exams. His way of teaching can be pretty hard to keep track of, especially at the beginning, as he writes really fast and creates proofs that are sometimes confusing and unnecessary for MATH140. I feel as if he thought we were a lot better at math than we are up until the (very, very hard) first midterm, and that showed in the class average. HOWEVER, since he's a really understanding professor, he adapted his teaching style after that exam and became more clear and concise. The exams were adjusted accordingly, with the averages being significantly higher thereafter, especially on the fourth midterm, where the average was almost 90. If you have taken calculus in high school, and have a solid understanding of the foundations of calc, I would recommend Boyu. If you haven't taken calc at all, maybe consider another professor like Dong Quan Nguyen or Chadwick. Like I said, Boyu is really kind, cares about his work, and he is also willing to meet with you if you need it, which I know I did after the first exam. Additionally, the class had a legendary curve on the bottom end, so much so that even if you do below average on every exam, you probably still have a shot at passing the class with a C-. His curve is much higher than most other profs for this class. If you think his class is hard, you're right, it is, but he really wants you to do well, and the curve is proof of that. Just be prepared for college calculus being much faster than high school or AP calc.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/16/2024	Chadwick looks like a skinwalker, but overall he is a decent professor. The class is not too difficult. The lectures are pretty straight forward and easy to follow, but my TA could barely speak English which made it difficult. The homework is not hard but it takes forever, the quizzes are super easy, and the exams are the hardest part imo. I got a 59 on my first exam and still ended with a B+ because I locked in. Chadwick is very strict with his grading policy however, so keep that in mind. I ended with an 89.1 and he immediately shut down any conversation of rounding up.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/16/2024	Dr. Williams is a good teacher in my opinion. His tests were fair except for exam 3. The reason I am only giving 3 stars is because exam 3 was way more challenging than any practice we did in class or on homework. I think he made it like this to teach us a lesson, aka make sure you study more, but I had studied really hard for that exam so it was really annoying.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/15/2024	Quite possibly the best professor I have had or will ever have. Schlenoff brings a life to math that I was unaware existed. Although his class is a bit more fast-paced, as long as you go to lecture and stay on top of your work, you will succeed. The only downside is the fact that he doesn’t teach more levels of calculus.
Shin Song MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/14/2024	For her first time teaching MATH 140, professor Song did great, her lectures could be sometimes boring but they were easy to follow, and she uploads all lecture notes. Homeworks could be pretty annoying but are manageable, weekly quizzes are easy if you do the homework, and her exams are pretty fair if you do the practice exams and understood the concepts. There was also a generous curve at the end
Shin Song MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/14/2024	Dr. Shin's teaching is great and she curves exams. I had few horrible grades and still was able to clutch it. There shouldn't be any major problem taking her for MATH140.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2024	READ THIS REVIEW CAREFULLY!! I know I gave him 4 stars but there was a lot a different factors that go into my review. Boyu is one of the most caring and passionate professors you'll probably meet in the math department, and if you're a math major or just someone who's retaking calculus to understand why it works, I'd take this class with him. However, if you're an engineer/want to know just how to do calculus and have no prior knowledge of it, I would think twice. A lot of times it was really hard to follow what he was doing (eventually throughout the semester you get used to it, and exams also did get easier as time went on, a review below covered that well). That being said, he was really good about answering my countless emails which was great when I couldn't make it to office hours. He'll explain the material as slow as you need if you ask outside of class, and welcomes curiosity. If you do take him for 140, you'll be fine but you'll have to teach yourself (though I think that's how many college classes work), and don't stress when he teaches implicit differentiation, it's not hard, it's just confusing with him.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/12/2024	Take Dong Quan Nguyen! Zhang is a very sweet man and is truly impossible to hate on. However, his teaching is a bit scattered. He clearly understands higher math, but that makes his teaching of calculus difficult for a non-advanced student. I took calc in high school, so I wasn't totally lost but I still found myself having to watch Youtube videos to teach myself a significant amount of the content. Homework is easy, tests were hard initially but he started giving us study guides that were very helpful. Discussion was super helpful and attendance is mandatory because they have graded worksheets. Overall, they curve significantly and drop a lot of grades, but I don't feel that I truly learned calculus by taking this course.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2024	Professor Williams is pretty fair when it comes to grading and the level of easiness of his midterms. The last two midterms are relatively harder but honestly not too bad. His TAs are amazing and very accommodating when it comes to reviewing and teaching concepts. He has a lot of resources to help you succeed in the course and is easy to understand. I highly recommend him!
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/10/2024	Having taken calc before this course was not that challenging. Dr. Williams is a great professor even if his lectures seen to be kinda boring at times (they are recorded), his office hours are very helpful for completing homework webassigns. His exams are very much like the practice exams so doing the suggested practice problems and practice exams helps a lot for the real one. also going to guided study sessions for those who need extra practice helps too. Would recommend taking his course for calc 1.
Shin Song MATH140 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/10/2024	I think for her first year in Math140, Prof Song did a great job. :)
Dong Quan Nguyen MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/10/2024	First of all, Dong is a super nice guy. He is funny while he teaches and he can keep your attention. He does have a semi-strong accent. I haven’t seen anyone else talk about it but I could not understand everything that he said. (Maybe 1 in 10 words I didn’t understand) The class is very easy, he drops a lot of assignments and even the lowest midterm. If you have calc experience you will most likely get an b+ or higher. His actual teaching is not the best though. He mostly does practice examples from the homework, which is nice, but it doesn’t give you a holistic understanding of the topic. Without lots of studying it can be hard to really learn the material that you need for the common final. (He also starts the year literally saying”God bless you” for the final)
Dong Quan Nguyen MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/10/2024	Dong is the best, take him if you can!! Offers so many extra credit opportunities, extends basically every single homework deadline, drops multiple bad grades, and the midterms are very easy (he also gives a sample midterm before which is exactly the same as what the real midterm will be). You probably will struggle more on the common final and will have to study more since our midterms and quizzes are so easy, but if you have good grades in the class (you will) it shouldn't even be that bad.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2024	Good prof. Not too much homework, but it is a lil bit difficult. Exams are easier. Lectures are straightforward and easy to understand.
Samuel Bachhuber MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2024	Samuel was not a good professor. Taught super fast paced and was never in sync with Shin song. Also did everything on the blackboard so you couldn’t go over his notes.
Samuel Bachhuber MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2024	Professor Song is the reason I will be passing this class. He did not communicate this class well with professor Song. Professors taught how to do things in different ways. Also Samuel was way too fast paced and would teach in a way where a beginner wouldn't understand.
Dong Quan Nguyen MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/06/2024	You will not regret having dong as your professor. He cares for his students, he is absolutely hilarious, and WANTS you to pass. All midterms are very easy and as close to the practice midterms as they can. Be on time and be prepared, sometimes he feels like throwing extra credit, they are random quizzes. He always goes over the topic before them, i always took notes so they were never an issue. Quizzes in discussion are reviewed in lecture and they are almost the same. Also, extends deadlines for homework which saved me multiple times…. because he felt like it he dropped one of the midterm grades. He is really chill and real, and it shows he is passionate about what he does.
Dong Quan Nguyen MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/06/2024	Absolutely the best professor EVER. He is hilarious. Not only that, but he genuinely has such good teaching methods and wants you to pass. From his teaching I see that he is passionate about what he does. Be prepared for at least some random quizzes… listen, take notes, and be there on time. These are a great boost to your final. Also, his midterms are exactly like the practice he gives and the class before he goes over all of it for you. He also explains very well. For homeworks, Cengage is a pain, but there is not anything he can do because it is standardized. To make it easier, he always goes over homework's during class and extends all of the deadlines. If I did not have a prof as good as Dong, then I wouldve been screwed.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2024	Dr. Williams is a pretty good MATH140 professor. He goes through a lot of practice problems so you have a basis for different kinds of problems and he also provides many textbook problems for review. He also records his lectures, so if you miss a lecture, it'll be there for you. I will say, though, he does sometimes make mistakes in his lectures as he goes along with what everybody else says, so you may need to check your work to make sure it's 100% correct. Overall, though, he's a good professor and his exams are exactly like the textbook problems.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/06/2024	Probably one of the best MATH140 professors I've seen here at UMD. He explains calc concepts really well and makes it so it is easy for us to understand. His lectures are very well organized as he goes by one section for each lecture and his notes are helpful as well. He is also very heavy with the textbook problems and gives us practice problems to work on that really really help us prepare for the exams especially since he copy-pastes all his exam questions from the textbook. The webassigns are really bad, but the TA's do really help. I highly recommend Williams.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/06/2024	This guy is literally the greatest professor, he is really nice and does a lot for his students to help them out. He makes calculus a lot more fun and easier to learn just by the way he teaches and the way he organizes information so you can remember it more easily such as the math "tool box". He has a funny sense of humor too. He is also amazing at giving analogies to complicated calculus concepts as well as showing proofs so you can actually understand how the calculus you are solving works. I'm hoping I can finish with a B- (after the final) and I would say my grade is not indicative of how good Professor Schlenoff is at teaching because otherwise it would be an A+, calculus is just pretty difficult. TAKE THIS PROFESSOR IF YOU CAN!
Shaoyang Zhou MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/06/2024	He was my TA for Calculus Freshman Connection class and was really nice. He offered personal help when you were stuck on a certain question on a worksheet and would describe in detail on how to succeed on the quizzes. If you put in just a little bit of effort you should be able to succeed.
Shin Song MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/05/2024	Not much to complain but I'd agree that she just goes over the textbook. Nothing wrong with that but everything could be self-taught and or learned from youtube if the time given and you would probably retain the information better. This class was offered in Freshman Connection so I had it later in the day but what was confusing at times were the online homework assignments. It was my first time using WebAssign for math and the questions on there would be completely different than the test and or what we learn in class.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting a W Anonymous 12/05/2024	I had to withdraw, take DONG QUAN NGUYEN for math140.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2024	Is very passionate about calculus, and always teaches like he loves the class. But his way of teaching is often hard to follow, as he goes into very detailed proofs and very specific examples where it gets really hard to follow. I often learn nothing going to his lectures and more than half the class end up skipping. His exams were also tough towards the beginning of the year with averages around 60s-70s, but the lowest midterm is weighed less, and your lowest quiz is dropped. His saving grace is the curve at the end, as he makes sure more than half the class gets an A. As long as you score around the mean on his midterms and you can learn the material in discussion and the homework you will do well in his class.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/05/2024	In the beginning, I was afraid of how this semester would go. Most lectures I would sit confused about what was going on. I would be following along and then halfway through the equation, he would lose me and then I would have to sit through the rest of the lecture daydreaming about what he could've possibly been teaching that day. He got better as the semester went on though, a little more clear, and exams seemed to get better as the semester went on as well. Overall, he is a "good" professor in that he is very enthusiastic about the class and teaching students. Most classes he would be running across the room to the other side of the board or jumping up and down to answer a question when someone finally asked one or teaching us by connecting a folktale he was teaching his kid with that morning. Silly guy. If you take this class, you'll probably be alright. Even better if you already know calculus.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/04/2024	Decent professor. Uploads lecture notes to elms after lectures. His notes are pretty reflective of the textbook. Worksheets are much more difficult than anything you'll see on exams. Exams are difficult, but webassign problems and previous exams are good study material for exams. Drops 1 quiz, 3 homeworks, and halves your lowest exam grade (if you got a 70/100 it would be a 35/50).
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/04/2024	Dr. Chadwick is a really fair MATH140 professor. His lectures consist of him writing neat notes for you to copy down for each chapter. He speaks well and is easy to understand, however sometimes he doesn't explicitly answer class questions. Make sure to pay attention in lecture as it can be pretty fast paced. His office hours are very helpful, he really gives the time to explain answers and concepts. His exams are challenging but that is to be expected. He posts 1-2 practice exams prior which are really similar to the actual exams. Overall, Chadwick is very knowledgeable on MATH140 and I recommend him for this class. The discussions are challenging but that is across the board for all MATH140 sections. My TA was very personable and helpful and gave as much help as he could without giving the answer away. Each discussion has a worksheet that is difficult, but follow directions and work with a group. Break the ice early on in the class and form that group! Also, quizzes are given every so often which are easy. For the latter half of the semester, the TAs review the quiz material before it is handed out which is very helpful. The beginning quizzes are not like that though so study before you get there. The homework is annoying as it takes a long time to complete and is only worth 3% of the grade. Dr. Chadwick will often extend homework if enough people in the class email him prior to the deadline. Dr. Chadwick is great for MATH140. I recommend him.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/03/2024	Good prof.. I like the way he writes notes during the lecture so you can see the process. However, he sometimes gives vague answers to questions or doesn't answer them at all. If you have a choice, try to get a TA other than Kaiwen. He's very good at math, but sometimes fails to explain concepts to people with a lesser understanding of math.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/03/2024	Overall solid professor! goes through many examples and explains the examples well. Overall a good and engaging teaching style, and explains the concepts well for beginners with little experience. The tests are quite hard (sometimes harder than the worksheets in my opinion), but still cover concepts that were discussed in class.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/02/2024	He uploads the notes for each class which is nice and he gives out practice tests which are very similar to the actual tests. His lectures are very helpful and he is good at explaining things. However, discussion was annoying. We were given worksheets to complete, 5 points for completion and 5 points for accuracy. The worksheets were super hard to do and way off from what we did in class or what was on any of the tests. They webassign homeworks take a really long time to do and they end up being only like 3% of your grade which was really annoying.
Dong Quan Nguyen MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/02/2024	Easy class, easy lectures, easy quizzes. No reason not to take his class. Other MATH140 teachers suck apparently. TAKE THIS TEACHER.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a C- Anonymous 11/26/2024	I'm going to give an overview of the pros and cons with this professor and my overall experience. The good thing is he has online lectures that were made during quarantine and are good to watch if you missed class or need to review something, he also drops half of your lowest exam grade, along with the five lowest homework and discussions. Something I found useful is sometimes he hints at what may or may not be on the exam. For the cons, he claims he has arthritis and dyslexia so he doesn't write on the board, which in my opinion is understandable, but if you can't learn through a PowerPoint alone then this definitely isn't the class for you. On the exams, he usually throws in these super weird questions that are different from anything you would see on the homework or in lecture, and these questions are worth between 10-15 points so if you get those wrong you've pretty much blew the exam. Something I found annoying was there were things I didn't feel like were made clear in lecture that I had to find out on my own. Personally, I had a very difficult time in this class trying to study and get the bare minimum grade I needed to move on. This class has eaten up all my time this semester, which has taken away from the classes I actually wanted to study. With the exams it gets to the point where it feels exhausting and hopeless with the amount of studying you need to do, just to end up getting a bad grade anyway. It also feels like you're teaching yourself half the time. I think if you're someone who has taken calculus before, you might be okay. If you take this professor my advice would be to go over the lecture videos and take notes before class, make side notes while in the lecture, make sure you understand the homework and can do all the questions, go to gss (or do the worksheets at home), do exercise problems from the textbook, watch YouTube videos (The Organic Chemistry Tutor is good), and do problems from test-banked exams. Honestly the best way to do good is to do as many problems as possible. Hope this helps!
Dong Quan Nguyen MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/22/2024	“All Hail Dong” we said in unison. Very funny and understand guy who’s course load is manageable and exams are fair. DONT EVER LEAVE ME DONG I STILL NEED YOU
Shin Song MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/22/2024	This class was very straightforward. Dr. Song is an excellent professor who covers all the material you need to succeed. The midterms are fair and closely resemble the practice exams. While the WebAssign assignments feel largely unhelpful, Exam 2 did include some questions related to the WebAssign problems. I honestly skipped many of the lectures, but her notes are so thorough that you can understand the topics just by reading them. To prepare for exams, I reviewed the notes, worked through the discussion worksheets, and completed the practice exams. The class structure includes the following: - 4 midterms (100 points each) - 1 final exam (200 points) - 13 worksheets (3 are dropped; 100 points total) - 28 WebAssign assignments (40 points total) - 6 quizzes (10 points each) Exam difficulty (from easiest to hardest in my opinion): Exam 4, Exam 2, Exam 1, Exam 3.
Dong Quan Nguyen MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/20/2024	Overall really great professor. He does a good job of reviewing basics and higher-level stuff that you may need to know later. Quizzes are one question very similar to homework and he gives you a practice question in advance in addition to dropping one of 6 quiz grades. Tests are identical to the practice tests he posts, so know them very well. His accent is a little hard to understand at first but you get used to it fast. He gives a decent amount of homework but also extends basically every deadline and goes over many questions in lectures. If you can take him, I recommend it he wants you to do the best you can and drops enough assignments where you can afford to mess up a few times and still get an A easily.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 11/17/2024	Boy, where do I begin. Ignore every other review you’ve seen—this professor is a catastrophe of epic proportions. He’s hands-down the worst professor I’ve ever encountered in my 18 years of walking this earth. His class isn’t difficult; it’s soul-crushing. Imagine crawling through a trench filled with broken glass, molten tar clinging to your skin, while the sound of wailing souls fills your ears. Every step forward feels like dragging your body through a field of rusted barbed wire as acid rain pelts down, peeling away what little hope you have left. That’s what his teaching feels like. He doesn’t explain a thing, nor take questions. He skips over every essential step like it’s beneath him to teach. He mentions the start and the finish, and you’re supposed to magically know how to bridge the gap in between, as if you're the assistant in a magic show, and instead of pulling a rabbit out of a hat, you're somehow pulling out a live bear with a bad attitude. Everyone’s waiting for the grand reveal, but all you’re left with is a confused, angry bear and a very disappointed audience. And don’t think I’m saying this because I’m bad at math—I’m not. I took Calculus 1 in high school, got an A with a teacher who got pregnant and left 3 months into the school year, and scored a 4 on the AP test. I know calculus. But what he was showing us in his class wasn't math it, was something we've never seen before. I thought taking this class would be a good prep for higher-level college math which is why i didn't use my test credit. Big mistake. HUGE. If you’re thinking about taking this course with this professor, its over for you. Take it literally anywhere else. I’m serious. And the tests? Don't even get me started. Other classes average in the 80s on their exams. My class? A devastating 67 average and there are some SMART kids in this class. He doesn’t curve either. The best he’ll do is drop the lowest test grade by 50%, and that gives you maybe a 2–3% bump in your grade. Not enough to save you, not enough to make it worth it. Do yourself a favor, avoid him at all costs. Anyone giving him anything higher than two stars is one of those people who can't understand that just because they did well mean the teacher is objectively good. This professor is an academic apocalypse, and you will not come out of it unscathed.
Dong Quan Nguyen MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/05/2024	Awesome math professor who is very passionate about the subject. It's awesome how he doesn't mind going over basics on the side if the whole class needs a refresher. He also knows tons of history and proofs about the concepts being taught in the class which make it extremely entertaining.
Dong Quan Nguyen MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/31/2024	He is a great professor. He is very flexible and honestly explains everything well. He is always open to questions and never seems to push off students trying to understand math better. Did I mention that this guy is funny asf? He could be talking about math and come up with the most random stories and then occasionally say the most random nonchalant things. In terms of difficulties, he basically gives you the sample midterm test for practice but changes up some numbers on the ACTUAL midterm, so just do the sample and you should be good. (I WOULD RECOMMEND STUDYING HARDER FOR THE FINAL BECAUSE HE DOESN'T MAKE THOSE SO THE QUESTIONS WILL BE DIFFERENT AND HARDER). His class is easy and you should be fine if you stay on top of the WebAssign and worksheets in the discussion, and just hope you get a good TA who can explain the material well.
Dong Quan Nguyen MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 10/21/2024	Nếu b là người Việt, hãy take bằng được lớp của thầy này, chăm chỉ đến lớp là có được con A trong lòng bàn tay 👍. Giáo sư giảng rất dễ hiểu, exam không khó, rất tạo điều kiện cho những ai chăm học 👍. This gentlemen of a professor is so great you can not miss, his way of teaching is on top.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 09/27/2024	Horrible professor, don't make the same mistake I did of taking him. Rude, condescending, and doesn't know what he's doing.
Dong Quan Nguyen MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 09/26/2024	Great professor, explains things really well.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Anonymous 09/09/2024	Not a good professor. Retaking MATH140 with him was difficult and I rarely felt I understood anything with his in-person lectures AND video lectures. This course is not known to be an easy course at all so having a professor that seems uninterested in making it any easier is not surprising but it definitely shows in his work. Often times he speaks as if he's giving a philosophical lecture on the science of calculus during lecture and will leave you completely clueless assuming you're here to learn you're like anyone else and looking to understand the problems, complete the work, pass, and that's it (most of us are here to do that). I would never take him again but I am also not taking calculus again so there's that.
Shin Song MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 07/22/2024	She is a great professor. She goes into detail about many topics but lets you know what you need to know for the course. She cares about her students and answers questions during office hours. I would suggest really revising her practice midterms to help you study. The only thing is that she takes a while to grade some assignments. Other than that, I totally recommend her!
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/14/2024	Dr. Williams was a class act. Very professional, kind, and dedicated. Takes ALL questions. Encouraging in office hours. Exams are straightforward (he will tell you what to study). The web-assign is BS, but it is standard across all MATH140 classes. Try to get help on it when you can in either office hours, a tutor, or classmates. I often was kept up late at night working on web-assigns (due Tuesday and Thursday mornings) and went through 2 large notebooks throughout the class. Keep in mind this is a difficult class and many of my classmates struggled. I did well on web-assigns and got A's on exams got a 92 on the final and passed with a low A--which was a lower grade than I was expecting. This was my first time taking calc and he made it very simple. If you need to take an extra math class to better prepare yourself it can go a long way. The low ratings reflect more on the content and not professor. If you need MATH40 TAKE Williams!
Anna Szczekutowicz MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 06/24/2024	I took both Calc 1 and 2 with her, and I was super rusty on algebra and trig coming into college, and was never really that good at algebra in the first place. This definitely made me struggle a lot initially, but I'm super glad I took this course with Dr. S. She's genuinely one of the best math teachers I've ever had. She's super relaxed but definitely seems to care about students and teach things in an understandable way. These courses suck, and that's just the way calc is taught here, sadly. However, she is super down to earth about it, and if you put in the effort you should do ok (not to mention the numerous resources in the math department as a whole to help you).
James Hanson MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/29/2024	He's not a great lecturer honestly. He's very nice and his exams are fair, but I honestly skipped a majority of the lectures and taught myself the content on my own. Would recommend him if you are an independent learner and not a great test taker.
James Hanson MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/19/2024	if you cannot teach math do yourself do not take this course. no joke from he first day this man doesn't tell you a single thing about the course and he just started with alright unit 1. Absolutely not normal and not a thing is said about the class, the syllabus and grading etc. he doesn't communicate and many times we would do something in class and not finish and just be expected to do the homework without learning the stuff. I dont think a single test had an average over 65 and many times in the 50s and he doesn't Adress it at all. his office hours are a joke bc the entire class tries to top to them and if you email him best of luck bc he will not respond. the way eh teaches is a joke bc all he just is relay everything in the textbook and I never took calculous before and the organic chemistry tutor was my savior!! dont think you have had to have taken calc to do well bc I still somehow finessed a good grade but it was a huge sweat at the end. I would avoid him at all costs if I could unless you are the kid that can teach everything to yourself and has a friend that does attend lecture so you can know exactly what to study pros he posts exactly the break down of each test (def gonna put the hardest question for each thing tho) I think he dropped the lowest midterm (didn't say anything about it just did it in canvas and didn't mention it in class) lectures are mandatory cons legit just expects you to teach yourself the stuff that you dont learn in class and for the final there was just things we never learned and its worth 30% so much homework and its on stuff that we legit didn't learn- too bad still expected to know out (two homeworks a week) discussion is mandatory but actually kinda helpful lectures are legit just the textbook on the board with little to no more explanantion
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting a C- Anonymous 05/16/2024	He has good lectures I guess, but it's not worth the hassle in terms of grades. Just take James or any mediocre professor that will curve because he will surely not. We had a 55 avg exam and he hasnt curve d. mind you he's a good prof but compared to your other profs i dont know if its worth it. What I would do is take anyone else and then go to his lectures then you living life.
James Hanson MATH140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/16/2024	Hanson is honestly not the best lecturer, especially at the beginning of the semester, as he often sped through the material so you will need to do a lot of self-studying to do well. However, he is very accommodating and made grading adjustments that ultimately saved my grade. Homework were unnecessarily difficult at times so take advantage of tutoring and office hours to ask questions.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/15/2024	Dr. Williams is a very great professor. I personally love his teaching style. He goes into detail about the steps involved in solving a problem which I thought was very helpful and he loves when people ask questions. He teaches right out of the textbook so the suggested problems are really helpful when studying for the exams. Oftentimes the questions are also pulled right out of the textbook. His exams were super fair and were really helpful for the finals. Overall Dr. William is a great professor and I would totally recommend taking him for 140.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/15/2024	Dr. Williams is a good professor but sometimes during lecture he never finishes a problem and tells us to finish it on our own. The problems he goes over during lecture are relatively easy compared to what is assigned for homework. Midterms were quite difficult, especially exam 3 with an average of 52%. He drops 4 lowest worksheets and 5 lowest webassigns but he doesn't drop any midterms or does any curve; I don't know why people say that he drops the lowest midterm? If you have some calc knowledge you should be fine and as long as you do the suggested problems since sometimes he pulls out the exam questions from them. .
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/14/2024	His teaching: I really enjoyed the structure of this class. In lecture he just goes over problem after problem and writes out the steps. He has good handwriting and is good at explaining the concepts. Each week with each section he assigns suggested problems. I personally didn't work through them, but if you do you'll most likely ace the exams. A week before each exam he gave us the exam from last semester, these were the most helpful, as the format typically aligns with the exam. The third exam will be the hardest, so do not slack on that material. Towards the end of the semester he assigned two group HW assignments. These were probably one of the worst parts of this class. DO NOT MISS A WRITTEN HW ASSIGNMENT. We only had four assignments and this accounted for 15% of our grade. The final wasn't bad, practice as many past final exams as possible. His attitude: The reason he lost 3 stars is solely because of his attitude and lack of communication skills. He doesn't respond to emails until days later after assignments are due, and going to office hours are a complete waste of time. I tried going in the beginning of the semester and whenever I asked a question he was extremely dismissive, and told me to ask other students in the room, completely defeating the purpose of office hours. I once asked for him to explain the steps of a concept in office hours and was told that he "couldn't do that right now since there's other people there, but he could sit down one and one and explain it". Later in the semester sent him an email days prior, and when he didn't answer asked after class in which he said "idk what your email says so I cant give an answer". I've also asked a question after class in which he replied, "send me an email" which he took three days to answer. If he doesn't answer your email within two days email him again. Trying to communicate with him was excruciating but if you can get through the semester without having to talk to him you'll do great.
James Hanson MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/11/2024	James hanson wasen't a particularly difficult professor. Honestly if you went to class and took notes the midterms are a walk in the park. He posts what each question of the midterm would cover and the point value. If you go to class and make an effort there is no shot you fail and will atleast get an B. Although the Tas are terrible graders. the range so heavily when it comes to grades for dicussion with some being so nice and some being assholes. then finally I have had to submit so many regrades for ridiculous points being pulled off my exams. but all in all not too difficult of a class and you just cant skip and expect a good grade. I would recommend him such a caring guy
James Hanson MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2024	I'm retaking MATH140 to improve GPA, so I already knew most of the things. I never once went to lecture either. So I don't know about his teaching skills, I was never there. He's alright though. Very understanding and kind. Gives hard exams, but started curving and 1/3 of the way through the semester said he'd weigh the lowest midterm exam at half of the others, since people did so bad on the first one. I've removed a star because on the first three exams he always had one crazy unsolvable question. Also, he NEVER replied to email so you HAVE to talk to him in person about anything. But he's not mean or anything. I guess just bad with email. Statistics for our class on the exams. All exams out of 100: Exam 1: Mean: 59.29 Median: 60 High: 92 Upper Quartile: 73 Low: 6 Lower Quartile: 46.75 Exam 2: Mean: 74.02 Median: 81 High: 97 Upper Quartile: 90.13 Low: 9.5 Lower Quartile: 66.38 Exam 3: Mean: 65.88 Median: 66.5 High: 96.5 Upper Quartile: 78.5 Low: 10 Lower Quartile: 53.63 Exam 4: Mean: 72.9 Median: 77 High: 100 Upper Quartile: 88 Low: 6.5 Lower Quartile: 63.75
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/07/2024	Dr. Schlenoff is a great professor, and I like his rigor, but if you are slow, his teaching can be pretty fast-paced and hard to follow. though it does get you ready for the final, so take him if you are willing to put more effort for a better payout.
James Hanson MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/06/2024	Wasn't a fan the first few weeks since he went through topics so fast and it seemed like he only went over easy examples whilst leaving us to do the hard ones but he grew on me over the semester. He lectures very efficiently and incorporates the theorems of calculus very well into the lesson. He's also super accommodating to students, dropping grades, offering to curve tests, giving exact topics each question goes over, providing practice exams. In any case I know he did more than the other MATH140 spring 2024 lecturer to provide us with resources and help. If you put in the work, you will easily pass this class with him.
Nick Forman MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/07/2024	This is the best TA you can hope for. He is very knowledgable and is also funny. He is very willing to help and will extend his office hours if needed.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 02/06/2024	Dr. Schlenoff is great. It is easy to tell that he actually cares about his students and wants them to do well. His class is extremely well organized and he lays out exactly what you'll be doing each day. His lectures are easy to follow because he knows which topics are difficult and paces the lecture accordingly. The exams are pretty fair and you will do well if you go to the lectures and prepare yourself.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Anonymous 01/29/2024	I've only had him for a little while but I have to say I love his teaching style. He is very open to questions is super kind and is always available for extra help. Math 140 is a tough class but his slow methodical teaching style makes things easier. Definitely recommend.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Anonymous 01/26/2024	He doesn't understand the difference between teaching a subject and knowing about the subject you are teaching. I'm sure without his slides he isn't very useful. He had some good days though, but outside sources such as the TA's and videos helped me more throughout the course.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/25/2024	He’s an excellent professor for Math140. Took him Fall 2023 and the exams were literally what he assigned to us on WebAssign and what he went over in class. Just show up to class, take notes, go to discussions and you will pass. The only thing you have to watch out for is the written homework being weighed pretty high, it is easy and you have plenty of time to do it, but make sure you check over your answers. This class was light-work.
Anna Szczekutowicz MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/24/2024	Good lecturer and very chill teacher. Everything was organized and she posted notes after lecture. One downside is that the web assigns are usually due the day after lecture and can take a bit of time to complete, but they aren't worth that much of your grade
Anna Szczekutowicz MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/13/2024	Anna was the best math teacher I've had. She spends just enough time going over the actual content so that she can focus more on practice problems. She gives an easy version of practice problems during lecture so that students can understand the actually process of doing specific problems, but she ups the difficulty for discussion worksheets and webassigns. Definitely don't be afraid to ask your TA for help on homeworks & make sure you pick a good group to do your discussion worksheets with. Ultimately, the biggest chunk of your grade is going to be exams, so you should spend the most time reviewing for that. You can find practice problems for most of the topics in Paul's Online Math Notes; doing those and reviewing old webassigns is what I found most helpful for quizzes + tests.
Anna Szczekutowicz MATH140 Anonymous 01/09/2024	I 110% recommend taking this course with Anna. Even though she posts the notes, I found going to her lectures was really helpful because she explained the topic and concepts really well. Especially when she reviewed the material in the class before the exam, as the content she covered on this day as well as her practice exams were important for doing well on the actual exam. In lecture, she managed her time well too. I felt that the practice problems from the textbook were the most helpful for me to get extra practice and feel more confident solving questions. Overall, I think her grading system was very fair too. I also found going to Anna's office hours was helpful, because she was really compassionate and good at explaining if I had any questions.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a C Buss003 01/06/2024	Pilachowski teaches this class like a robot, he didn't do a single problem on the board with a marker. He just goes through the slides he made twenty years ago by clicking through them while explaining them poorly. His redeeming qualities are the fact that the tests are fair, just do the practice tests from the test bank. Attendance is not mandatory as he records all lectures and posts them to the class. Not an awful person, but a poor teacher. Avoid if you can.
Anna Szczekutowicz MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 01/05/2024	Dr. S is a great lecturer. Her notes are very clear and she explains concepts very well, however she does not really take questions or interact with the class. Be prepared for the exams they start off easy but do get harder. The annoying thing is you actually have to show up to discussions because the worksheets are graded, although a few are dropped. She was very helpful and understanding regarding ADS accommodations too.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/03/2024	He's an awful professor, I took calc in high school but I knew it'd be harder in college. But his exams are probably the hardest out of any professor and he does an extremely poor job teaching you. I taught myself the whole semester.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 01/03/2024	As many reviews state, Chadwick does care about his students and their success. However, he often was not the best at explaining concepts/ explaining how and when to use what we learn. The class consists of mandatory lectures (he does post notes but they are confusing without your own), discussion worksheets that are very difficult but you can work in groups to complete them, quizzes (extremely easy), 5 exams, and homework that often took 2+ hours to complete for very little credit. Chadwick is one of the better Math140 professors as he provides past exams that are identical to the ones you will get in class. Lectures were confusing at times, however, he does try to set you up for success.
Anna Szczekutowicz MATH140 Anonymous 12/29/2023	I 110% recommend taking this course with Anna. Even though she posts the notes, I found going to her lectures was really helpful because she explained the topic and concepts really well. Especially when she reviewed the material the class before the exam, as the content she covered on this day as well as her practice exams were important for doing well on the actual exam. In lecture, she managed her time well too. I felt that the practice problems from the textbook were the most helpful for me to get extra practice and feel more confident solving questions. Overall, I think her grading system was very fair too. I also found going to Anna's office hours was helpful, because she was really compassionate and good at explaining if I had any questions.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/26/2023	Course: Overall the class is pretty well structured. Lots of assignments but that’s just expected for a common math class like MATH140. There were worksheets, online homework through WebAssign, written homework, midterm exams, and the final exam. The WebAssigns were more to assess and make sure you understood how to do the material, the worksheets are harder but will be more of what your midterm questions will be like, the written homeworks are kinda miscellaneous but they’re important to your grade. If you put effort into this class and get help from office hours, the tutoring center in Kirwan, or just online help, then you will be fine in this class. Don’t slack off on the exams. Breakdown: - Worksheets (20), 10%, they’re done EXCLUSIVELY only in discussions, and you must turn it in by the end of it, otherwise you won’t get points, so don’t skip discussions and do your best on it. You can always talk and get help from classmates if you need to. - WebAssign (28), 12.5%, anywhere from 8-15 questions per section. These are usually due at 7:30 AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and usually address the content that you learned the day before when you had a lecture (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). - Written Homework (5), 15%, THESE ARE WEIGHTED PRETTY HIGH. There are only 5 of them, so take them seriously. The first 3 are on your own and you have to submit both online through ELMS/Canvas and the day it’s due in discussion. HW04 and HW05 are group written homeworks that are you guys doing practice exams leading up to the final, so get with your group early. - Midterm Exams (4), 37.5%, these are all weighted equally, so don’t worry about the 1st exam being weighted more than the 4th exam. He will provide you with a past practice exam for each exam, and if you want more practice exams, just email him if he has any more. As long as you study the notes and worksheets, you should be fine. - Final Exam, 25%, study a bunch of the practice exams beforehand, go to his office hours, go to your TA’s office hours and you should be ok. Make sure to read the questions. Professor: I think Kendall Williams is pretty good. Some people may say he moves slow, but that’s not necessarily the case, it’s just he explains every part of the example problem that he does. The examples he does in class are very well explained, any questions that you need just raise your hand and he will explain it in depth how he got there to make sure that your question is answered and that you understand it well. He doesn’t post his notes so you should go to class otherwise you probably won’t know how to do the material or know what’s going on unless you’ve already taken Calculus 1 in the past and understand it well. He emails back pretty quick, his TA’s are pretty good (shoutout Jacob). Also has a sense of humor, if he doesn’t get to the material in class, he will push back the due date for the WebAssign, and is very professional all around. I would always recommend him to other people.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/23/2023	To be fair, I have taken calculus before, so take this review for the class itself with a grain of salt. Dr. Chadwick is a good professor. He tends to read straight from the textbook, which can make things a bit confusing, along with being somewhat monotone, making it challenging to pay attention sometimes. However, he does post his notes on ELMS, along with being more than happy to help students whenever they ask a question. Whenever someone asked a question in lecture, his face would light up, which is a really good sign that he likes what he does and really cares about his students. The practice exams are also very similar to the midterms he gives, which I have found to be quite helpful. Additionally, the work load is manageable, and it is very helpful for preparing for exams, however the homework is annoying since its on WebAssign, which doesn't offer any explanations if you get an answer incorrect and only gives you 2 attempts, but I know that isn't Chadwick's fault. What is annoying is that it only counted for 2-3% of the final grade. Additionally, the final is a common final, and even after doing many previous finals for MATH140 along with doing Chadwick's previous midterms and practice midterms for practice once again, this semester it was much harder than the previous ones, and although I did very well on the midterms, getting a mediocre grade on the final dropped my grade from an A- to a B+. Chadwick also cuts your lowest midterm in half, not completely dropping it, which is helpful. In summary, if you have taken calculus before, Chadwick is a good bet, and if you haven't MATH140 is difficult no matter who your professor is, and from my peers who took calculus for the first time this past semester, it could be so much worse.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/23/2023	He didn't round up my 89.6 grade to an A- even though I scored 96 percent on the final and put in a ton of effort. The discussions weren't helpful; you're stuck dealing with problems much harder than the ones covered in lectures. While you can ask the TA questions, there are 25 other students just as confused, and every discussion worksheet is turned in for a grade. Overall, if you've taken AP Calc in high school, you'll be fine. But if you're like me, taking it for the first time, it's gonna be hell. The homework is way tougher than the problems covered in lectures, and there's usually a lecture with corresponding homework due the next day at 7:30 am. So, if you're confused, you don't really get a chance to go to office hours. If you end up taking Chadwick with no prior calc experience, my advice would be to try reading the textbook because problems from there might appear on the homework. Also, go to GSS study sessions. Big shoutout to Chet, the GSS leader teacher, who was very nice and actually really helped me get a decent grade in this course.
Anna Szczekutowicz MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/22/2023	Taking a class with Anna is overall a solid experience. For MATH140 the course structure is 3 lectures a week with 2 TA led discussions. The lectures are mostly done through Anna writing down notes on her Ipad and explaining it as she goes. The lectures can be a bit dry but the notes are fairly simple with her explaining the concepts for each topic and going through a few example problems. The lectures are usually easy to follow and notes are posted after the lecture if you get confused. The discussions are always just one worksheet that you need to complete and you're allowed to leave once you finish. The worksheets can be complicated but you're allowed to work in groups up to 4 and you can ask for help from the TA's. Occasionally in discussion you'll be given quizzes which you'll know in advanced. The quizzes are always 1 or 2 fairly simple problems from whatever unit you're in. The exams and grades given are always fair, you'll pretty much always know what to expect from each exam as long as you've done the notes. The course says you need to buy a textbook but you'll be fine without one, they're only used for extra practice. Reaching Anna or her TA's is fairly easy but she's strict with gradecutoffs, you're not gonna be able to get a sympathy gradeboost from her as mentioned in the syllabus. It can be a difficult course especially if you didn't take calculus in high school, but you're given everything you need to do well. If you're struggling you can go to office hours and attend exam review sessions hosted by TA's.
Anna Szczekutowicz MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/22/2023	Goated professor. Covered everything we needed in class and published notes for later review. Class is very organized and Dr. S follows the textbook so it isn't hard to study if you didn't understand the material in class or just want to learn ahead. Parth the TA was also very nice and helpful. The midterms were decent, averages were always around an 80. Take Dr. S if you want to pass Calc 1 and have a good time.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/22/2023	He is overall a fine professor, though I would be wary of attending office hours. I've experienced that he does not have much regard for you if your doing fine, and if you are struggling I've heard it's much worse. He teaches straight from the textbook so it's the same from the worksheet/quizzes and the exams are not as difficult. Plus, he curves the lowest midterm. But, be very careful about who is your TA.
Anna Szczekutowicz MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/20/2023	She's a great professor! Fall 2023 was her first time teaching at UMD (she came from UT Austin) and I think she very well being new and all. Her explanations during lecture were extremely helpful and made understanding the content so much easier. She does post all of her lecture notes on Canvas, but I would still highly recommend going to class because her explanations are simply that good. I also really liked my TA and found that the discussion sections, while hard worksheet-wise, really helped boost my understanding of the concepts in lecture. My main issue with this class was that the homework was SO HARD, like unreasonably so. Unfortunately, the profs don't set the homework for Calc 1, the head of the math department does. Anyways, whoever they are likes to make all of our lives a living hell and give problems way harder than the ones practiced in class or on the exam. I would recommend setting aside a minimum of two hours for each homework and starting them early so you have time to go to either Dr. S' or a TA's office hours for help. Also, the final (decided on by all the calc profs) this semester was WAY harder than the previous semesters, so my advice is to study the hard problems from the course because if you don't think it will be on there, it probably will. Overall, she's a great prof and you will learn the content and concepts better than Chadwick's students.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/20/2023	Fantastic professor! If you participate, go to office hours (if necessary), and go to discussion you will pass the class. Professor Schlenoff was one of my favorite professors this semester. It is worth forming a connection with him. Would highly recommend.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/20/2023	Professor Schlenoff is a fantastic guy and was one of my favorite professors this semester. Make it a point to get to know him and form a connection. He has relatively large lectures so it can become easy to skip classes and lose out on participation points. Just be engaged in lectures, go to discussions, and go to office hours if struggling. I promise you it will be worth your while and you will pass the class if you engage.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/19/2023	He did not round a 89.6 grade to an A- even though I got 96 on the final and put a lot of effort in this course. His discussions are useless, we were required to tackle problems that were so much harder than those covered in lectures, either on our own or with friends. You can obviously ask questions to your TA but keep in mind that there would be 25 other students as confused as you, who also want explanation because every single discussion worksheet is turned in for a grade. Overall, if you have taken ap calc in high school, you will be fine. If you are someone like me, who took it for the first time, it would be hell. The homework is so much harder than the problems he covers on his lectures and there was usually a lecture with corresponding homework due the next day at 7:30 am. So if you are confused, you don't really get a chance to go to office hours. If you end up taking Chadwick with no prior calc experience, I recommend reading the textbook, because problems from there might appear on the homework and exams. Also, go to GSS study sessions. Shout out to Chet who was a brilliant GSS leader and actually helped me get a decent grade in this course.
Anna Szczekutowicz MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/17/2023	I never went into office hours but Ms.S is a really great math professor. She gives you the basics without confusing you and makes sure that you understand the overall topics and why they're important. She is cutthroat in the way that she will not bump or boost your grade. But if you do tons of practice problems and attend all the discussions you'll be set.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/17/2023	Calc is a hard class, but Kendall makes understanding each topic easier especially if you have never taken calc before. For my class he didn't record his lectures so you needed to be at all three lectures per week. One thing that he did that all the other 140 teacher didn't do was that he didn't give out any quizzes, which I liked. You have to attend discussions because there is a graded worksheet for each one. Kendall also doesn't give out minuses, so I got an 82% but I'm still going to get a B as my grade. One thing that I heard other students complain about was that Kendall makes his test harder then other teachers. I believe his first two test were easy, however, each of the last two test had one problem that was not like any of the others that we went through in class, which most of the class would end up getting completely wrong. I think that overall Kendall is a good professor and you should take him if you can.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/17/2023	Professor Schlenoff is the guy. He's funny at times but efficient, focused, and not at all rude in any way compared to other professors. If you need math140, he will get to the point regarding the work and efficiently prepare you for the final exam. With emails he's very responsive, and if you have a question, he will explain it in a way to help you understand in solving the problem. Don't get it confused, all Calc classes are hard might as well take it with someone who can teach well. You do need to make an effort, take notes on the problems done within class, review and try on your own. If you label each step he does, it makes absorbing the info easier. He does have quizzes once a week which can seem intimidating but they truly help you prepare for the midterms and final. He has an excellent ability to actually teach and help you learn. I'd taken calc before in HS and never understood the processes until this class. I'm glad I had him as first semester FC student.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A- elija_hrs 12/16/2023	Really nice dude, very approachable and patient. Goes very fast through material but will slow down if you ask
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting a B- supercool 12/15/2023	Math140 is honestly just a hard class in general. Williams did a good job explaining most things and made sure to answer every question without hesitation. The midterms (4 of them) were hard but he ended up dropping the lowest one which helped. The webassigns and HWs were time consuming but helped when studying. His lectures were fine but as a person he is super nice.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/15/2023	Overhated. Sometimes his lectures are unclear and the class would benefit if he actually did math during class, but otherwise he's not that bad. If you're taking him though you have to be willing to teach calc 1 to yourself to some degree. He gives lots of personal freedom in the class, technically you don't have to go to lecture at all and you will be fine. Discussion sections help your grade and I had a good TA. Just do a practice exam or two before every test and you should be fine.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/15/2023	I honestly don't know why Dr. Williams has so many bad reviews. He's a great lecturer and explains everything really well. If you pay attention in class, and redo the problems done in the lecture, the ones he suggests in the lecture, and the ones suggested in the syllabus you should honestly be fine. His office hours are pretty hectic with the amount of people in there, but you should definitely go because he'll re-explain it. My TA was also great and was really helpful with understanding the stuff we went over quickly. I will say the discussion worksheets and WebAssigns are really hard but he doesn't make them, the department does. ALL IN ALL, you should definitely take him for MATH140.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B+ ysnim 12/15/2023	Chadwick is a solid professor. His lectures are kind of just reading word for word off the textbook a lot of times because I don't think he necessarily knows how to explain it at an introductory level like many students need, and that means a good chunk of the lectures are just going through the proofs and theorems to GET to a certain formula you will need to memorize, so you'll have to sift through what you actually need to know vs what's fluff sometimes. Lectures are not recorded but he always posts the notes he takes for each lecture on canvas so if you miss a few (and have a good grasp on the prior concepts) it's not a huge deal. Exams are very fair if you study the practice sheets you're given prior to the exams. Every discussion involves solving a graded worksheet. Your lowest midterm score is halved but that's all the curve he gives, at least for the Fall 2023 semester, I've heard others got their lowest quiz score dropped but we did not. I don't honestly know how well I would've done in this class if I didn't already take calculus in high school, but you're probably not going to get much better than Chadwick for MATH140.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/15/2023	Overall he's a genuinely nice person who wants to see his students succeed. That said, you have to put in A TON of work outside of class in order to understand the material, especially if you haven't taken calc before. My biggest problem is that he didn't understand what really needed to be weighted in the lectures which made it sound like he went on tangents sometimes. For example, he went on a tangent about how you can name a variable basically anything rather than focussing on the more important topic of limit substitutions. However, he did pretty much say that you have to teach yourself the textbook content on the first day in order to find value in the class so it's possible that the majority of people didn't take that seriously. That aside, if you take time out of the day to learn the textbook section before lecture (i.e reading and doing the suggested problems) you'll have no trouble with the class as the exams are fairly easy and strait forward. His office hours are also really helpful but not necessarily for the fact that he gives individual attention but more for the fact that they end up being like a discussion period for answering questions about the WebAssigns. He does not curve the class or exams but HE DOESN'T GIVE MINUS GRADES which in of itself is amazing but is also an inherent GPA boost if you're in that territory (only expecting an A because of this).
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/14/2023	Don't take Pilachowski if you have no prior calc experiences, he assumes a lot of prior experiences which makes it hard to follow along in certain lectures. His exams are also harder than average for the department and are unnecessarily difficult compared to the given practice exams, and often covers cases that were not covered through examples in lecture. He has a habit of rushing through steps in lecture and presents using a PowerPoint instead of actually writing out his math, which makes it hard for you to follow along if you don't have prior experience or are just less skilled in math in general. Please take someone else if you have no prior experience, but if you have prior experience, he's fine I guess.
Turner Pepper MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/14/2023	A great TA! His explanations for things were clear and straightforward, highly recommend.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Anonymous 12/14/2023	Nice guy, midterms aren’t terrible bc they look like the sample exams. but the final… IT WAS SO HARD FOR NO REASON. It was much harder than the previous finals that you can find on the test bank or even the sample finals he gives you. make sure you know everything about calc when you take his exams
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/14/2023	IF YOU TOOK CALC BEFORE, you should be okay. I'm getting a B+ though, because I forgot about conic sections XD I think throughout all my math classes, they've all used PowerPoints so idk what everyone's talking about. Tim's PowerPoint goes step-by-step for each example problem, just like if you had written them out by hand. He doesn't WANT you to fail. He tries to teach you & gives advice (i.e. if you're feeling stressed tell a bad joke to yourself, songs to remember formulas, etc). PROS: - Doesn't give negative letter grades - Has videos that go over the material in class (if you wanna skip / miss a lecture) - TAs are very friendly & helpful (I love you Karthik xoxo <3) - Examples gone over in class are hard, so doing hw is slightly less difficult I guess... - Exams are structured similarly to what the final looks like (i.e. separate pieces of paper for each question, honor pledge, etc) CONS: - Uses PowerPoint if you don't like that (I'm fine with it) - Goes through slides quickly - Hw is on WebAssign. But Webassign is bad in general so yeah - From other friends, the hw problems are the same across sections? So... - Tim's schedule is like this: Mon lecture, Mon hw due at 7:30am Tues. Wed lecture, Wed hw due at 7:30am Thur. Fri lecture, Fri hw due 7:30am Tues. - Exams are harder than exams in the math test bank
Anna Szczekutowicz MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/13/2023	Prof S is awesome. She explains concepts well and provides examples of common errors that most students make. She is very reasonable with extending homework due-dates (Calc 1 has so much hw and its all back to back). Her exams are basically everything from the textbook lecture or discussion. If you pay attention and do all your homework, textbook practice and review the lecture examples she does in class you will get out on top. Except fair exams with some curve balls but if you see a curve ball I can promise it will only be 1 question. The 3rd exam was the worst no one finished on time and she took that into account when grading. (Small curve). She does her best to help you succeed. The rest is up to you. Calc here is tough and you gotta be willing to put in the hours to learn how to solve these problems. Professor S made Calc 1 manageable but you gotta meet her half-way. Good luck and pick professor S.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/11/2023	Dr. Schlenoff is an extremely nice and helpful professor. He wants his students to succeed and always provides resources and encourages questions during class
Emilio Dominguez MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/11/2023	a great TA, really good and teaching and trying to help the students succeed!
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/11/2023	Chadwick was a great teacher and was super nice and accommodating when I had a difficult time this semester
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A+ boiledegg44186 12/09/2023	Chadwick's a nice guy and solid lecturer. I feel like his lectures might be a bit confusing if you haven't taken calculus, but if you have some prior knowledge it should be fine. If you don't understand something make sure to go to his office hours, it might get a bit busy but it's very helpful and he'll make sure to explain in a way that you understand. The Webassign homework can get a bit tedious but it's not worth that much of your grade and it's probably harder than the exams, so it prepares you well. The exams are very fair, since gives out practice exams that are just past exams, so you should know what to expect.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/08/2023	best calc professor, explains everything in detail and always answers questions, quizzes and tests are very reasonable to what we do in class, always understanding about issues on your end, 10/10 recommend
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/07/2023	Awful professor. Doesn't teach at all, exams way harder than other professors. Take if you like failing classes.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/06/2023	Great guy, super nice. His exams are absurdly hard for no reason. Homework is 20x as hard as the material covered in class. The worst math class I've taken, almost made me drop out. Please avoid it for your own sake.....
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023	TAKE THIS PROFESSOR. Dr. Schlenoff was an amazing professor. His lectures were very important and meaningful for providing the base you need to understand the topic, and the homework gradually enhanced your ability to master that topic. He speaks very clearly, answers questions perfectly, and occasionally offers extra help 30 minutes before and after class. He also put multiple practice questions from the textbook for each section (not just chapters but each section like 3.1, 3.2, etc). If you do these problems every week, you will undoubtedly get A's on all of your quizzes. Sometimes to persuade you to utilize the practice problems, he will put a problem on the quiz that is the same concept and uses similar methods as the practice problems. He also provides you with practice exams for your exams. Overall, you have all of the resources needed to get at least a B in this class. Don't slack, take the time to do your homework, and don't wait until the last minute to do so, use the resources he provides, and you will do great.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/06/2023	Literally avoid at all costs, you'll have to put in 3 times more work as all the other teacher because he thinks he's above teaching. He doesn't write anything and uses power points he made 10 years ago, all he does is click a button and the entire problem is solved so you have to try and go through it yourself and understand it. He gives homework twice a week that takes about an hour each time. His discussions are graded worksheets that are usually harder than the test material but are good practice. He says use the MATH140 testbank to get practice exams, which is a good piece of advice but he often throws curveballs to try and trip you up on exams. Don't try going to office hours as he usually just tells you what to learn to solve your problem and not how to solve it. The TAs I had were wonderful though, all three of them knew the material and were happy to help, but this is probably going to vary semester to semester. Overall the best thing you can do if you do have this guy is to make friends fast and study with them, going to lectures isn't necessary as he posts the videos online, but still go to try and pay attention. His class is manageable, but it is a LOT of work so don't be fooled.
Anna Szczekutowicz MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/06/2023	Overall really nice professor who cares about her students, always posts lecture notes (no recording though). Really good job explaining concepts and grading harshness is middle-of-the-road. Responsive to emails and just looks out for students, like explaining how course regs work and always always reminding us when and where exams are.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/04/2023	Chadwick's a solid professor. Although he can be confusing sometimes, he's generally good at explaining the material and goes at a good pace during lectures. However, he frequently arrived late to class (I hope it's exclusive to that semester. One time, he showed up 10 minutes late). The homework is a pain, but it's only 3% of your grade. Discussion worksheets have unnecessary theory, but the quizzes are very easy, and his review sessions reflect on the exam. However, your TA is arguably as important or even more important, so make sure you go to office hours and cover concepts you don't understand. As long as you put in the work, you'll be fine. The weight of your lowest midterm is also reduced.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A- Fozziebear17 12/03/2023	Chadwick cares about his students and knows the math really well. However he is not good at articulating how to do it. Following along in class feels more like a color by numbers you have to interpret later. He also has a tendency to skip around making it harder to understand. The Exams are always easier than the homework and the TA's grade pretty easy. If you put the work in and have some prior calculus knowledge you'll do fine. If you've never taken calculus before, please try Khan Academy.
Shenghao Li MATH140 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/01/2023	Shanghao is seriously a really nice and funny dude. The problem I have with him is that he is way too smart for his own good. He goes at a fast pace and explains things at a level that is past MATH140. This could be due to the slight language barrier or the fact he is in his Phd program. He grades quite harsh on quizzes but gives slight leeway on exams. He responds to emails very fast though!
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/23/2023	He just uses a powerpoint, does no work by hand, and expects you to know almost everything before he even teaches it. You could study for his exams for hours and do all of the practices exams and then still fail the tests bc they are nothing like the examples he gives in class. Discussion worksheets are good for ur grade but useless otherwise bc he considers them "too hard to put on exams". Homework is easy but doesn't count for much. Doesn't give - grades tho and drops a few homework and worksheet grades. Overall if you want to do little homework and teach calc to yourself take him, otherwise steer clear.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/20/2023	DO NOT TAKE HIM! He doesn't teach you anything. Practice exams, textbook questions, and homework are nothing similar to his exams. He makes his exams harder than every other professor teaching MATH140. I basically taught myself using the textbook. Avoid at all cost. Almost impossible to get an A in his class. Half the class withdraws after the 3rd exam.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting a C- Anonymous 11/17/2023	Although I am expecting to receive a C- in the class (I hope), Dr. Schlenoff is a great professor. I recommend you sign up for his section if you can as he is extremely helpful and does all he can to provide support to his students, which is hard to find in some other professors.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a W Anonymous 11/06/2023	Honestly, if you know calculus and all previous maths then you should be fine. But if you don’t know pre calc or trig you’re screwed bc he doesn’t touch that at all in lecture. And if you need to see how a problem is done then Tim isn’t your man. This is because everything is taught of a pp and numbers come out of no where. He also goes EXTREMELY quick and doesn’t like to answer questions. Honestly if you have Tim you’re screwed so good luck. Thanks to tim I’m behind in my comp sci classes.
Anna Szczekutowicz MATH140 Anonymous 10/31/2023	Not a good lecturer IMO. Just copies word for word what the textbook says and provides no further assistance. Discussion material and homework are generally 100 times harder than anything she teaches.
Anna Szczekutowicz MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/19/2023	Great calculus professor! Her exams and quizzes aren't too difficult and she prepares you well for them. The homework and in-class worksheets are often difficult but never impossible. She's very nice and understanding, which is reflected in her lenient grading. Her lectures are also super clear and engaging. Solid professor.
Zhenghe Zhong MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/17/2023	Probably the funniest TA I've had. He's pretty lenient on grading which is nice, and he's always available to talk to for help at his office hours or via email. My only issue is that he's not great at explaining complex topics. He's a great TA if you're confident in the course material, but you might struggle if that's not the case.
Anna Szczekutowicz MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/13/2023	I personally think she's a great lecturer, she explains concepts well and gets straight to the point. However, the way the class is set up is annoying. In discussion, we have worksheets with problems that are 10x harder than what she teaches us and often times the material on the worksheets is stuff we haven't even learned in lecture. There have been multiple instances where we have to solve a problem using a theorem or method we end up learning 2 days later in lecture. I also think some of the questions on web assign are annoying, but I get that isn't her fault. It's also a bit frustrating because it seems like she uses the worksheets from a different prof and also gives us practice exams from a different prof but her exams are quite different so it won't help you that much. She's a good teacher but she should start looking over the material she assigns us before we have to do it.
Zhenghe Zhong MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 10/13/2023	Michael is probably the funniest TA in the whole department. He's always super fun and an overall great guy. He's also really understanding and lenient with his grading which is nice. However, I have to subtract a star as his explanations for various concepts are often confusing and hard to follow. You'll have a great time with him if you don't find the class too hard, but it might be worth switching TA's if you're struggling with the material.
Nathan Janus MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 09/13/2023	I only had Nathan for about a month over the summer and he has truly been one of the best, if not the best math instructors I've ever had throughout my entire time in school. He is relatable, understanding, and a pretty chill guy. His ability to explain and break down certain topics makes the class way less overwhelming. It was also really easy to talk with him and ask questions. Overall great guy, great hair, nice shoes. Nathan > your TA
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 07/25/2023	Although I passed the class with a satisfactory mark, that does not mean I was satisfied with Dr. Williams. Firstly, what prompted me to even make a review in the first place is to correct a lot of lies that people are claiming he "drops the lowest midterm." First of all, he does not do that. In fact, he does not curve at all despite the fact that most midterms averaged a score of 50%. What presses me even more is the fact that his office hours are not helpful at all. Instead of helping you with questions about topics from a lecture, he will tell you to "look in your notes" as if that was not the first thing I did. To make matters even worse, the examples he does in class are SOMETIMES unfinished. What do I mean by that? I mean that he doesn't conclude with an answer, but probably a few steps from the answer and tells us to "finish it ourselves." The only positive experience about this professor were the way he explains problems. It was a lot more direct and he focuses more on the application rather than theory. On a final note, his midterms are NOTHING like the webassigns. There are questions that were flat-out never presented to us on our homework, so really you should be studying your textbook rather than the problems on there. This god-forsaken math department lacks any real talent, so I still believe this professor is your best bet.
Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 07/23/2023	I took calc 1 with him in the spring. He seems like a nice guy but he's a bad teacher. He overcomplicated the topics like crazy. Most of the time I was confused sitting through the lecture. But to be fair, his exams looked very similar to the practice exams so that's a plus.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 07/15/2023	Kendall Williams is a cool professor and holds great lectures. He spends the majority of the time doing practice problems so the students can follow along and learn, as opposed to other calc1 profs. that spend too much time on tedious proofs. Calculus 1 is so easy if you don't waste your time watching youtube and playing video games. Just open up your textbook and do practice problems and you will get an A guaranteed. So many reviews on here say "he doesn't curve", if you are expecting your teacher to curve the most rudimentary math class at UMD you should think twice before blaming your bad grade on the professor.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 06/08/2023	I personally thought that Dr. Williams was a good professor. He was a super friendly professor and did a good job of teaching all of the topics. I thought he was pretty clear on what topics were gonna be on the exams. There were 4 midterms and one final in the class and he dropped one of the midterms. The final was not very difficult. The difficulty of the midterms was a bit unusual where on two of the midterms the average was around a 50% but on the other two they were closer to 80%. I might be biased since I already took Calc 1 in high school so I knew most of the topics and was just relearning the material for the most part. I didn't put a ton of effort into the class and was able to get an A but I do think that even if you have no calculus background that if you put in the effort and did all of the assigned work that it is definitely attainable to get an A as well. Every week he gives us a list of assigned problems that we should do and I would recommend doing all of those problems because he would usually put at least one of those problems on every exam, and those were the problems that were usually more difficult. For discussion there was a quiz every week on Thursdays which were very easy and you were told what topics were gonna be on the quiz beforehand. This might differ with TA but on Tuesdays it was mostly just the TA solving any problems that we were confused about on the hw or somewhere else. I never went to his office hours but I did ask him questions after class and he was super friendly. I would recommend taking his class. I don't know how he compares to the other calculus teachers for 140 but I think he's a good teacher and you'll get a good foundation of calculus from him.
Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes MATH140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 06/01/2023	i took chadwick last semester and completely failed, mostly on my own fault but rigo this semester offered so much help and prioritized his students. - Posts all of the lecture notes on ELMS - Drops a couple of homeworks, quizzes, worksheets, and one midterm - If you can't make a homework deadline, you have the option to give yourself a personal extension of 48 hrs - Lets you know what exact content will be on the quiz - His practice exams for the midterms are the EXACT format as the actual midterm. Genuinely a lifesaver and you know what to study for the midterm (while chadwick's midterms were more difficult and not like his practice exams) I would definitely study a ton more and make use of his office hours (very helpful). The class is pretty difficult but Rigo makes it very manageable and a bit enjoying- he's genuinely a great guy and answers your questions, holds long review sessions near midterms/exams and dedicates his time to clearing up any confusion in the content. Leaving this class satisfied with my knowledge in calc. If you have the opportunity to take Rigo instead of Chadwick, DO SO!
Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes MATH140 Expecting a B- sialessis 05/24/2023	Rigo is a pretty decent professor. He's good at explaining the material, and his practice exams are identical to the real ones. I did find at times he would give more complicated explanations than when I would watch videos online, but overall he's pretty good. He posts all his notes and drops one exam, two quizzes, and two worksheets. Just make sure to go to lecture and study regularly, and you should be fine.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/23/2023	Dr Williams is a great professor. I am not super into math, but he explains concepts well, making the class manageable. The exams were mostly fair (I can remember one problem on one exam that was not fair imo). If you do the suggested problems and homework, you will do well. He was also very accessible in office hours and cared about the success of his students. Would recommend.
Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes MATH140 Anonymous 05/23/2023	Such an Amazing Professor, very engaging, quick to reply, and more than willing to answer questions. Practice exams were very similar to his exams. He also drops some of the homework and quiz grades. He also drops the lowest exam score.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting an F Anonymous 05/23/2023	I FAILED THE CLASS. I will say I was not the best student so I won't complain the exams or anything like that because I do believe thats kind of my fault. However, I will complain about Kendall Williams character. He in class says to come in for office hours if you're not doing that well, he is liar. When you go in for office hours, he does nothing but berate you for not understanding a concept. Which entirely defeats the purpose of going in for office hours at all. If this is your first calculus class I'd just be careful. Then again I was not a good student so it might be a different experience for other students. I hated this class ong.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/19/2023	Not good at teaching and did not give curves even though the average on the finals is a 60 so save yourself if you are not good with math because you basically need to teach yourself everything
Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/19/2023	A very skilled lecturer who made lectures entertaining while still explaining things thoroughly. The class structure was two homeworks a week, 1 quiz in discussion a week, 4 midterms, and 1 final. Lowest midterm gets dropped. On the exams themselves partial credit was given out generously I thought. If he is available definitely take him.
Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes MATH140 Expecting a C dotwell123 05/18/2023	He is a good professor who definitely does all he can to make sure you understand the subject matter. His lectures are often fast paced as he is trying to cram in as much information as possible in the 50 minutes he has. There is a weekly quiz that are each worth ten points. Webassign assignments are due every tuesday and thursday. There are four exams, the lowest grade gets dropped. As well as the two lowest quiz scores, four lowest webassign grades, and two lowest discussion worksheet grades. The final exam is tough but fair. You are given a decades worth of previous final exams in the MATH140 test bank and if you start practicing those more than a week before the final exam you will do well. The exam is basically a mixture of the previous few years exams. There was a curve at the end of the class that was worth a few percentage points. Overall, I would recommend Professor Rigo if you plan on taking MATH140.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/17/2023	there's not nearly enough reviews on math140 as of recent, so I'll supply you all with one. dr williams is a great person, but not the best professor. im honestly teetering between giving 2 stars or 3 stars, but for now, i think i'll stick with two. dr williams' class should not be nearly as challenging as he makes it. it's based a lot on theory, which can be helpful for some, but the application of topics is really important for exams. and don't even get me started on the homework...half the time i would be stuck on a hw problem, and he would say smth along the lines of "well don't worry about the way webassign puts it, i wouldn't give it like that"....then why is it in our hw? why am i being given calculator problems when we cant even use a calculator on quizzes, exams, etc? it's just a waste of our time. i also spent a lot of time in office hours, and u can ask almost any of my friends that after a while, i would be demotivated to even go to his office hours, bc he just seemed so demeaning when u would ask him a question. it's like he didn't even want ppl in his office hours, but that's legitimately the only way to understand some concepts outside of class. if you can, maybe taken another calc teacher with higher ratings, but if you're forced to..ig take dr williams? just be weary lol. also just some quickfire notes, that are the same amongst most calc classes: there r 4 midterm exams, 1 final, one midterm is dropped. 4 webassign homework are dropped, and webassign homework is usually due the day after classes (tuesdays and thursdays) at 7:30 am good luck!
Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes MATH140 Expecting a C- Anonymous 05/16/2023	Now do not get me wrong, he is a great dude; he is kind and likes to crack "funny" jokes. However, he makes countless errors, telling us to take a look at his notes (which he does post and they are quite helpful), and he skips over several steps, confusing the class and causing unnecessary questions and confusion. His exams are not too difficult if you understand the concepts and follow the practice tests he provides. The TAs are okay with assisting with problems but sometimes they're clueless. The worksheets, in my discussion, were solely graded on writing your name at the top, and the quizzes are pretty easy since he tells you what questions are going to be on them (he gives the questions during the lecture).
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/11/2023	Fair professor. Wants us to do well, very good with email.
Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/11/2023	Genuinely not that bad, I never went to class so my grade is my fault but he truly wants to make sure his students understand the topics and gives two easy exams at the beginning of the semester and then the last two he makes a little more difficult, so really understand why you have to do certain steps in a problem. I don't know the other calc professors that well, but I would say he is probably one of the best (solely based off reviews I've seen from other profs).
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Anonymous 05/09/2023	One of the best math instructors I have ever had. If you are not that confident in your math skills, Prof. Schlenoff will help you in every way that he can. I was in danger of failing this course but he and his TA sat through hours of office hours with me and provided me the support I need to pass. Truly a great teacher. Very fair grading policies and some opportunities for extra credit as well. Also, do the problems in the back of the book as they are almost identical to his test and quiz questions.
Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2023	Best math professor ever. He is so straightforward and clear with the content and almost explicitly shows you the problems that will be on the quiz. Posts all his notes and is NEAT. I find it so hard when math professors are messy cuz then I can't follow along, but he color codes as he lectures and is so organized with the work. Highly recommend him for any math course. If you pay attention to lectures or notes, you'll have no issues, you get to drop one exam and some quizes + hw so I started to skip at the end of the semester but I am still chilling
Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/04/2023	Good teacher, extremely accomodating if you talk to him. Exams fairly easy (compared to other teachers) and generously graded. Minor downside may be that he sometimes rushes but all the material is posted. (Also he stays after class most days to help people with things they don't understand)
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/04/2023	Overall a really good professor! His lectures are informative and explain the content well. The exams reflect course material. I find the discussions kind of annoying since they are mandatory, but they can be helpful. The homeworks are the only downside, they are on webassign and are a pain. Homework is drastically harder than anything covered in lecture or on exams. If you have ever taken calc 1 before (i took ap calc in hs), you can honestly skip most lectures and still be fine for exams.
Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/03/2023	He is the best!! Makes jokes and is really kind. He always pauses and asks if anyone has any questions before he moves on from something in lecture. He never makes you feel dumb or afraid to ask questions. His practice exams are nearly identical to the real ones and his notes are easy to understand and follow. Writes clearly and is excellent at explaining concepts.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/01/2023	Average lecturer and kind of a meek, unrelatable guy, but at the moment he's definitely the best choice to take MATH140 with. I switched from Kendall Williams to Chad right before the first exam, and the averages for the first midterm between the two classes were around 20 points apart (I think chad's were in the 70s with Williams' in the 50s). This was a consistent pattern all semester. All of this is to say that even though Chadwick could improve some aspects of his class -- in fact, I found Williams to be a much more engaging lecturer -- Chadwick's exams are far more forgiving. You're given a sample exam that will be close to identical to the exam itself, with the occasional curveball (but emphasis on occasional). If you did well in calc in high school, but fell short of the AP score needed to bypass 140, this class will be totally manageable. Study, stay on top of it, and Chad will set you up to succeed.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/20/2023	If you have to take Tim just know you will be teaching yourself Calculus 1, which is doable but you’ll have to work hard. Go to discussion and go to your TA’s office hours they will help you way more than Tim. He only reads from his slides and those slides are the exact same as his covid recordings. The slides are not really representative of the difficulty of what you’ll have to learn, they only really expose you to what you need to go learn on your own. The benefits of Tim have nothing to do with his teaching, but his system. The exams are generally pretty similar to the practice exams, he drops a few hws/discussions, Halves the effect of your worst exam, and tends to curve grades by a little bit at the end. Tim himself is a horrible teacher who doesn’t even try, but he has some resources and policies which are better than nothing. Tldr if you are planning on teaching yourself calculus there are some benefits in taking Tim, if not you are in for a rude awakening.
Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 04/18/2023	Honestly the best math teacher I’ve ever had. Engaging. Funny. And overall keeps an upbeat mood to keep you into what he’s teaching.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/11/2023	Great professor. Lectures are easy to follow and the exams reflect the difficulty of in class work/examples. the textbook can help, but isn’t fully needed. homework is on webassign and they are the worst part of the class lol. i spend more time trying to figure those out than i do anything else in the class, but he drops the three lowest grades for HWs i think, and u can get by with photomath and chegg and stuff. the discussions are mandatory because the work is graded, but it’s honestly not too bad and is a good review of the content. the discussion quizzes (usually like every other week), are usually pretty straightforward and reflect what we did in lecture. definitely a good professor for this course!
Nelson Moll MATH140 Expecting a C- Anonymous 03/21/2023	What isn’t there to say about Nelson? He’s got all the stuff that makes him a good professor and guy. He’s always willing to take time.
Nelson Moll MATH140 Anonymous 03/21/2023	What isn’t there to say about Nelson? He’s got all the stuff that makes him a good professor and guy. He’s always willing to sit down with me.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous_Entity 03/11/2023	I'm late reviewing him as I took math 140 3 semesters ago, obviously. He is bad, JUST BAD. Don't take him, take gulick instead if you are willing to have an early schedule. His exams are rediculus and he reduces the lowest exam score by half and drops alot of assignments but that does not make up for how downright bad he is. AVOID HIM!
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 03/10/2023	The following will be a comprehensive review of both the class and this professor specifically. First, let's start with Professor Chadwick. Hands-down, Professor Chadwick was the worst mathematics teacher I have ever gotten. Accompanied by the fact that I have never learned Calculus in my life, his explanations were dull and his methods of teaching were non-existent. In fact, it got so bad to the point where I never showed up for class and had to learn derivation and other topics all on my own. Even for students who have taken calculus in high school, he does NOT teach and you will be sitting in a room for an hour and 30 minutes that consists of him doing textbook problems on his own and talking to himself. On that note, his method of "teaching" is to just translate the whole book word-by-word verbally which helps literally no one. He often skips steps on problems and rushes which leads to a lot of questions. As for his responses, they are all so convoluted that it makes everything more confusing than if he would have just ignored questions altogether. When he asks students if they understand, they would nod their heads and just stay silent for the remainder of the hour (or year for that matter). Chadwick does NOT curve, mostly does NOT offer partial points, and does NOT record lectures. One more important thing to note is that Chadwick's exams do NOT have any WebAssign problems nor any resemblance to the study guides he gives us. Do not expect to succeed unless you have taken Calculus before and even then, it's still difficult to pass. Every positive review about Chadwick is, by assumption, a student who has taken Calculus in high school or someone who failed and is trying to get others to fail alongside them. Again, to reiterate, I have never taken a year of Calculus prior to Chadwick and only by sacrificing marks of other classes and using external resources did I manage to pass. Now onwards to the Math Department as a whole. Math at UMD is so comically difficult that it should be considered a cruel and unusual punishment. They do a terrible job at writing exams relative to the time students spend on each topic/chapter. Students have other responsibilities, however UMD math still continues to assign weekly quizzes, biweekly exams, and unforgiving WebAssign due dates (7 AM every Tues/Thurs). Not to mention that WebAssigns on average take 5 or more hours to finish because of the nature of the problems. I recommend everyone to steer FAR FAR away from the math department at UMD or transfer credits over from a community college.
Melanka Wedige MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/21/2023	Melanka was a great TA for Calculus 1. While homeworks were pretty manageable, the hard discussion questions were barely possible to answer without Melanka's wonderful explanations. He was like a mini professor who could break down the concepts really well and explain them perfectly. He made my base in Calculus 1 stronger.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an F Anonymous 02/10/2023	Lectures were easy problems but exams were on a completely different level, extremely difficult, if you took Calc in high school this class should be easy but if you've never taken a Calc course before, taking it with Chadwick is like a death sentence. You need to put in a lot of effort to learn stuff not taught in class and are expected to know certain rules. Doesn't record lectures. Chadwick didn't allow us to check our grades on ELMS (disabled grade viewing) until the end and didn't know how I was doing. TA wasn't much help as well. Highly recommend staying far away from Chadwick and taking MATH140 with any other professor. It's for your own good.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a D Anonymous 01/31/2023	idk about all the other reviews on here but he spends most of the class time on deriving equations which would get complicated, would be very time consuming, and even after all that, we wouldn't even get tested on that part of derivatives. he doesn't curve the class so if you're below the average, you gotta pull your stuff together. to be fair, i didn't put in the amount of effort that i should've + it seemed that every smart student just happened to be in my section so it was tough. our TA was also not very helpful in that he was lazy, refused to grade most of our assessments until the very last minute (i'm talking a couple of days AFTER the final), and was very vague when we asked questions. discussions just sucked in general 'cause they were just worksheets after worksheets without reinforcing what we went over in class so studying outside of class is an absolute must. To return to Chadwick: he's certainly not the best professor. he does the easiest examples in class and then proceeds to test you on more complicated questions which, of course, can't all be completed in the span of 50 minutes. There are way better professors than this dude so unless you're a genuinely goated math person, pick someone else.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 01/30/2023	IDK why people keep saying he's the best in the department, every professor in this department is identical. The student is a number to this department, they do not care about your problems and your only hope is if you have a good TA, which I did not. Alex did not grade any of our worksheets until the day before the final and I had no clue how I was doing in the class. Average grade ended up being a 72 and Chadwick would not curve at all.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 01/27/2023	Gulick is hilarious and a very traditional professor, who has been teaching longer than you or your parents have been alive. If you have a good morning routine, taking 8ams with Gulick isn't a bad idea. He does not upload his examples or work onto his lecture notes and his handwriting can be hard to see, so make sure to sit closer to the front. Although he moves quickly, he will always stop and ask if anyone has a question with is work. As someone who has never taken calc before, this class wasn't super hard as long as you can sit down and do the webassign homeworks. There may be some points where you need to watch some youtube videos to understand things, but it's not daily. Gulick also writes the final exams since he is the department head, he will give many hints as what to expect and it almost feels spoonfed with all the practice exams available. You will definitely have a better understanding of calculus after taking Gulick.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 01/25/2023	Amazing Professor. Super personable, answers all your questions without being condescending, and just wants you to succeed. Definitely take him if you get the chance!
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/20/2023	Probably your best bet for MATH140. Mackall's exams weren't too hard (just the third one..) and he's personable and answers questions well for the most part. The homework kept me on track and lectures were semi-useful, he spends a lot of time talking about theory and derivations instead of focusing on examples that would show up on exams. I was mostly self-taught out of the textbook and discussion was completely useless but GSS was really helpful. We went over questions that were representative of the exams. Good curve at the end of the semester and the final was easy.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/15/2023	Chadwick is a good professor in the sense that he tells you what is exactly going to appear on the exam and his exams are fair but conceptual. You should attend all his lectures and most discussions. His TAs are really good too. The only negatives are that he cannot answer a student's queries properly so you must take help from the TA and the class is time consuming. Be prepared to put in time for it. If you do those, then you are pretty much guaranteed an A
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 01/13/2023	I'll keep this simple: Confusing Lectures Hard homework assignments Hard Tests But a really good curve.
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 01/13/2023	Overall the class was taught pretty well. I think he did spend a bit too much time talking about theory in lecture, but when he actually did examples in lecture they were similar to those on homework which helped me understand the topics. I though the homework wasn't that bad and time-consuming but friends of mine struggled so I recommend having a study group to help you. Midterms were pretty hard but I recommend just doing practice problems from the textbook and past homeworks as most of the exam is made up of those kind of questions. Curve at the end of the semester was very helpful to my grade and I felt like the difficulty of the tests and homeworks helped me on the final as I felt it was very easy compared to the rest of the class.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Anonymous 01/12/2023	For the love of god, do not take this professor. He is not good at teaching at all. Even when approached outside of class, he is sarcastic and unforgiving. Take another professor if you can
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting an A- mlc301 01/05/2023	Pros - Really good lectures, uses the blackboard and writes out steps at all examples, good at answering questions - Nice, personable, funny guy - The curve at the end was helpful and fair Cons - No lecture notes, but that didn't matter at all to me because if you attend lecture, the notes you take in there will be enough - Exam 3 had a 53 average with no curve. He only curves at the end of the course
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/31/2022	As a professor, he could be better. I feel like the lectures focused less on you understanding and more on you knowing where it was derived from. More time was spent on teaching how some of these concepts were found and their relation to others instead of making sure that you understand the idea itself. The exams are also kind of difficult so I recommend studying if you can. I didn't study for any of the exams and BS'd most of the homeworks and was able to pull through with a B+ in the end despite taking the class in junior year of high school. The curves at the end of the semester are huge though and I think that this definitely offsets the difficulty of the exams. Overall, I recommend him as a teacher and in your discussion sessions, ask your TA for any and everything you need clarified.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/24/2022	For everybody saying this guy is an amazing teacher, is lying. They're only saying that because they have taken 2 years of Calculus prior to college (most have taken Calc AB AND Calc BC but weren't smart enough to get the credit so they took it again.) Of course if you already know the material, you are going to do decent, I would hope so if you don't have the IQ of a dead squirrel. So if you already have a strong understanding of Calculus, you should do okay. If you had never taken Calculus, it will be a struggle for you. This guy practically freestyles the textbook, and does very little teaching. In other words, he basically copies what the textbook says, word for word onto the chalkboard. The lectures aren't interactive, and he'll just keep writing while hoping we know what he's talking about. Actually no, he couldn't care less if we know the material or not. The only helpful thing in this course was my TA, Tyler. Tyler was very helpful and I was able to go to his office hours whenever I wanted to and he was always more than happy to help me with concepts I am not sure about. However, the discussions were completely useless. Despite taking a quiz every other week, (the quizzes were generally easy consisting of 2 questions), we would be graded on a worksheet that aren't test-like problems at all. The discussion worksheets were probably harder than the tests, maybe. Overall, this guy doesn't give an f about you or your grade, so take this class seriously.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Anonymous 12/24/2022	Professor Chadwick isn't a bad teacher, but he isn't quite the best either. I have enjoyed being in his class and the one thing making me from going off the rails is my TA. Chadwick lets you know that this course is not going to be easy. The one thing I like about his class are how his midterms are structured, as each midterm appears to be "unit tests" for each chapter we have covered in class. The midterms are hard, but he gives a midterm from the previous year and a sample midterm before each exam so they prepare you very well. I have had friends in this class who self-study and do incredibly well without having to go to lectures. Professor Chadwick makes the effort to answer questions and is genuinely a nice person. The web-assigns and discussion worksheets he gives are fair, BUT are harder than what we have covered in class (they aren't really good review material, but if you work well with other people in your class it should be fine). The quizzes are similar to class notes. Speaking of notes, although he does cover everything that is in the textbook and curriculum, he tends to skip steps during class due to time so if you need any clarifications, speak up! He sometimes goes over time but the most I have seen is him going over the time by around one or two minutes. He will tell you what is on the exams and what is not on the exam, such as particular proofs that he teaches you (proofs won't be on the exam and you don't have to know it for any exams, but he has said that it is good to know). One helpful thing I would say is to go to his office hours whenever you get the chance or whenever you do not understand anything. Also, take good notes as they are helpful. Calculus 1 isn't that bad if you practice and take the time to learn or even ask questions. There are a lot of resources online to help you if you do not have the time to go to office hours. Plus, Chadwick gives you extra problems from the textbook for you to practice with. The web-assigns are similar to the problems on the textbook too. Everyone can do well in this class if they put in the work. Overall, Chadwick is an honest and prepares you well for the final. He does curve a little bit for the final as well. If you have taken AP calculus AB or BC before, that background knowledge can be decently helpful, but as usual, the AP calculus courses doesn't cover everything in calculus as calculus 1 in UMD covers some things you might have not seen before, and a lot of content you recognize previously in your AP calculus class. Personally, Chadwick's class goes as fast as AP calculus BC. Although I was able to keep up with his lectures, I am aware that some others are unable to keep up with his teaching and what I can say about that is to practice or even watch videos to try and understand. On midterms, he does give out partial credit unless said so otherwise (for example: on one of the midterms, Chadwick said that if we did not get the derivative correctly, we will receive 0 points on that question, which is honestly understandable, I don't know how you're getting through calculus with the wrong derivatives). All in all, he does a good job teaching and doesn't get enough credit for it. Shoutout to my TA for being the best and the most helpful :)
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/23/2022	His exams are tough and he spends a lot of time teaching theory as opposed to just the concept. Those are really the only downsides. Besides that it is very doable to do well in his class. He tells you what type of questions are on the exam so you can prepare.
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/22/2022	Very reasonable professor and course. I came in having little experience in calc and was able to do very well in the class. For me, the theory that he went into was helpful and made the content easier to understand but that may not work as well for others. Get into the habit of reading the textbook before class so you're prepared for lecture. Webassigns were very helpful for reviewing the content we learned. Discussion worksheets were pretty difficult and intimidating but are designed to make you think. Your best resources are the textbook, office hours, and GSS. His midterms were of reasonable difficulty and had no surprises -- sometimes the problems came straight from the textbook, other times they included problems reviewed in GSS. Sometimes you would be short on time but as long as you make sure you really understand the material and do practice (lots of practice) you should be fine. Do the homework and the suggested textbook problems and any practice exams that are given, go to office hours when you have questions, and attend GSS for the extra review.
James Conway MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/22/2022	Conway was pretty good. I think his best quality is how accessible he is. Responds fast to emails and on piazza. He is also incredibly helpful in office hours and is willing to take the time to make sure you know a concept well. I think his exams were pretty fair as well. The first one did not go so well, but he allowed it to be replaced by our final, which helped in the end. My only main negative is that he did not provide us practice exams, but this made sense as it was his first sem teaching and he tests differently compared to other profs. Overall, I enjoyed the class
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an F Anonymous 12/21/2022	Dr. Chadwick is not so bad of a professor. I would just say that the bulk of the grade in the class came from exams. My main issue is that the material learned in class was simple. Exam questions were a million times harder. Even in discussion, we didn’t necessarily have similar practice problems. If he gave us higher difficulty problems to get used to then, I’d appreciated that more. Calc can be hard. Dr. Chadwick can be a good prof to have if you don’t already struggle with math. My TA was super helpful. Partial credit on tests were very slim. Curve at the end wasn’t huge like everyone made it out to be. Just be sure to practice and study the way you study best.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/21/2022	Having taken 140, Professor Chadwick implicitly lets you know his class won't be easy. In his lectures, you'd notice that he loves proofs: definition of derivatives, chain rule, and epsilon-delta definition of limits. On some exams, we may be asked to find the derivative of a function using the definition of a derivative, but you won't be asked to explain why it's correct. You're often taught content you don't need to know, which ultimately doesn't help since they're not thoroughly explained. In discussion, the worksheets focus on the theory behind the content taught. The TAs are an incredible help, and it's advised to ask as many questions to them. Professor Chadwick provides lectures for reviewing for upcoming exams, which were extremely beneficial. He also provides past semester exams both in discussion as practice, and online. He does answer questions during lectures, but you'd be more likely to receive the best response if you stay after the lecture, as he doesn't mind writing on the chalkboard to re-explain a topic. The homework assignments are a lot more difficult than content discussed the day of in lecture, so it's also recommended you form study groups. I'd say one should expect to be teaching themselves. The quizzes are simple, maybe one or two questions, and less difficult than discussion worksheets and homework assignments. It'd behoove one to review lecture notes daily, understand how to solve the homework questions (instead of resorting to Google), and go to TA office hours, as well as the professor's own. Professor Chadwick certainly wasn't the best, but as it's my first semester, I can't compare him with other math professors. Nonetheless, as what's in the syllabus, "you can do well in the course, but it takes work".
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Anonymous 12/21/2022	Getting any kind of a solid Math140 professor is impossible, and when it comes to lectures and their content Eoin was quite solid and answered questions. However, the discussions were unlike what was covered in lectures often and the last 2 exams were unreasonably difficult (Exam #3 had a 52% average) and did not receive a curve. The first two exams had good averages and were quality exams though. He did not record lectures and threatened to not curve the final grade at first (but he eventually did thankfully). He is one of the better options but more is desired when it comes to midterms which are important.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2022	Pros: -Gulick is a funny "cute old man." -If you took any calculus class in high school, it's very easy but you still need to study for exams. -Lecture notes are posted before class and are very detailed. -Final was very easy compared to previous years (I did the past 4 years of finals from the test bank as practice and the real final was incredibly easy, but that might just be luck this year). -You can work as a group for discussion sheets. Cons: -If you did not take calculus in high school, or did not do well, then this class is going to be hard. Gulick kinda speeds through concepts and sucks at teaching because he uses very old and confusing ways to describe things. -You have to memorize theorems that are not common sense. -Tests can be hard, and make up most of your grade. -Even though I did almost perfectly on the discussion worksheets, THEY ARE CONFUSING, DIFFICULT, AND IRRELEVANT TO WHAT IS TAUGHT IN LECTURE. -Can't use L'Hopital's rule for limits. Overall: I skipped 40% of lectures and did perfectly well in the class only because I enjoy math and was good at it in high school. If you aren't math-minded, then it will be impossible to understand the lectures since the language used seems to be more of a code than an explanation. If you took any AP calculus class this will be mostly review. I would not recommend this class unless it is necessary (which it is for most of you reading this so you're out of luck).
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/18/2022	Although his mid-terms are harder than any other professor, he goes into depth for each topic, helping you understand the concept behind what you are doing. You should do okay in the class by using the textbook to study, doing practice problems, and studying in a group (most important).
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2022	Dr. Chadwick is rather meek and impersonal (which may be traits of all math professors but this is the only math class I've taken here), but he is not a bad professor. His explanations are good enough and he will occasionally answer questions. TAs were good, homework can be hard but most of the grade is exams anyways. Worksheets can also be hard but TAs and classmates can help get through it, and a little bit of effort goes a long way in understanding the concepts.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/17/2022	If you take him, he has + or - which other teachers don't have, so take that into consideration. Otherwise, the practice exams before each midterm is identical to the midterm he gives, so it's great if you like knowing the format of the midterms ahead of time. He is very nice and likeable. He writes the final so taking him is a good idea if you want to know the format of the final.
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/17/2022	Get ready for the most comprehensive review of this man. To sum it up, I found him pretty difficult because he focused more on theory and made difficult exams. Homework was pretty time intensive and I did not like his personality (he came off as very condescending to me). He couldn't stop bringing up his girlfriend in lectures. I could've taken him for MATH 141 next semester, but I decided to choose a different professor because he did not know how to teach (not that any other professors are much better. The math department sucks at UMD). What the class consisted of: Three lectures a week and two discussions a week. Every discussion, we would have a 10 point page worksheet, that was difficult in it of itself to complete. If I didn't know people in my discussion or have such an amazing TA, I would've failed all of these worksheets. It's really important to get a good TA for discussions because while my TA was extremely reasonable and helpful, I had some friends who their TA would give them a 0 out of 10 on these worksheets because they made one mistake. Onto the lectures, I felt so lost during all of them. He talks a lot about theory, which causes his lectures to absolutely make no sense. Even when he talked about concepts I've already learned, they made no sense anymore after he went through them in lecture. He also was never early. If he wasn't exactly on time to class, he would either be 5-10 minutes late. I also didn't like his attitude. He had a dry sense of humor, which came off as very condescending. We had homework due every Tuesday and Thursday morning (due at 7:45am so you basically had to do it all the night before). These homework's were quite often long and tedious. Before I had a solid study group, it would taken me up to 5 hours to complete them (reduced to 1-2 hours with a study group). Because he mostly talked about theory in lectures, he was no help when it came to being prepared for homework. I had to teach all of the concepts myself to be able to even complete just the homework. Also, he didn't record lectures, not that it made much of a difference though since I didn't learn much even from going to lectures. His midterms were difficult, more so than some other professors. There were 4 midterms, all of which he wrote (a few of them also had questions about useless theory that no one paid attention to). I had about an average of 72% cumulative for all the midterms. The only exam I really did well on was the second exam (intro to derivatives and I got a high A). The worst exam for me was the third exam (applications of derivatives) as the class average was a 52%, because the questions were unrealistic for the amount of time we got. Keep in mind that I studied for a week for all of these exams. The only thing I will say about his exams is that there were a lot of problems that were taken straight from the textbook, so if I could go back, I would pay more attention to the textbook. I found the final exam a lot easier than most of his midterms. I still studied for about a week, but I was able to an 89% on the final whereas I only had one midterm that I scored above an 89%. The math department writes the final exams, so they were very similar to a lot of the past final exams on the test bank (and Mackall wasn't the one writing it so that made it more manageable). Finally, even though he said there wouldn't be a curve for anything, he did end up curving the final grades and a 61% became a C-.
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/16/2022	He is a pretty personable dude and lectures are funny sometimes. He spends way to much time on definitions and how deriving equations. I don't care how you got to that equation just show me the equation or whatever and how to apply it. Because he spends 40 out of 50 minutes of a lecture (if he shows up on time) on definitions and the proof of the equation we don't actually have time to see how to apply it. Also the homework sucks and is just completely useless most of the time plus the discussions are insanely difficult and just a giant waste of time but they are only 5% of the grade. I signed up for him after all the reviews said he was fair on exams but that didn't hold up. Exam 1 and 2 weren't bad but 3 and 4 were super hard and he basically told us he would curve the whole class because the average for exam 3 was a 50 then came in at the end and said no curve out of no where and screwed half the class. Bro is a straight genius and could actually explain stuff if you have the time to go to office hours. Go to GSS because it will save your grade. This is all on top of the textbook and overall math140 being an absolutely terrible curriculum.
Nathan Janus MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/14/2022	I had Tim Pilachowski (a very unhelpful and bad professor), but Nathan was a great TA! He really cared about us knowing the material and he was very good at explaining the topics to us during discussion. He was really friendly and helpful and he definitely carried the course for me.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/14/2022	Prof Schlenoff is an excellent professor. By far the best 140 professor from what I have heard. His lectures are super affective at teaching the material and I never felt lost. The exams, while challenging, are completely fair game with absolutely no surprises on the content. This course is challenging but completely managable with prof schlenoff. If you are an FC student I 100% recommend taking 140 with him.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/13/2022	if you haven’t taken calc before i don’t think he is the professor for you. he is very vague in his teaching style and does not actually write out any math problems physically in real time. he also i feel belittles people when you ask questions after class. also if you have any kind of test anxiety he makes testing environments so bad by yelling and screaming at people to follow his directions. if you end up with him you’ll pay be fine as long as you talk to your TA anytime you need help. it’s also nice that he drops some of the lower grades but overall i would NOT recommend
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/13/2022	Started coming in 10 minutes late regularly near the end of the semester, seems to be underprepared when he finally does show up, and comes across like he doesn't want to be teaching calculus to freshmen anymore. I learned more doing GSS than I ever did going to the lectures. He is brilliant with math, but is young for a Postdoc and has a lot of learning to do if he wants to be a good professor.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/12/2022	BEST PROFESSOR ON THE PLANET!!!!!
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/11/2022	Chadwick is a seemingly good professor, he teaches the material fine. Straight out of the textbook and answers a few questions, before he gets frustrated with the class. My major issue with Chadwick is that his exams were usually ALOT harder then the content he taught. On one exam, he even expected us to know a random volume equation completely offhand. If you have taken a quality AP Calc class you should be fine, but if not good luck! I would never take Chadwick again he does not curve and is not accommodating. He had no issue telling me I should drop the class, however when I met with him after doing well he refused to give me the time of day and answer my questions. If you take this class be prepared to review review review. The graded worksheets he gives twice a week and the exams are usually harder and not like the content he teaches in class. Chadwick always teaches the easiest questions and leaves us to fend for ourselves for the hard ones.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Anonymous 12/11/2022	Really helpful instructor. Do the problems he puts on the syllabus and you'll pass every quiz. He also drops 3 quizzes, a few homeworks, and half of your lowest midterm. Take this professor if you want to learn and finish with a good grade.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/10/2022	Tim is a professor who will either help you get through the class, or completely fail you. It all depends on how you learn. Basically, Tim doesn't teach MATH140 like the other professors where they work out problems on a chalkboard or whiteboard. Instead, he just scrolls through a slideshow. So if you can learn math through a slideshow or have taken calculus before, Tim is a good option. The one thing about Tim that is really great is his lecture outlines. For basically all his classes, he has a lecture outline for each unit and topic, allowing you to take notes on it digitally or print them out and take notes on them by hand. They have all the information you need, and all you need to do in work out the problems he goes over in lecture. His lectures are all recorded, so class attendance really isn't mandatory. I know a lot of other MATH140 professors aren't able to finish a topic completely in class, so having Tim's videos help a lot compared to a professor who doesn't record them and don't finish a topic completely. His exams are also on the easier side compared to other professors. He is a huge anti-bike person, so be prepared to get lectures on UMD bike laws and such. Your TA also plays a big role in your success with Tim, as my TA practically taught me the majority of the information. He applied a generous curve at the end as well.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/09/2022	Some of the reviews here are factual, but a lot of them have misleading information. Mr. Chadwick doesn't get as much credit as he deserves. He talks about all of the topics you will need to know for the class, goes over examples during lectures that are similar to quiz and exam problems, provides helpful review sheets before each midterm exam, and gives partial credit on exams if you actually SHOW that you know what you're doing. Yes. He ignores students' questions during lectures (forcing some students to call out), and he isn't great at helping you understand the material, but if you put in the effort and go to office hours or talk to TAs you will do fine. People expecting a free class shouldn't be taking a math class in the first place (and if you need a math credit for your major try your best and you will do great things). Math is complicated and you will need to put in the effort to do well no matter what professor you take. Overall, I would honestly suggest taking Chadwick, but be prepared to study and review the material to do well. This year there were 4 midterm exams (each with 5 questions and with a time limit of 50 minutes) and our final this year will be 9-10 questions with a time limit of 2 hours. I plan on taking Chadwick for 141 if a spot opens up.
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2022	He spends majority of the lecture going over the theory of the topic instead of teaching us how to solve the problems (so we can do the homework). In the beginning of the semester, he would take half of the class going over a warm up question. Personally, I struggled a lot because I have a hard time teaching myself with the textbook, but that's what was expected out of us - that we teach ourselves. If I didn't have my TA or GSS, I would have been done for. HIs midterms are difficult and not doable in the amount of time that we are given. For some reason, whenever we do bad on a midterm or express that we're struggling, he compares us to his college student girlfriend and tells us everything she's doing right and that we should be more like her.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a W Anonymous 12/08/2022	Took this class with Chadwick based on previous reviews, but this professor is so terrible. The exams don't give partial credit, he ignores students' questions in class, the online homework has nothing related to class content, and the only way to do well is to pray you have a good ta. I would not recommend him as a professor at all, or this class at umd in general.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/08/2022	Dr. Chadwick is an alright professor if you're a pretty quiet student like me. He isn't always the best at answering peoples' questions and concerns and can come off as a little judgmental or condescending. He is also not super great at keeping his students quiet during lecture so he can get talked over a lot. There's no actual review time in this class, so really any studying or practice you do will be outside of class, because his lecture time is almost strictly devoted to learning new content. He is also super unresponsive to emails so if you have any concerns, just talk to him after class. He's an okay professor. Honestly I think for MATH140 the most helpful people will be your TAs!
Nathan Janus MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2022	Nathan was my TA and he was far better than my professor, Tim Pilachowski. He is great at explaining the concepts that the professor just speeds through while reading off his slides and also led great exam reviews (absolutely go to these if you have him.) Overall a 10/10 TA and really knowledgeable.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/07/2022	I highly recommend you not to take this class unless if you have taken Cal before. Pilachowski teaches through a powerpoint and talks like a robot. His exams tend to also be a bit harder than the practice exams we are given and he's very picky when it comes to grading them. The only good thing about him is that he doesn't give minus grades and has recorded lectures. If you stuck with him I highly recommend getting close with the TAs so you can understand what is being taught in better detail.
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/07/2022	To be clear, MATH140 is just awful regardless of who you get. The process of getting a MATH140 professor is just sorting through all the professors and choosing which one is the least bad of them all. Personally, I enjoyed Mackall for what he did. I'm not going to act like I understand a single thing during lectures. He explains everything decently theoretically, which caused most students to not understand anything during lectures. He also has a very dry sense of humor, which worked for me but not for some others. To me he seems like an interesting guy at least who is just stuck teaching MATH140. The real reason why you would want to take Mackall is that he is at least reasonable when it comes to telling you what will be on each midterm. The class before he would tell us how many questions were on it and which type of topic we learned would be for each question. This is the real reason why you take Mackall. His tests are hard but if you study enough, especially with a group (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), you will get at least 70s hopefully on the tests. Compared to other professors, he is just your best option. I honestly wouldn't listen to other reviews for other professors because the general consensus amongst the people I know in other classes is that they are just worse than him. Discussions are just unnecessarily hard worksheets that you have to cheat on or just rely on someone extremely smart to figure them out to solve them. My TA was not good at explaining, when he hardly did explain anything in the first place. I wouldn't say worry about getting a good TA, just worry about finding a group of people to study with. Expect to spend your entire life studying outside of your classes studying for this class. MATH140 is just a practical joke played upon students to make them want to dropout or switch majors just because UMD thought it'd funny. I really hate this class. Good luck future students, I hope you do not become as depressed as I did taking this class!
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/06/2022	Calc is a very difficult course but this professor knows what he is doing. He grades very fairly and is very understanding when it comes to course work
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/04/2022	This class is difficult, but I fucked up: you will do much better if you DON'T do what I did: 1) I did not do the practice problems. 2) I missed about 7-9 days of discussion worksheets. Make sure you can wake up for the discussions because the grades pile up. 3) I only studied 1-2 days before a quiz/exam. Honestly, Chadwick isn't a totally bad professor, and neither is the TA that I had (my TA was prolly the best part lol). Chadwick does spend time getting into the theoretical side of calculus concepts and doesn't answer emails (isn't forgiving about the Webassign tech difficulties), but his lectures are fine and he gives practice problems that are similar to the ones that come out in the quizzes/exams. However, make sure to realize that his exams are kinda(..?) cumulative and sometimes theoretical, so you have to have a good grasp of the concepts that he introduces. Honestly, it's kind of a surprise how I even managed to get a passing grade though I put in such little effort. Just be diligent and DO THE PRACTICE PROBLEMS Chadwick gives you! They will help, for sure.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting an F Anonymous 11/30/2022	(Preface: I didn't take any calc or precalc in high school, I didn't even do trig) I feel intuitively that Pilachowski's lectures are good ones, and he makes lecture notes & study guides which also helped, but that does not translate to my test grades unfortunately. He also posts the video versions so you can review it whenever. He answers questions well enough and tries to emphasize when something will be on the exam. Homework is a reasonable length (~20 or 25 questions a week), and the textbook is also a free pdf online, so that's a plus. I absolutely hated that discussions were mandatory though. Its so hard to think in them because they're so loud, and I didn't feel like I learned much in them; I was so behind it felt like I was just writing what my group wrote and had to figure it out later. I really wish they posted the discussion worksheets in elms so I could look them over beforehand.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/30/2022	Pilachowski is a pretty terrible lecturer; he just clicks through his Powerpoints at lightning speed without really explaining anything or going through steps to work out problems. He also wastes time during lecture by showing up late or spending the first ten minutes of class ranting about how much he hates bikes/scooters, giving condescending speeches, or reviewing basic information like his email address even well into October/November. This was very frustrating, especially since he did not actually respond when I did email him. The only reason I did not give one star is because he lets you watch his recorded lectures instead of attending in person. The videos are identical to the in-class lectures but at least you can watch at your own pace at your convenience. The graded discussion worksheets are not super fun but since all of the MATH 140 professors use them they are pretty much unavoidable. Overall I would suggest trying to get a different professor if you can, especially if you are new to calculus.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/11/2022	Not going to lie, this class is really difficult, which is not necessarily the instructors fault. However, for the exams, the problems that are practiced are never really given and thus you are expected to know formulas and situations which were not taught in lectures, which adds another level of difficulty. He does a good job of explaining concepts in lectures. I would recommend him for this course as it will be hard no matter the professor and Chadwick, I feel does a good job at helping make it "better".
Nelson Moll MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 11/03/2022	Prolly only the second strongest guy I know, but good guy
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/19/2022	(Preface: I took calc AB and BC in high school, though I didn't do great in either). Prof. Pilachowski is a good professor in my opinion. I believe he is an okay lecturer for the most part, but sometimes I feel he overcomplicates things which can confuse people. What makes him a good professor is not his lectures themselves, but all the resources he gives you to succeed. The discussion sessions are great for the most part, and his website has a ton of practice problems on them. His lecture outlines are also very nice since his lectures can be fast paced. Also, his grading policy is quite generous. Personality wise, he can come off as demeaning sometimes. He is other than that an absolute character, informing us on Roy Rogers deals and protecting the sidewalks from scooters.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka MATH140 Expecting an A- pfilardi 10/10/2022	Professor Gunatilleka was a fairly good lecturer and communicator. His teaching is nothing groundbreaking, and you'll definitely need to focus during discussion sections in order to keep up, but you can definitely do worse in terms of low-level math profs. Plus, he was willing to push back deadlines if he didn't finish covering material in lecture.
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 08/29/2022	I went from failing 140 last year to doing amazingly on tests with him. His pacing and flow in lectures is phenomenal. He doesn't rush and does example problems that are not only relevant to the material, but relevant to homeworks/exams. He definitely listens to feedback and makes accommodations for people very well. His curve at the end of the year was absolutely wild, I went up from a B- to a B+. His exams are pretty doable if you take the time to really understand the concepts taught in lectures. I totally recommend him if you're not the best with math and are looking for someone who's pretty easygoing.
Yong Cui MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 07/22/2022	Definitively one of the worst classes I have ever taken. His teaching style is all over the place and he spends most of the class time showing you proofs that you will never need to reference again. You practically have to teach yourself because his notes make no sense even when following along in class. The few examples that he does do in class are not evocative at all of the questions that will appear on quizzes, homework, or exams, they are way too simple. The questions on the quizzes, homework, and exams are so bewilderingly difficult that it's impossible to expect students to be able to complete them all in the allotted time. If you can do anything in your power to avoid taking this professor do it, his teaching style will literally drive you up a wall.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/18/2022	Pilachowski is such a good lecturer, I don't know why he gets so much hate. He is very lenient in correction, lowest score is dropped by 50%, 3 worksheets are dropped and 8 homework assignments too! Other than all this he doesn't give a minus grade so if you have above an 89 in the course you get a 4.0 GPA. I would recommend taking him.
Yichun Zhu MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/07/2022	Amazing professor. I struggled with math before and Professor Yichun Zhu made me love Calculus. Professor Zhu is super understanding and offers help whenever you need it. I recommend him for Calculus any day and any time.
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 06/09/2022	Mackall is great, first of all, the class is just trivial, but he makes sure to liven it up so lectures are definitely worthwhile. Also, his tests are comically easy, it could just be the course materials but it was honestly a breeze. In short, take Mackall and you won't even have to bother studying because his lectures are so great and the concepts are insanely easy!
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/21/2022	His lecture are kind of boring but you have to go to class because he does not record his lectures. He really cares about his students and is very reasonable for his tests. Also he is very funny at times and will make you mostly enjoy calc 1.
Rigo Zelada MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/17/2022	do not take him, he will not help you whatsoever and does not attempt to change his teaching style even when his students are failing. exams are disproportionately difficult compared to other professors within the math department and he doesn’t seem to actually care about teaching. I struggled a lot to get my grade which I don’t think should be necessary given the amount of time I put into this class.
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/17/2022	Started off a bit rocky, but he communicates his expectations well. If you seek help and guidance you will pass the class, very interesting lectures. If you pay attention and practice outside of class and attend discussions you will pass. Highly recommend. Mackall The Saint!
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/16/2022	As long you do the work and practice the rec questions from the textbook, you're set. Mackall does not lie as he always tells us straightforward which I liked the most. He cares for his students as he curved one of the midterms and created a passing score which almost everyone passed after finals. His exams are fair and similar to the practice but some comes from lecture problems or the textbook.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/14/2022	If you just need to take MATH 140 and do not need to take higher math courses I recommend taking Dr. Williams! His lectures are very straightforward and he only goes over the application not theory- so if theory confuses you he is the right professor to take. I need to take a lot more math courses, so personally I did not appreciate his application approach. I would have liked to learn more theory behind concepts to gain a deeper understanding. Also, his lectures are on the slower side so it is easier to understand if you struggle with math. For my class he recorded lectures, however I heard from previous semesters that he never recorded lectures- so take that with a grain of salt. His exams were extremely fair and put problems on the exam that he suggests in the textbooks. My class' average exam scores were around 60-70, but do not let that discourage you! If you study the concepts and his suggested problems you should be good for the exams. Just a side note- one of my best subjects is math but I truly believe Dr. Williams teaches well and creates good exams for those who do not necessarily excel in math. The only downside to taking him as your professor is that the chapter you learn in Monday lecture will have its corresponding homework due the very next day at 7:30 AM and sometimes the homework takes a long time.
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/06/2022	I don't know why the person below me thinks calculus is "beyond easy," I suspect they took it in high school. However, Eoin is seriously a great professor. He does many examples, takes questions, and is very responsive overall. He made a real effort to connect with his students and to care about their mental health, despite it being such a big class. Even though this is easily the hardest class I've taken so far at UMD, I can say Eoin was a much better professor than who I briefly had first semester before dropping it in the dro/add period (Pilachowski). Exams are hard and he doesn't curve, but Keystone Center, GSS, and Math Building tutoring make this class doable.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting a B+ anon154 05/05/2022	Gulick is very straight forward with fair exams. He gets frustrated with students who don't understand whats going on right away, but overall he wants you to succeed. He focusses on a lot definitions during lectures but its not needed on exams so you don't have to worry about the proofs of which a formula is derived from.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka MATH140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/03/2022	Will just read the textbook to you, but he is good with questions. The TAs, GSS, khan academy, and tutors are going to be far more helpful.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B+ akl2025 04/27/2022	Chadwick is a great professor! His lecture notes are neat and detailed, especially helpful for Webassign. Furthermore, Chadwick only tests what he has taught and reviewed in class, so you definitely earn a good 85% - 90% if you review and practice what he shows in class. His weekly quizzes are quite easy (20 minute quiz which covers 1-2 problems). The only 2 things that I might dislike about his class are: (1) the lecture hall sucks (it's the Armory) and (2) he isn't great at answering students' questions (mostly it's just rewording; but if you review the note after class, it will make more sense)
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/21/2022	Tim’s video lectures and lecture notes are amazing and I felt that I understand the material really well. (I only went to two lectures the whole semester because the videos were the exact same, if not better. In-person was not required.) My professor for 141 is a terrible lecturer so I’ve been teaching myself entirely with Tim’s notes for that class, which are on his website for anyone to see. His way of teaching made it very easy for me to understand calculus despite no prior experience beyond precalc in high school. One star subtracted because he is rude in emails. Don’t tell him if you ride a scooter.
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 03/29/2022	Literally the best math teacher I have ever had. I don't know why others say he is a hard teacher. He goes over tons of problems and is super easy with communicating his ideas. If you justGO TO HIS CLASS you will easily pass. He makes calc 1 beyond easy.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/14/2022	I thought I was not being a good student, but after taking math 141 with a real professor I have realized that he is awful. He is way too strict, and also doesn't even teach well. His PowerPoints do not explain how to do the problems, and then he asks questions on the exams that were barely covered in class. He makes his TAs grade the discussions harshly, which no one benefits from. Any other professor would be better. The TAs were good tho #Free Joe.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 02/02/2022	A really good choice for FC students. Calc is hard in general but he makes it not too bad.
Eoin Mackall MATH140 Anonymous 01/26/2022	nice guy- doesn't really know how to teach. doesnt do a good job making math140 easy for those who havent taken it before. if its your first time i def do not reccomend. Schlenoff is a great option for your first calc class.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 01/18/2022	prof schelnoff is absolutely amazing, and his TA is incredibly friendly. it can be hard to understand the content of things at first if you've never taken calc or took it forever ago and forgot about it- he goes over a lot of practice problems which helped me a lot, he also does review sessions before exams- just pay attention in class and take notes, you'll be good. I've never taken calc before but I still managed to get an a-
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/16/2022	Everyone in the class GroupMe hated Tim and his class, but in my opinion, it wasn't bad. In regard to Tim's teaching style, he always uses PowerPoint slides from the previous decade. Because of his style, a majority of students didn't like him, but I think that his slides were well-structured and provided very good explanations of concepts and examples to help us understand those concepts. His lecture outlines were like guided readings and that helped me quite a bit. Also, he grades our exams quite leniently. I've heard that professors like Denny Gulick won't give partial credit, while Tim does, so I like that about his class. However, the main caveat is that you have to rely on the lecture videos he posts on ELMS. The issue with his in-person lecture is that he will start lecture late because he's quite adamant about keeping bikers off the sidewalk and he comes to the lecture hall late, so about 10-20 minutes have passed since the lecture should've started. He rushes through the slides in his in-person lecture, while his lecture videos allowed you to actually understand the concepts. I can't say much about him as a person, because, in his videos, he's like the nicest grandpa, while in-person, he's like Scrooge.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 01/14/2022	He is a good teacher and he knows it. He put some of his lectures online and by the end of the semester, there were less than 10 people showing up for the discussions. He drops some assignments and wants everyone to do well.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Anonymous 01/11/2022	The course is difficult, and Schlenoff doesn't provide any curves. On the other hand, he allows for grading exceptions such as dropping the lowest quiz grade or halving the lowest midterm exam grade. He may be fast paced but does his best to listen to the students. As long as you stay up to date and follow his recommended course of study you can get a good grade. If you find yourself struggling, make sure to reach out to him, Schlenoff does his best to help you whenever possible. For three weeks straight I requested for a one on one session that helped me review what we went over in class, and it helped tremendously. He has a good personality and has never shown a hint of a negative attitude throughout the entire semester. Even though I found the course difficult, it easily become one of my favorites just because of him.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Anonymous 01/07/2022	He gives good lectures that were easy to follow and provided relevant examples to the homework and discussion worksheets. My chief complaint is that he offered no make-up options. I had COVID and still was not allowed to take the midterm that I missed due to isolation. He also did not record in-person lectures.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Anonymous 01/05/2022	I hate math, but Schlenoff saved my butt with his grading policy. He halves one of your exams, drops one quiz, and erases 3 of your homework assignments. One time, the whole class bombed one exam and allowed us to correct our mistakes for half of our points back. If you know nothing, you gotta do your own studying (to the person who rated him 2 stars). If you DO know Calc, you'll be fine. Glad I had him as my professor because I would have failed with another professor. If you are in Freshman Connection and have him, don't switch out unless you know you suck at math. It's calc, did you expect it to be easy?
Zachary Greenberg MATH140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/28/2021	Horrible experience. Only survived this class because of one of his amazing TAs and working with the MATLAB tutors and the Guided Study Sessions. Would not recommend this professor one bit.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/27/2021	Dr. Chadwick’s class is the perfect combination of moderation and challenge. I found his lectures to be effective. Although it is a lot of work such as quizzes, worksheets, etc. One of the best MATH Profs.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/25/2021	Denny is a nice guy and obviously very knowledgeable about calculous. However, his lectures are not good. He skips over algebraic steps for the sake of time but in doing so leave the majority of students confused and fumbling to understand what he did instead of focusing on the complex calculous concepts being taught. Personally, I would say WITHOUT PRIOR CALC EXPERIENCE DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS/PROFFESSOR. Gulick moves too fast for someone with no experience unless you are determined to do A LOT of outside work or possibly drop the class rethink it. On the POSITIVE, his exams are almost exactly like his reviews. NO CURVE (that I know of).
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/22/2021	Pilachowski is an average professor. He is for sure not the best that you can get although I won't say he is absolutely terrible— he gets the job done. I took AP Calculus AB in high school which resulted in me getting significantly above the average on all the midterms and on the final exam but I can definitely say that if you have never taken a Calculus course before, you will have trouble in this class. Pros: - The final exam is EXACTLY the same as the previous couple years' final exams. Like pretty much identical but different nambers. If you practice about 5 of them from the UMD math test bank, you should have no problem at all on the final. In my opinion (and reflected by the scores), the final exam is the easiest exam of the all the exams you will take in this class by far. This is important because the final is worth nearly 30% of your grade in this class. - Midterms are pretty easy and fair. There is always a topic or two for each unit that was never covered in AP Calculus though (ex: Newton-Raphson Method, and Delta Epsilon Proofs— in my experience at least), so you definitely need to study for this class, even if you've taken AP. - TAs for this class are generally helpful, even if they aren't necessarily yours. - With some classes, you can get away with not going to discussion, but not this class. During every discussion there is a worksheet that you do with your table that counts for a grade. - Homeworks are on WebAssign and they are pretty easy and are good practice. - There is a lecture outline for every lecture and makes it pretty easy and straight-forward to follow through. - Pilachowski ends up dropping your lowest couple homeworks and discussion worksheets to help your grade. He also cuts your lowest midterm exam score in half so it is worth fewer points in the final calculation. For example: if your lowest midterm is a 70/100, it will be changed to a 35/50 which helps your grade by about 1 or 2%, which is helpful if you are close to the next letter grade. Cons: - My worst complaint about this professor: he spends SO MUCH TIME at the beginning of EVERY CLASS talking about absolute nonsense. Pilachowski is infamous for hating bikes and electric scooters and will come into class with a new anecdote about how he almost runs over someone EVERY. SINGLE. CLASS... He also has general messages that he repeats every. single. class. which were helpful for maybe the first few weeks but even during the last weeks of the semester, he was reminding us to "mAke SuRe YoU PuT mAtH140 In ThE sUbJeCt LiNE of EaCh EmAiL oR eLSe I wILL nOT rEaD iT" or "mY CLocK iS SeT tO ThE tImE iN cOLorAdO". Not to mention that at the beginning of every class, he states "I think I will get through chapter ___ today", but then he doesn't and tells us to read the textbook or watch the lecture video online... Maybe if he didn't talk about the most irrelevant nonsense during the beginning of lectures, then he would actually finish teaching. - Like every college course, exams are everything. In this class specifically, you will take one diagnostic test at the beginning of the year, 4 midterms, and one final which total to over 80% of your overall grade. Each midterm is 12.5% of your final grade. Study hard for these exams as they will make or break your grade. One bad exam can drop you letter grades. Overall, pick someone else please. Save yourself. Pilachowski is an option for MATH141 which I am taking after MATH140 but me, along with almost everyone that had him for MATH140, are making sure to pick someone else. Pilachowski can get you by but overall, that's not the only job of a professor. Pilachowski almost always has the most amount of seats open for his sections because people try and avoid having him has a professor, rightfully so. However, if you are just looking to get in and out of Calculus 1 and you are familiar with the material already, Pilachowski is fine.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/22/2021	I recommend taking Dr. Chadwick’s class because it was a wholesome experience. His quizzes are simple compared to the exams (20 minute quiz that’s like 1-2 problems). The exams are also fair, pay attention to the practice exam that he provides and make sure you understand how to do the problems. In lecture, he seems to try to push through the material for the day to fit it all in. He does answer questions and is friendly about it, but it’s usually just him rewording what he said previously, and sometimes I’m not sure if it really helps the person asking. Discussion worksheets and WebAssigns felt kind of pointless for me because they had harder questions than what was on quizzes/tests. WebAssigns were kind of rough because they’d take like 2 hours, but not really Dr. Chadwick’s fault because everyone has to go through it.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/21/2021	AVOID THIS PROFESSOR! Professor Pilachowski was late for class most days which would cut into valuable lecture time. On top of this he could consistently go over the "rules of his class" every single day. Rather than the 50 minutes of lecture we should have had it was about 40. Since he was determined to get through all of his slides he would breeze through them so fast without answering most questions. Yes, he taught calculus through a slideshow every single day. He never wrote anything on the board. He would talk about bikes and scooters on the sidewalk some days while borderline harassing students for that outside of class. Once again, this would take up lecture time. The discussion worksheets were way harder than any examples he "taught" during lecture so everyone sat there having a way harder time than they should have. Homework was the same way, sometimes even putting material that we have not even learned on there. His exams were brutal, they were only 5 questions but 50 minutes was not enough time to finish with confidence for most students. Many trick questions on exams and would not curve exam grades or total grades at the end of the semester. When asking him a question via email, he would respond with very few words being vague with every answer sometimes ignoring the email completely. Horrible professor. Do not take his classes.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Anonymous 12/18/2021	The best plus of this class was that the tests were extremely fair. That's not to say easy, but the practice tests you are provided are the exact same format and type of problems as the real test. Class time is pretty tight, so don't expect a very thorough explanation to questions, and he will go over each topic one time so if you don't catch it I'd recommend watching youtube videos on it. Just make sure you can do the practice tests and you'll be fine.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Anonymous 12/18/2021	Coming into 140 with no prior calc experience, I was absolutely terrified. I expected to immediately withdraw and hate the course for the rest of my life. Schlenoff changed that. He not only is an incredibly smart and talented lecturer, but a caring person who deeply wants his students to understand and excel at calculus. His exams are hard, the quizzes suck, and the homeworks are annoying... but by god you will learn calculus well and he will be rooting for you all along the way. I feel incredibly prepared for MATH141 after taking this course, and coming from someone who thought they would have to take 115 after dropping 140, Schlenoff is an amazing professor. If you can, take him. There is a reason why he has a 5 star review here, and the moment you start the class, you understand.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/18/2021	Professor Williams was great for this MATH140. He was very thorough during lecture and helpful in office hours whenever I had webassign questions or questions on the material we covered in lecture. He makes his exams straight from the lost of practice problems that he gives to students. For our last midterm, he put a question word for word on the exam that we had worked out in class. Overall, he is a great professor.
Zachary Greenberg MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/15/2021	I loved that he posted recordings of the lectures so you could go back and reviews concepts you may have struggled on during class. I found the course to be pretty challenging but he does a good job of balancing out the tests with other grades like quizzes and homework's. Also very understanding of student circumstances which is why he drops the worst 4 homework grades and replaced all exam grades that were lower than our final with the score we got on the final exam.
Zachary Greenberg MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/15/2021	he is very accommodating to students by providing many office hours. However, he would sometimes beat around the bush in office hours when I would ask about a homework question because he didn't want to give me an answer which ended up with me still not understanding the problem. his teaching improved over the course of the semester but there are occasions where he over explains things and makes things a lot more complicated. He keeps a google doc open for questions during lectures which many students used. If you study the material and go to his and TA office hours, you'll be fine.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Anonymous 12/15/2021	If you have the option to take calc 1 with Schlenoff DO IT!!!! He really cares about his students and enjoys teaching which really helps. I took AP Calc AB in high school but I did not understand it well. Schlenoff explained everything amazingly and was always helpful with questions. He teaches by mainly doing practice problems which is how I learn best so that was a plus. He gives weekly quizzes but they are very easy and the exams are not too bad.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Anonymous 12/13/2021	He is an amazing teacher, definitely one of the best math teachers I've ever had. He is one of those teachers that is 100% on the student's side, so if you need to take calc then take his section.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Anonymous 12/13/2021	Amazing teacher, if there are available spots for this class, definitely take it. He's really good at teaching and teaches thru examples, unlike other teachers. Posts the lecture recordings if you email him and is very understanding. I've never taken calculus and he did a really great job explaining. He is very engaging and his main goal is to help us do better. Couldn't have asked for a better math class this semester, no complaints.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/10/2021	The other reviews do not lie, if you're reading this and have the chance to take Schlenoff, do yourself a favor and sign up for his section. Extremely nice and approachable if you have questions, tells you exactly what you need to know for every quiz and exam, very effective lecturer, there's honestly not a single bad thing to say about him. He has been my favorite math teacher of my entire schooling experience, and I honestly didn't even interact with him as much as I probably should've. Participate in his class, pay attention, do the extra problems that he gives you to prepare for quizzes and exams and you'll be more than set with Dr. Schlenoff. On top of this, if you have never taken calculus before, don't worry about that either. I hadn't before this class and Dr. Schlenoff went at a pace that was perfect for the few in the class that hadn't whilst also not boring to death the ones that had taken it before. TA was also very knowledgeable, funny, and approachable if you had any issues with grading. Again, take this class with Dr. Schlenoff if you can.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Anonymous 12/10/2021	Very good professor, his lectures are fast and he often hates being interrupted. But his exams are not that bad because the format is so similar to the practice ones and he covers enough of the topic that most of the people learn the material in the class. Discussions are a pretty big waste of time, but all the TA's were great and pretty helpful.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Anonymous 12/08/2021	Dr. Chadwick is a mediocre lecturer, he'll often gloss over non-calculus parts of a problem and assume you know what's going on and is reluctant to take questions during lectures (as it detracts from the amount of time he has to give examples) but will happily stick around to give help after class. As for the course itself, he is very transparent with due dates (all hw, quiz, and exam dates are listed in the syllabus...no surprises). He only gives 2 Webassigns and 2 worksheets per week. The Webassigns can be annoying and the worksheets are more theory than anything, but all in all help you understand the big ideas of each unit. The quizzes are very easy and are a fair benchmark of how you're doing so far. A few days before each exam he'll post 1-2 practice exams that will be covered in discussion. The exams themselves are challenging but not impossible. Best bet is to find a small group to work with, go to review sessions, and watch YouTube lessons on anything that doesn't click (Professor Leonard has been incredibly useful). At the end of the semester, he drops the lowest exam and a few worksheets. Overall, Dr. Chadwick is likely the best of the Calc 1/2 professors, and for good reason. Take him if you can.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2021	Chadwick is by far better than Gullick. Make sure you get a good TA--they're more important tbh. Chadwick is great though. Go to lecture and you will be fine. Chadwick asks constantly if everyone is okay with what we are learning. He never makes fun of students or talks about their race--ahhem Gulick. I wish I could have this man every semester. He is truly one of the best math teachers I've ever had. Class structure: Two weekly graded discussion worksheets like every Math140 prof, but he gives out sheets beforehand. Two weekly graded WebAssigns Occasional quizzes--not weekly 4 Midterms
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/06/2021	He cannot teach, the only thing good about his class was the TA's office hours where they were actually able to explain the concepts he taught. In the lecture, he is just telling you what the textbook says and doing problems straight from there, might as well just read the textbook for yourself. His tests are unbearably hard and my class average was around a D only a few people were doing well, even people who had taken calc AB/BC were struggling. When someone asks a question during the lecture, he would either give a rushed response or not even answer the question the student asked. Chadwick also spends 20 min doing one problem with all the steps and expects us to do that on the exam. The discussion worksheets are hard too, the way Gulick writes the worksheets is beyond me. He also barely responds to emails, I tried contacting him about a quiz grade and no response, the only way your gonna get a response out of him is after the lecture or through one of the TA's and by then it takes 2-3 emails by the TA to actually get to him. Please do not choose him as your MATH140 prof.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting an F Anonymous 12/06/2021	DO NOT, I repeat, do NOT take Denny Gulick for MATH140 if you can help it. The 8 am time is not worth it, and you will either hate yourself or stop going to class. He's like a mathematical genius which means he just expects his students to understand his super complicated and poorly-explained proofs that he writes in terrible, tiny handwriting on a blackboard during class, which don't help you understand any of the material at all, even with help of the textbook (which he wrote, btw). He does NOT record his lectures, and the discussion sessions are just an hour and 20 minutes of torture and confusion. He doesn't let you use a calculator on tests but then expects you to use a calculator on several of the homework problems, which themselves take hours to do (and you don't even get to see the correct answer if you get the problems wrong). He's also super disrespectful to students with foreign (specifically Asian) accents. TL;DR: DO NOT TAKE DENNY GULICK FOR CACL 1 OR 2.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/06/2021	He's not a great lecturer -- pretty ramble-y and doesn't do a great job explaining stuff. Probably wouldn't be doing that well if I hadn't already taken calculus in high school -- definitely would look for someone else if you're a first time calculus student. However, I have no complaints about him as a person. He offers extensions on homework if enough people ask and seems to be a pretty understanding guy. If you get him as a professor it's not the end of the world -- some of these reviews are way too negative in my opinion.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Anonymous 12/04/2021	Why is everyone lying about this man's ability to teach? He is not very detailed in his lectures, in fact he'll literally skip steps on the board and expect people to follow along. Though 2 homeworks a week is nice, it's hard to look on the bright side when a large portion of your day is spent completing it. I wouldn't recommend this professor to anyone and hopefully you guys don't make the same mistake I did.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Anonymous 12/04/2021	Everyone who gave this man a positive review lied. His lectures are just him rewording the textbook verbatim, he is not lenient or accommodating to students and his tests are unfair. Your best bet is relying on your TA if you want to understand the material in the slightest. Try asking him questions in class and he'll just ignore you or be too focused on cleaning the board to answer. And in the off chance that he DOES get to answer your question, he'll just restate what he said earlier and not provide any further elaboration. Me and many other students spend around 3-5 hours on a 10 question homework ALONE and the worksheets are substantially harder than the content we're quizzed/tested on. Overall, if you have the luck of having another professor TAKE THEM! And this is all coming from someone who took Calculus in high school.
Zachary Greenberg MATH140 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/03/2021	He is a really good professor and does a good job presenting all of the material. However the class is very fast-paced, and it seems like he talks and writes in 1.5 speed because by the time I copy an equation down in my notes he has already moved on to the next problem. He is receptive to all questions (and if you don't like speaking out in big lecture halls he has a question google doc too which was very helpful). Has many office hours which I would recommend going to. Overall would definitely recommend him as a professor, I wish he taught Math141 too.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting a W Anonymous 12/03/2021	Never shows his work, and changes the exams to questions that are nothing like the practice exams.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/22/2021	He is not a very good teacher, his teaching style is confusing, takes too long to get to the point, and has difficulty answering questions. He's a nice guy and is flexible with due dates, deadlines, and so on. But the only reason I'm doing well in this class is because I've taken Calc 1 in high school. I find the best strategy for keeping up with the pace is to watch his recorded lectures on mute on double speed, much better than attending lecture in person. Look elsewhere if you're taking 140 and you haven't taken Calc 1 in high school.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Anonymous 10/25/2021	Awful professor. The single upside is that he posted his COVID recordings to ELMS so I could do the lectures on my own and not have to come to his god-awful class. He goes over the syllabus EVERY class. All he does is talk about how much he hates bicycles. When he does decide to actually "teach" he just talks in the most robotic boring voice and clicks through slides. Doesn't write out a single equation. It's all on PowerPoint. Have to go to Math Success every night to survive this class. I took AP Calc in high school and got an A and this is a nightmare compared to that. My TA is also useless and I have to resort to using other discussion's TAs for help. Pilachowski also never responds to emails. Homework is assigned after every lecture that is due the next morning so if you need an extension or help, don't expect him to respond. I emailed him for my ADS accommodations nearly a week ago and still have no response. Worst professor on campus. Take Chadwick instead. He is significantly better. Everyone that was lucky enough to transfer out of Pilachowski's class into Chadwick's said it saved their grade and they're doing much better. The only other upside to this class is that he drops your lowest discussion and test grade, but that doesn't make much of a difference if he's not teaching the material clearly to begin with.
Zachary Greenberg MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/13/2021	This guy makes absolutely no sense in his lectures. His handwriting is atrocious, and he does not teach what is on the homework.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 09/17/2021	If you have taken AP Calculus BC, or AP Calculus AB, or lower-level calculus-related classes at UMD, then Pilachowski is probably an average or slightly below average professor at best. For people who have never taken calculus and this is the first course you will be taking, you want to AVOID PILACHOWSKI at all costs. His teaching method is quite possibly the worst fit for a math class. The way he teaches is by clicking "Next" on a 10-year-old PowerPoint. In lectures, he does not really explain anything or take any questions or do a real practice problem or show the steps or any of that. He does none of that at all. The way you learn math from a good teacher is by them showing you an example and giving you a step-by-step process on how to solve that specific problem in the future so that you would know what to do with that specific type of problem. Rather, he just reads word for word the complicated boring textbook definitions of terms in his powerpoints that never make sense to anybody. So to the general masses, unless reading word for word textbook definitions is how you learn math, his lectures are utterly useless. Now it would be unfair of me to critique the grading because all 140 classes have discussion worksheets and web assigns due each week graded on accuracy so even though that's a bit harsh, it is not his fault that's the way the coursework is given at UMD. What I can say however is that HE DOES NOT CURVE any of the tests even if the majority of the class fails or gets low grades. The most he does is drop a couple of the lowest discussion worksheets and hw assignments at the end of the semester which will not even impact your grade (1-2%maybe at most). What I can say is that when he is not clicking away at his PowerPoint, he constantly tries to make jokes throughout the lecture, as if to make up for the teaching method. He does organize things well and gives deadlines on the syllabus which I give him credit for. In order to succeed in this class, you would have either needed to A) have taken some form of calculus already so you have a thorough understanding already regardless or B) Have an amazing TA, prioritize all of your time onto this class and make the most out of every discussion session along with self-teaching yourself the entirety of the course. He is honestly fine as a person, just not the best teacher for someone new to calc. I am giving him a 1 star from the perspective that this was my first exposure to calculus ever and this was definitely not welcoming Probably a 2/3 star if you have taken the class before Tl;DR Bad choice if this is your first calculus class and you should drop it or choose another professor You might do fine if you have a lot of exposure or have already taken calc
Zachary Greenberg MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/30/2021	He is very understanding of students and tries to help out as much as possible. His class was challenging during the summer, but he tries to make you learn the subjects on your own, and then clear things up in person that you don't quite understand.
Jingren Chi MATH140 Expecting a P Anonymous 07/14/2021	Do not take this class, Whoever you are, I am begging you do not take this class. And if its your last, LAST resort good luck . Chi lectures straight from the book and each lecture will leave you more confused than the prior. His tests are entirely too difficult and he doesn't give nearly enough time to take them. He has no idea what he is doing and your best bet honestly is your TA. Each TA teaches differently and some don't even go over the same content as lecture. My first TA Foivos was ok but he often times used difficult, high level calculus methods that we did not use in lecture, to go over practice problems. (Top that off we couldn't even use his methods during tests) The best TA, is Chang. Chang goes over practice problems thoroughly and gives you practice exams to prep for tests (which is something none of the other TA's do). If you can switch, have Chang as a TA. But in all , this class is terrible. I had straights A's all year and this is the only class I've had to pass. Avoid taking Chi at all costs. Also don't rely too much on the curve, he doesn't tell anyone about it until a few days before final grades so relying on it is a gamble. If youre struggling on the hw, look them up on youtube. Trust me and good luck!
Jingren Chi MATH140 Expecting a C- Anonymous 05/24/2021	Character wise, he's a meek graduate student who's pushed to teach when he doesn't want to teach. His lectures are straight from the book. His tests are difficult and the problems are dissimilar to what problems are recommended from the book. The TA's give no explanation of grading. I would avoid taking if you can. If you must, I would hire a private tutor, and I wish you much luck!
Jingren Chi MATH140 Expecting a D Anonymous 05/16/2021	Do NOT take his classes. He is a terrible lecturer, does not respond to emails, and makes the home works and exams unnecessarily difficult. He gives out no practice tests, and does not give the solutions to the home works, nor does he properly teach you how to solve them. The home works do not even help as the actual exams are completely different. Only take his classes if you are REALLY good at math and willing to spend an incredible and unnecessary amount of time in this class.
Jingren Chi MATH140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/13/2021	Jingren Chi is a joke of a teacher. All of his lectures consisted of him reading straight from the textbook. If you hope to learn in the class avoid this teacher. I was lucky and took Calc 1 in highschool but someone without knowledge WILL struggle. His exams do not reflect what he explains and his webassingns are detached from his lectures A student in our class stepped up and made videos for our class to help us learn if anything that student was the professor.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/06/2021	After the first week I stopped going to lecture. If not for my TA and Khan Academy I would not have made it through a class that isn't that hard. Find another teacher. He has terrible hand writing, hard to understand and not a fun person. Most people I know have said the same thing. Avoid Danul at all costs.
Jingren Chi MATH140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/02/2021	His exams are nothing we’ve learned in class
Kendall Williams MATH140 Anonymous 04/30/2021	he is literally the worst teacher. He does not care whether or not you have technological issues when submitting assignments, he will deduct 50% automatically. He has no remorse! DON'T TAKE HIM!
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/20/2021	Very detailed lecturer and clearly responds to any questions. Quizzes are very manageable, but I found GSS very helpful in studying for exams.
Kendall Williams MATH140 Anonymous 02/21/2021	Online is horrible with him. He does not give any sympathy for technological issues and it almost seems like he wants you to fail. I don’t recommend
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 01/27/2021	This dude is a G. Huge interest in how we do in his class, but he also does a fantastic job of teaching the content. The TA got annoying, but he had little to do with that.
Yordanka Kovacheva MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 01/26/2021	Lectures were hit and miss. She teaches from Pilachowski's pdf notes and fills in the blanks. Her exams are inspired by practice exams, but needlessly longer and more difficult. Discussions were not helpful since the worksheets were overly theoretical and my group and TA were useless (but I mostly blame Zoom for that). I didn't enjoy or hate this class, but it's certainly not worth the tuition.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a C+ julianmed12 01/14/2021	I believe this class is one of the hardest classes that many undergraduates take. However, I would recommend taking this course with Dr. Chadwick. He was very detailed in his explanations of most of the concepts and would stop and answer any question during the lecture. I believe his demonstration of knowledge was what prepared many students for the exams. I'm not great at math, however I was able to do better than my expectations due to Chadwick.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting an F Anonymous 12/27/2020	From what I've heard of other Calc profs, Gullick is probably the best bet. He tries his hardest to help everyone, sometimes he does get frustrated and loses his temper. I personally found this class to be extremely hard and I struggled all the way through. Don't bother looking at your grade in elms, the grade weighting is incorrect. Also, he says attendance isn't mandatory but he throws in random pop quizzes that you will fail if you aren't in class.
Yordanka Kovacheva MATH140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/20/2020	This is the worst teacher I've ever had by far. Her worksheets focus on conceptual theorems and questions utilized in the stone age and her lectures are about as useful as a foam paperweight. The majority of your learning experience will come from Kahn academy and the class average will probably be a 68%. Your midterms will be at a depth she will never explain (or go over afterwards) and she cares about as much for student concerns ( as a class) as she does for putting her grades in the system. I didn't know my weighted grade on elms until literally the midpoint and last day of the semester. The icing on top is that she'll grade all your midterms within 24 hours , except for the midterm along the last few days of the dropout deadline. No, that midterm took about a month and a half despite one of the TAs saying that they've already been graded weeks prior. She knows you're gonna drop and she'll keep you from knowing your grade until it is too late. We went from 200 to about 80 students in attendance in the first week so if you're reading this , switch while you can because the other spots will fill up quick.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/17/2020	Professor Gulick is great. The lectures are very helpful and he goes over a lot of examples that are similar to homework and exams. The worksheets were pretty worthless but his sample exams are great for prep and are very close to what the exams look like. Overall great professor and nice guy.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/14/2020	Prof. Gulick is beyond knowledgeable about all mathematics and that comes across in the way he teaches. His lectures are very structured and he is always available after class for questions. The course was not easy and required a lot of work but that is calculus. The biggest downsides were that he overcomplicated some simple concepts by trying to provide a mathematical understanding by proving something or using unnecessarily obscure language/symbols and that he would occasionally make a student feel stupid for asking a reasonable question. I did enjoy him enough to take him again for Math141, but that is mainly thanks to an amazing Discord we have for our class.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/10/2020	use the textbook and you will do well. he is not as bad as everyone says he is.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/10/2020	has pre lecture videos which are very helpful as his lectures will be review of major concepts/ more in depth with examples, always open to questions, good/helpful TAs. textbook is extremely helpful when studying for exams and doing homework. people say he is not that great of a teacher, but i found no problem with him
Marco Bornstein MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/08/2020	Marco is the absolute greatest TA. He really helps you through the very difficult discussion work sheets. If you ever have a question , he will always answer it and makes sure you really understand the material. He knows zoom breakout rooms are super awkward, but he does try to break the ice. He grades very fairly and if you ever have a question about his grading he is very much willing to give you back points (if his grading was wrong). (For background info: I had Chadwick as my professor. )
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/08/2020	Chadwick is a great teacher. With online lectures, he is very detailed which really helps you understand the material and units. He always allows students to stop him if they have any questions or if they're confused. I don't personally go to his office hours, I usually go to GSS which is a big help. His worksheets he assigns us during discussion with our TA are difficult. They're nothing compared to what you learn in lecture. Especially in the beginning, you literally don't understand why it's so hard. But overtime, it makes more sense and you get use to it. Quizzes every other-ish week, and they are very easy. Tests on the otherhand are much harder. But if you know the material and do practice, it's not hard to get over a 90. HW was given on WebAssign. He was nice enough to not assign hw on fridays, so hw was only twice a week. WebAssign kinda of sucks, but isn't that awful. Chadwick, great teacher, highly reccomend if you can get his class (they fill up very quickly)
Yordanka Kovacheva MATH140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/07/2020	She can be really hard to understand at times and does not do the best job explaining concepts. The tests and worksheets can be really tough but she does give out old exams for practice. Overall, I would say to avoid her class but if you really try and do work out of class you can make it through class.
Priyankur Chaudhuri MATH140 Anonymous 09/29/2020	He literally grades weeks after you turn in the assignment and doesn’t even tell you which questions you got wrong half the time, not to mention he doesn’t respond to emails.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka MATH140 Anonymous 05/16/2020	Not that bad, not that great. Helps to go to class/watch corona-era videos because he covers what'll be on exams. Get help from TA and you'll be fine
Stefan Doboszczak MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/15/2020	Great professor! Math140 is a challenging course and Stefan made it very understandable. Great guy and funny too. Lectures could be boring, but is math so what do you expect
Mestiyage Gunatilleka MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 04/09/2020	Absolutely terrible professor that should be avoided at all costs. Gives poor explanations and basically just reads the textbook in class and provides no examples. Exams are graded harshly and some exams contain trick questions that the Ta's cant even answer. Bad move hombre.
Steven Chadwick MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 02/12/2020	Really good teacher. The lectures/notes flow easily to follow. Dr. Chadwick hand writes everything, and goes through problems and examples of what you are learning to make it easy to understand. Quizes and exams are fair, and accurately reflect what was learned in class. Discussion worksheets are more concept based, and not the most helpful, but the homework and lectures are where the main focus is. Only problem with Dr. Chadwick is that he is not good at answering questions DURING lecture. Go to his office hours (which are underused except before an exam) if you need help. Really chill/easy going teacher.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/29/2020	Also known as "The Anti-Bike Crusader," Tim is not a personable professor. I took MATH140 with him last semester, and my experience with him sucked. He spends all class clicking away through online lecture slides without really teaching (because corny jingles REALLY help), and he would sometimes go off-topic and tell us about his current status on the Anti-Bike Crusade. I went to discuss one of my exams with him during his office hours, but he was very condescending. However, his exams were similar to the discussion worksheets, which was a relief (though I had already taken the course in high school). I give him 2 stars because I thought his class was easy, but I would NOT recommend for those new to Calc 1. I'm sorry if you have to take him nevertheless.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/29/2020	If you're in FC and are taking math140, TAKE SCHLENOFF. NOW. He is extremely clear, fair, understanding, and the workload is very manageable. I wouldn't say it's an easy A but it is very easy to figure out what specific work you need to do for the A. The weekly quizzes are almost always based on the textbook practice problems from the syllabus so it's easy to do well on the quizzes. He doesn't have office hours but he is extremely responsive to email. He is chill and relatable and approachable and really is on the students' side. It's a shame his schedule only allows him to teach FC. Anyway, take Schlenoff.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/27/2019	Not the worst professors at UMD. He gets a lot of flak because so many students have an ego thinking know everything about calc since they did it in high school. His lectures are heavy from the textbook, so read the section before class and the lecture becomes a review session to solidify the material. Come to class wanting to learn and visit office hours with questions, and you will get an A.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Anonymous 12/24/2019	Garbo. He is Garbo. Extra Garbo. Do not take. He is garbo.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka MATH140 Expecting a D Anonymous 12/18/2019	This dude has absolutely no personality, he may even be a robot. He knows what he's talking about and isn't the worst lecturer. His exams are extremely difficult and the homeworks are even harder. But if I didn't make it clear enough in the beginning, the man is a robot.
Jingren Chi MATH140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/15/2019	You're better off just not attending lectures and self-teaching. I stopped going to lectures as he would just confuse me even more, the TA def. taught me more than professor.
Timothy Pilachowski MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/15/2019	Decent teacher but he organizes his courses very well. Lectures are important to introduce you to the topic of whatever section of notes you are on, but you really learn material through the discussions and webassign problems. Attendance is a must! Some tips for his class are to make a group that you work with in your discussions and study out of class with them. We made a group this semester and honestly that's where I learned most of the course material.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2019	Taking Calculus 1 with Schlenoff was the best decision I made this semester. Hands down. He's super chill, his lectures are clear, and his tests and quizzes don't have surprises. If you listen and take notes in class and do the recommended homework problems, you should do perfectly fine. Also, he drops the lowest quiz, 3 lowest WebAssigns, and makes your lowest test grade worth half the points. Definitely worth it.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/04/2019	His lectures are pretty hard to follow but some are okay. You honestly can just use Kahn Academy to teach yourself better
Jingren Chi MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/03/2019	He teaches really boring and goes on weird calc tangents when doing a review that does not help for the test, but other than that he's no different from other professors. His one redeeming quality is his curve is more lenient than other professors that I've heard from, and he writes big and very legible.
Cara Peters MATH140 Anonymous 08/15/2019	Best math teacher yet. As someone who is on the younger side as professors go, she understands how to teach math so that you ACTUALLY understand it. Instead of only going over theory and not practicing concepts like all of my other teachers so far, she actually does examples in class which is extremely helpful in understanding the material conceptually. She manages her time very efficiently as well, going through material patiently and at a nice pace while always staying on track. In other classes, I've sometimes felt like that when I ask a question in class, the professor answers it in a way that leaves me even more confused than when I asked the initial question, but Cara always answers questions with simple and clear answers.
Nathan Manning MATH140 Anonymous 08/15/2019	I will say, he is a nice guy, and has a very friendly / happy attitude during lectures. That being said, his class was horrible. None of the practice exams, worksheets, practice problems, or webassign HW were anywhere close to the difficulty of his exams. I often felt like they differed from each other as well. I frequently felt like what he'd teach in class had nothing to do with what we were going over in discussion the next day. Also manages his time very poorly. Never had to stay late in a class so frequently because he wouldn't have time to go over important material and just try to explain it all in the last 5 minutes. This is partially because I feel like he goes too in depth into questions during class. Don't get me wrong, I love it when the teachers give us a chance to respond to see if we are on page. But he'd spend 10+ minutes answering questions that aren't extremely relevant instead of just teaching the stuff he was supposed to.
Amin Gholampour MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/28/2019	Great guy. I just loved Gholampour, he is such a sweetheart. One of the nicest professors I ever had. He curves the class by a lot because most people taking this course are freshmen and many of them are like non-stem majors and it's a hard course so the averages for exams are like 55-68% range. Therefore, he curves by a lot. His exams aren't bad but they are questions similar to webassign. If you get your exam back and see the TAs took bunch of points off for some dumb mistake you made, talk to the professor he will give back points if you can show the mistake you made and you understand the correct answer. (Max points got back was like 10 points)
Amin Gholampour MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/25/2019	Great professor who really cares about his students. He dropped the lowest grade of the 4 exams, then curved the rest 15 points. I think he also curved the final on top of that.
Amin Gholampour MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/11/2019	Amazing professor!! Really cares about students, gives back points on tests, HUGE curve at the end of the semester. Homework and tests are not too hard, just do some practice problems and ask questions in discussion
Amin Gholampour MATH140 Anonymous 05/02/2019	Pretty average lecturer. It can be hard to understand him when he speaks due to his accents and his hand-writing can be challenging to read, at times. Amin is good at answering any questions thrown at him during lecture and gives out bonus points to your final grade if you call out any mistakes he makes in lecture or if you correct him. The TA's are below average. They are hard to understand and the mandatory quizzes during discussion classes seem to be on material unrelated to the prior lecture. The G.S.S. sessions that are held are very helpful. His classes are nice because he always curves a lot at the end of the semester.
Craig Schlenoff MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/19/2018	BEST MATH TEACHER I HAD EVER HAD!! I did take BC Calculus my senior year but after hearing from other students with different math profs, I got really lucky with Schlenoff. He really cares about his students and tries to make class fun (also tries to tell a math joke at the beginning of his class). Lectures and notes are amazing. He writes out each step of problems and also goes over it again if you are still confused. Every problem he does is what you'll expect on the exams, quizzes, and final. TAKE NOTES IN CLASS. His weekly homework quizzes are two problems and are easy if you DO THE PRACTICE PROBLEMS that he assigns optionally. The quiz is just two of those practice problems with different numbers so they should be an easy 10 points. He is also a very lenient grader. His syllabus is really clear. He drops two of your lowest quiz grades and 3 WebAssign. The lowest of your 4 midterms will be worth half the points. He responds really quick to emails and is always enthusiastic/approachable to ask questions. If you can take MATH140 with Schlenoff, DO IT!!!!!
Arijit Sehanobish MATH140 Expecting an F Anonymous 12/19/2018	Do whatever you can to not have this professor. He doesn't care about his students at all and is very bad at teaching. Don't go into the class thinking everything will be fine, because he doesn't offer extra credit or curves, even when half his class is failing. His tests are extremely difficult and he has very high expectations. If you end up getting him, you have a big storm coming
Rufus Elemo MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/19/2018	Professor Elemo means well and is honestly a really nice guy but he just isn't the best teacher. He expects you to spend a ton of time practicing (which nobody ever does) so he just flies by topics that are important. I'm really glad I took calculus twice before this class because I would not have been able to learn for the first time from him
Arijit Sehanobish MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/17/2018	Arijit teaches fine. His tests are difficult, but he curves the exams with considerable points. He expects the students to practice a lot themselves and is very helpful with doubts.
Ke Xue MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/14/2018	Doesn't really prepare you for the final, avg was bellow 75%. talks about how other majors aren't real. very spazzy
Ishfaaq Mohammed Imtiyas MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/13/2018	He's a really great TA! He takes the time to make sure that everyone in our discussion understands the material. Really helpful during office hours.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/13/2018	He is funny during his lectures and teaches really well. The only major problem was that his grading criteria is too strict. Didn't draw the figure for a question (not asked in question)cuts 5 points out of 10. Wrote 5 lines for an answer and made a small calculation mistake at the end, cuts 10 points out of 10. If this was not there, he is awesome
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/13/2018	Webassign is some ass
Arijit Sehanobish MATH140 Expecting an F Anonymous 12/05/2018	cant teach
Danul Gunatilleka MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/04/2018	FANTASTIC. zero personality but freaking amazing. love him.
Arijit Sehanobish MATH140 Expecting a C- Anonymous 11/06/2018	If you have this professor, RUN.
Arijit Sehanobish MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/26/2018	Arijit was quite possibly the best teacher I have ever had. He has a quiz once a week and screws the whole class and it's hilarious .Truly one of a kind.
Wiseley Wong MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/18/2018	Great professor! He sometimes talks a little too quickly for me to follow, but he is very approachable and will answer any question you have.
Ryan Hunter MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/17/2018	He is a good teacher, makes sure students understand the concepts. He does not curve his exams and allows you to use a cheat sheet on all the exams except the final!
Wiseley Wong MATH140 Anonymous 05/11/2018	Wong is so nice and really good at explaining concepts. He goes over the material various times until we grasp it
Wiseley Wong MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/07/2018	Great Teacher
Nathan Manning MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 03/01/2018	REALLY nice guy! charismatic and really good at explaining, especially if you go to office hours. Exams are much harder than other teachers with very little/ no curve, but you will learn a lot from him (conceptually).
Arseny Zakharov MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/21/2017	Arseny is a great guy who seems intimidating at first, but truly cares about his students and really helped me in Math140. His accent is a little thick, but over time, easy to understand, and he will clarify if you ask him to.
Ishfaaq Mohammed Imtiyas MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/13/2017	Great guy and helps you every-time whenever you got some doubt
Eric Hamilton MATH140 lactaid 12/11/2017	Eric is a great TA! You can tell he really wants his students to succeed.
Kasso Okoudjou MATH140 Expecting a B terp27_ourumd 01/05/2016	Okoudjou's class is NOT easy. He's probably one of the hardest professors for Calc 1, but I definitely do recommend taking him. For most of the semester your grade will make you really depressed, but Okoudjou teaches you calculus in depth and far more than any of the other professors do. Our class average for the final was significantly higher than the students of other classes so really our grades even out. If you take his class you'll learn a lot and develop great thinking and math skills but it will not be easy at all. You will need to put a lot of effort into this class. He does curve at the end by a little, he also drops the lowest quiz and webassign (online hw assignment), and he decreases the weight of your lowest exam so that really helped my grade. Okoudjou is super nice and funny in class unlike Chadwick who is so monotone and hard to listen to (although I know that his exams are a LOT easier than Okoudjou's, but think about that final exam and actually learning!). I think those that take Okoudjou's class will be a lot more prepared for Calc2. It's a good investment and I highly consider going to his office hours and going online and using the practice exams to study because they all help a lot.
Kasso Okoudjou MATH140 Expecting an A BigChand10 11/03/2015	I highly recommend talking Kasso's class he is a great teacher and you will surely have a laugh everyday in his class. He is really understanding about quizzes and test and makes them reasonable. I had already gotten a 5 in Calc 1 but i wanted to take it again because I am doing engineering. I would assume many people with little to no Calc experience might find his class hard but overall i believe he is worth it especially if you are in the STEM field
David Hamilton MATH140 indoleEntheogen 06/10/2015	David Hamilton review: don't bother, save yourself while you still can. He does not want you to be successful as a scientist/engineer/whatever you're going for. he always says in a condescending way: "you want to be scientists and engineers? this should be easy" as though you should have entered calc 1 already an expert... that's his job to make it easy by the end of the semester. his tests could not possibly be less reasonable. literally any other professor would be better for your future endeavors and GPA
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting a C TheTrooth 02/02/2015	Her approach to teaching Calculus I is mediocre at best. If you have never taken a Calculus class before, I would not take your first with the Witch. She has these unnecessary pop-quizzes in lecture called "White Papers" to guarantee attendence. There is usually no curve, and if there is a curve, you will not be happy because if you are on the borderline of a C, you will be getting a C. All bad things aside, she is a very nice lady outside of lecture, and is at least somewhat approachable. If it weren't for that, I would give her 1 star. Bottom Line: Do not waste your time.
Kasso Okoudjou MATH140 Expecting a B+ grapes 12/13/2014	So here's the thing about Kasso: the dude's super nice, super smart and very willing to go out of his way to help you understand the content of the course. But he's too smart. In lecture he often makes jumps or skips steps that the rest of the class can't follow, and it usually takes a little while before he clears it up after a student answers a question. On a related note, and maybe one that sort of applies to all 140 lectures, he moves pretty fast. His accent isn't really hard to understand (you get it in your head after a class or two), but his handwriting makes notetaking a headache. If you only go to lecture and discussion you could probably get a B if you're a typical student, but a higher grade really requires you to go to his or a TA's office hours, because those 3 45 minute periods just aren't enough. I'd be willing to take him for Calc 3, but for a harder class like calc 2 I've gone out of my way to get Denny. Overall he's a good teacher worthy of respect, but his handwriting and intelligence makes it harder to understand the material than I would like.
Justin Wyss-Gallifent MATH140 Anonymous 08/25/2014	One of the best, if not the best professors. He presents the materials in ways that anyone (even with poor background and fundamentals in math) can understand if he/she puts some effort. He tells students what to focus for the exams. TA was extremely nice and helpful as well. Wyss-Gallifent is just a really cool professor. His exams were fair (more on easy side since i falied Calc 1 once and re-took it during spring semester). He's extremely nice guy. When Levermore had a class before us, and left the board messy and ended late (about 2~3 minutes before our class time), Justin never lost his cool. Not even once. Take him. If you put in a little bit of effort, you're gonna pass.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Anonymous 08/25/2014	He's really nice guy. His class isn't a walk in the park. I took AP Calc in high school, but still failed for my freshman year. There is one unannounced quiz per week. His exams are not impossible but weren't easy. Webassigns are annoying. I asked if i could come to the lecture for Calc 2 for spring semester (after i failed Calc 1 with him and was taking with Wyss-Gallifant), and i went 8 AM. If you have a choice, take with Wyss-Gallifent.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/15/2013	Professor Gulick is not the best teacher, I'll admit. But, if you keep up with the readings in the book for each lecture, you will be just fine as she spends a lot of time proving many concepts. She is entertaining during lecture as well, and i never once hated going to her class. Just make sure you go because she gives small quizzes once or twice a week unexpectedly.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Anonymous 12/13/2013	Frances Gulick was not a good professor. I’m not completely comfortable writing that statement, cause she’s such a sweet lady, but it’s true. If you’re signing up for classes right now, and if you still have the opportunity, I’d recommend switching to another one. Gulick has extremely high, unreasonable standards for how you show your work. She seems to have a set of highly specific criteria in her head that you must meet, but she doesn’t feel like sharing with you until after you’ve made a mistake. I’ll give an example. The first test given out in the class I got all the questions right. All of my final answers were correct, but Gulick managed to nitpick my grade down to a C- because of arbitrary rules that any reasonable math professor would laugh at. For example, I had nearly completed a problem, and was just simplifying my answer like this (I have the work in front of me): h = (3+9)x(4+5) h = 12x20 And, in my final answer, I had my result in a box H = 240 Despite 240 being the correct answer, Gulick took off 50% of the credit for the problem. Her reasons were as followed: “You simplified 240x to 240 without showing x = 1” “h=/=H” So apparently, she only accepts work that solely uses parenthesis for multiplication. You can’t use a little x to show multiplication. Despite x not being a variable in the problem, she felt that it could be confusing for someone looking at the problem as to how the variable x appeared and disappeared. A friend of mine lost points for using a little dot to do their multiplication because it could be mistaken for “taking the dot product” despite dot products not being a part of the problem or even part of the entire course. I also lost points because I capitalized the h when I gave my final answer, which is apparently a completely different variable in her eyes. She also takes off points if you don’t indicate what the final variable is, so if I simply wrote “240” in a box to indicate my final answer, she would have marked off points for not indicating what 240 is equal to. It can be extremely frustrating losing so many points to arbitrary rules and small mistakes which most professors would ignore (you can lose full points off a problem for a simple algebra error) which can be pretty devastating when tests have five to seven problems. It can be really tough to meet her unrealistic expectations for displayed work for tests when you’re struggling just to finish just in time. You usually just don’t have time do all the work and quadruple check your work for small errors. The intended satire in this video is pretty close to truth for Ms. Gulick. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsvLLKQCxeA The website that Gulick uses to assign homework, webassign, can be equally as finicky as she is. Lots of homework points can be lost to webassign not being clear in how it wants you to give your answer. “Oh, you wrote that the answer ‘DNE’ for does not exist rather than ‘N/A’ for this problem? 0 points.” And then two problems later “Oh, you wrote N/A for this problem? The answer was clearly DNE. 0 points” Actually, it doesn’t do that. The website offers no feedback or advice. It’s often a matter of just hoping that the website accepts your answer. The website frequently crashes as well, which can be pretty frustrating when you’ve got a limited amount of time to complete it. Take a look at some of the comments here: http://www.isitdownrightnow.com/webassign.net.html And that’s really just her grading style. Gulick frequently skips algebraic steps while doing work on the board. She’ll go straight from something like: ((((6^2 * 10) + sqrt((50003) - 600)) / 4! ) 4 ) - log(1 * 10^11) = 69 And then move on to the next problem, which can be rather confusing if you’re a minute behind or so. Furthermore, she does focus heavily on proofs, which is great for understanding problems conceptually, but not so great when both the webassign questions and the tests focus heavily on application problems. Her lectures are hard to follow which makes her very frequent pop quizzes (which she calls “white papers”) all the more stressful. All that said, she’s a nice lady, and very approachable. She’s got a corny sense of humor and is very willing to help you out if you need it (and you’ll probably need it, since she’s not at all clear in class). She’s a really nice person, but a terrible professor.
Kasso Okoudjou MATH140 Anonymous 07/15/2013	Nice guy, but is a little too smart for his own good. When I say that, I mean he is so smart that he has trouble realizing that many students do not understand the mathematical concepts. If you go to his office hours, he tries to help, but it is nearly impossible to succeed if you did not take calculus in high school.
David Hamilton MATH140 Anonymous 05/16/2013	No webassign. Gives double amount of homework than other professors. His lectures can get boring and its hard to understand what he is saying at times. Its easier to read from the book. His exam system in horrible imo. He gives 3 midterms and one final. Each midterm has a makeup one week later which includes another section. Most people dont do well on his exams. This is his way of giving them another chance. However, how would giving more exams help people out?! Just curve the exams if you want people to do well. He takes the higher grade of the two. Exams are usually only four questions so make sure you dont mess one up. Read the book and look up stuff online. He gives points for correcting his mistakes during lecture but they wont help you much.
Kasso Okoudjou MATH140 Expecting an A btc5105 12/15/2012	I think very highly of professor Okoudjou. He cares about the students and wants them to understand the material. His accent is not difficult to understand so I don't know why people are saying it is. His handwriting is pretty bad, but he is more than happy to re-write something and go over anything again until it is understood. He has unannounced quizzes which are not hard. As long as you pay attention in lecture and actually do the webassign, then you'll do fine. His exams are not bad really if you pay attention. He makes random jokes in class, which really are not funny, but they make you laugh regardless. He is very approachable and nice to anyone who wants to learn. If you go to his office hours once, he knows your name for 2 semesters, so he is good with names and likes to interact with students. I also am taking 141 now with him and it is not terrible. The material is harder, so you'll have to study on your own for exams. Overall, I highly recommend Okoudjou for 140 and 141 because he is a good lecturer who keeps you entertained and his exams are pretty fair.
Kasso Okoudjou MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/30/2012	Really, really hard class. In order to follow along during the lectures, I found it necessary to read and outline the textbook before coming to class. Worksheets during discussion were not straightforward at all. Fortunately, the TA was there to provide answers when nobody in the room could figure out a problem. I got used to his accent within the first couple weeks, and his handwriting is not a problem if you sit in the front of the room. I felt that his exams were always harder than those of the other MATH140 professors, but I also felt prepared for them since we got so much practice between having class 5 days and week and regular homework assignments. Doing really hard problems for practice made moderately hard test problems manageable.
Manoussos Grillakis MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/30/2012	He's an OK professor overall. My semester was the first that he taught 140. His lectures definitely aren't a thrill, but they are worth attending. Based on my friends who took other professors for this course, Grillakis is definitely one of the fairer ones in terms of the makeup of exams and the scheduling of WebAssigns. He's also a very nice and understanding guy. PS: I found the reviews given by other professors before exams to be very helpful for studying.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/31/2012	he talks fast and speeds through material. really nit-picky grading on exams. sure he's a funny/cute/smart guy but he goes too fast. i took a diff professor for math 141 and got an A.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A FreshMeat 12/26/2011	Denny is awesome. He is a nice older man and makes calc as fun as he can considering it is an 8am. He teaches calc at 8am because he knows that the only people that will take it are students that care about their grades. It is not easy to get an A in his class but if you have taken calc 1 before it isn't hard. He is the best calc professor in 140 and 141. I am taking him next semester for 141. The people that don't like him are the ones that say "what is the point of calc i'm never going to use this...etc" If you are a normal person you will like him.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Anonymous 12/25/2011	Horrible. Tests are way too hard, don't gauge how well you understand the material, and she's just plain mean. avoid at all costs.
Kasso Okoudjou MATH140 Anonymous 12/23/2011	I came in to this class with zero high school calculus experience, and it was not at all easy. Being successful in this class requires a previous understanding of calculus because even when he does examples, he shows you what to do with an individual problem, rather than how to do all problems that are like it. The man is ridiculously intelligent, but I think that makes it harder for him to empathize with those who are having trouble with his course. Good luck if you're taking his 140 class, and hope for a good TA.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/13/2011	Denny is as good as people say he is. However he puts s lot of emphasis no Quizzes, over 10% of the final grade. So if getting up at 8AM isn't your thing then don't even consider him. I missed a lot of quizzes and that is the only reason I got a C. If I attended them all then I surely would've gotten a B+ if not an A.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/19/2011	calc 1 is not hard. frances is decent at teaching, you will understand material easy enough. even the white paper quizzes arent that bad. but frances grades terribly. you always get points off here and there because she doesnt like your notation or the way you do a problem. theres almost no partial credit. even if you know your calc you still get random points off. so unless youre the most careful and meticulous problem solver, it will be pretty hard to get an A. Ive been getting 100 on all the webassign homeworks and the worksheets, but when it comes to the test I end up with a B or a C. And when you contest any points you got off, she somehow makes up some explanation about why its wrong and doesnt give one bit back. when it comes to points on a test, shes always right and youre always wrong. another thing is, she HAS NO CURVE. the averages for tests will be in the 50-60 range, and she wont do anything about it. even the TAs dont seem to be able to make her curve. dont take her unless youre neat and careful in your writing. her husband is supposed to be much better. I was thinking about taking her for math141 (calc 2) but instead im gonna take 8am with her husband. Its worth the sleep sacrifice, i cant deal with these unreasonable bad grades anymore.
Kasso Okoudjou MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/11/2011	Yeah, yeah, yeah his accent takes a little getting used to and his handwriting isn't always the best but he's always happy to clarify for you. Point of the matter is, he's a good teacher. He's not too abstract, and I thought he hit a good balance between computation and concepts. And he cares -- he remembers names and faces and tries to help you out. If you actually do the WebAssigns and not just WolframAlpha everything, your computational skills will be good enough for the quizzes. And make sure you utilize the Kirwan TA's throuhgout the year because sometimes he glosses over parts that the Gulick's go over. And guess who writes the finals? The Gulicks, good guess :) His exams are rough though. Sometimes he'll throw in a conceptual curveball but if you do the worksheets in discussion you should be pretty well rehearsed in these kind of problems. And yes, that means you have to go to discussion. All in all, if you can take Denny Gulick, take him but Okoudjou is good too. Much of a lesser evil than Frances Gulick IMO.
David Hamilton MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/09/2011	Half decent lecturer but I got burned because I could never get used to his teaching style. Very convoluted lectures though he can be a nice guy when he wants to (blew up in our lecture a few times and yelled for seemingly small stuff). Had a friend who took him for 141 and he changed up their exams on them without much warning. Didn't care for him either way but at least he's better than Francis Gulick....
Frances Gulick MATH140 Anonymous 05/05/2011	She's okay. I took her for 140 in my first semester and came out with an A. I've always loved math and I took ABcalc in high school and got a 5 but I still retook it. She teaches to her tests- the practice ones that you get are ones that she's given out in the past. If you can do the practice tests you should be okay for the actual test. And by okay, I mean like a C at least. The webassigns are confusing... they purposely make them difficult. It's more conceptual. It's not bad though. They're always due the day of the discussions. They're not terrible though. My only complaint is that she jumps around from topic to topic when teaching so it can be hard to follow her. She also skips the simple steps that people end up needing to ask her about anyway. If you do go to office hours, she is helpful. Also, contact your TA when you need help. And make sure you have a good TA.
David Hamilton MATH140 Hosea 05/01/2011	Hamilton was often very fast paced in his lectures. He seemed very condescending in his emails at times, but he knows what he is talking about. However, once you get lost, it's hard to get back on track. He also has this system where you get points if you correct a mistake he makes. However, when you're absorbing new information it is very confusing to have to deal with mistakes made when you're trying to learn the right way to do things. He also gave out many bonus quizzes and points which boosted your grade. However, this semester he did give a test the day after spring break and the average was like a 12/40. In the end it just comes down to intuition in my opinion. Pros: Approachable in person, easy to get points, gives out bonus quizzes Cons: Difficult to follow
Karin Melnick MATH140 Anonymous 04/28/2011	Quite possibly the worst professor I've had at my two years at UMD. If a student asked a question in class she would sometimes not answer the question and tell them to see her after class or answer the question and not repeat the question so other students can hear it. She teaches proofs straight out of the book and barely goes over any examples. Her tests are significantly harder than other Calc teachers. She does not curve the class. Avoid this teacher at all costs. I'm sure she knows what she is talking about but it just did not translate well to her students. You know how I know this? All the familiar faces in my Calc class this semester. I cannot stress this enough. Avoid this teacher if you plan on learning Calculus.
Karin Melnick MATH140 Expecting a B CB 02/17/2011	Do not take her. Just don't. I only passed her class with a B because I had taken AP calc in high school. On every test that I took, there was always one question that I couldn't answer. So I lost 15-20 points automatically. She made everything so complicated and confusing. I only went to class because of the weekly quiz. Seriously, take anyone else.
Kasso Okoudjou MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 02/05/2011	Professor Okoudjou is a great professor who cares that his students understand the concepts presented. His accent may prove hard the first day of classes, and his handwriting may prove hard the first week. But nothing he can't clarify if you ask him during lecture. Even though Okoudjou is a reasonably good teacher who knows his mathemagic, since most of the students who enter MATH140 are entering freshmen from high-school, his rapid style may prove detrimental in their understanding of Calculus. So, I ask a student not to take Calculus1 under him, unless they have already taken calculus once before, and they've felt comfortable with it. He tended to dwell more on proofs and theoretical justifications, rather than applications. I didn't expect it to turn quite that way, since this is a Calculus course for Scientists and Engineers. Adam Ross is one of the best teaching assistants in the department. Discussions may prove crucial if one is experiencing difficulty in lecture. He is willing to take time off to ensure that what you miss in lecture, will not be done so again in discussion. Even if the concept is too rudimentary to be explained in Calc 1, Adam will go over them. I recommend either/or both of them.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting a C- Anonymous 01/25/2011	Avoid her!!! Whatever you do, stay away!! Take Denny or anyone else for 140, she's nothing but bad news. Like many others, I took BC calc in high school and got a B so I thought I could do with a refresher when I got to college - big mistake to do it with her. Webassigns and tests were horrible and she was very unhelpful (and rude sometimes) whenever asking for help at her office hours or via e-mail. I was a student used to getting a lot of work but this was just terrible - I would study for hours and still bomb her exams. Her lectures went way too fast and she sets the speed of the class to match the students who she likes in the front row of the lecture. Her TAs were understanding at least and helpful with problems. Quizzes were annoying and she would grade pretty harshly taking off major points for silly mistakes like forgetting a negative that caused you to get an incorrect answer (even if your methods were good). I guess it's the kind of thing where you either love her or you hate her - I surely knew what camp I was in. If you take her for 140 (which is okay material wise with any other prof), just know what you're getting into but please consider someone else!!!!
Karin Melnick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/24/2011	the person below me pretty much said it all. this was my third year of calculus 1 (2 years in high school and chose not to take the AP credit which i did earn). the way she tests is also harder than other teachers. my section learned everything in discussion from each other and the TA.
Karin Melnick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/25/2010	I can't let anyone get deceived by the two reviews before me. Melnick is awful. All she does is teach easy material in the most complicated way. She doesn't look at her students and just writes on the board whatever it says in the textbook, then several times during the class will turn around and give a look to the class as if we know exactly what she's trying to say. Everyone I talked about her class with, HATED her. Not one person in my discussion, which was the discussion with the highest averages in the class, said one thing nice about her. I HAD to go to Denny Gulick's lecture in order to give my chance of learning the material. Who cares if she baked us cookies. I'd rather be good at math than eat one cookie on the day before thanksgiving. The reason she doesn't teach well is simple, she goes over proofs but doesn't go over concepts well or sometimes even at all.
Justin Wyss-Gallifent MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/19/2010	Justin is one of the best professors I've encountered at this university. He's very easy to relate to with his young spirited style (always wearing chucks to class). The accent is a nice touch to whatever he has to say, as well, along with his sense of humor. His lectures are VERY organized, as he writes from left to right on the board, and NEATLY. You won't miss a thing he's saying, and if you do, he's always happy to answer your questions. I had him first thing in the morning, and it was a very nice class to wake up to (:
Kasso Okoudjou MATH140 Expecting an A jcp5383 12/18/2010	Unfortunately, I did not need to take this class because I APed out of Calc. However, I thought that I wanted to be an engineer so I took this class. He is the hardest of all Calc teachers. I advise you to take Denny Gulick. He is the best math teacher I have seen. Okoudjou is a definitely the man. He is very smart. His biography states that he is a Georgia Tech graduate. Sometimes, I felt that he was too smart to teach us. His pace is very fast. There is also this stupid assignment online that screw up your grade because it is so hard. I got a B, D, D, C, and C on the exams respectively. I ended up with a B. You make the decision. Engineering is the hardest major out there at UMD. If you're business major, consider yourself lucky because you won't have to take this class. You would be stupid to take this class and screw up your GPA.
Karin Melnick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/16/2010	HAHA. I just read the review before me. Yes, she did bake us cookies for Thanksgiving, although only 40 people (around there) showed up for class. She is a very nice lady. She's very approachable. I have never been to her office hours, but she does emphasize that she has those hours opened for us. Yes, she does try to push the due date back for WebAssign if she hasn't taught the material. I have taken this class before and I will admit, I was pretty lost for the first few classes for some reason. It took me a while to get used to her teaching style. If you don't understand math, it may be a little difficult since everything seems to be definition. That made it pretty difficult for me at first. One person mentioned, "she teaches like a wikipedia page" and in a way, it kind of is. You need to get used to it. If you don't understand math, you really need to take notes. When you look at them later, they'll make sense. I have to admit, if you've never been a math buff, this will be a very difficult class for you. The lowest exam wasn't supposed to be dropped (it was supposed to be half the weight of a real exam), but since the average was so low for the third test, she decided to drop our lowest test grade. The class average on the last exam was pretty high, so you should be okay. Your TA will definitely help you if you need help. Having discussion twice a week is very tedious. You need to put a lot of time into this class. Good luck.
Kasso Okoudjou MATH140 Expecting a B hc_frog 12/16/2010	Kasso is hard to understand. I would have been completely lost if I had not taken Calc AB in high school. If you have had experience with calculus, this class may be easier, but if you haven't I would recommend Dr. Denny Gulick.
Karin Melnick MATH140 Expecting a A? Anonymous 12/15/2010	First thing I'm gonna say: "She baked us cookies." She was a bit incoherent and awkward at the beginning of the semester, but that was probably because she was nervous or something. Anyway, I had already seen this material in high school, where I got a C. From what I've seen, she is incredibly nice to her students. She also tries to learn everyone's names. If you're having trouble, she will try her best to explain the material further. Unlike many other teachers, if she did not teach what was on the WebAssign, she will push the due date back (Ain't that amazing?!). One thing that was a bit frustrating though was that her exams were rather difficult. Everything on the exams is on what she taught, but the format of the exams is more difficult than those from other professors. On the contrary, she does give out practice exams (in the same format as the actual exam) and she did drop the lowest exam grade. Overall, she was a pretty good instructor.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/15/2010	Despite all the negative reviews on this site, I took Frances Gulick for Calc I, and came out with an 'A'. It took a decent amount of work, but overall I think that she's a quite effective lecturer. IMO her tests are graded quite fairly, and she's a really nice lady if you talk to her during office hours. She does go a little overboard on the proofs during lecture, but after a few classes you learn to only key in on the pertinent information. The only other quipe I have with her was her placement of quizzes on very inopportune days, such as the day after Halloween, the day before Thanksgiving, and nearly every Friday. If you have her for a 9 am lecture, this kills any prospects of going out on Thursday night. Overall, I'd recommend her. But expect to work hard.
David Hamilton MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/15/2010	This is a potentially easy math class compared to others, but Hamilton is an inadequate teacher! There's no webassign. He assigns problems from the book, about 20 for each section. The homework is optional, but the TAs do occasionally collect homework from a specified section and the test questions come from the homework, so it's a good idea to do the homework. Tests are fair because, like I said, problems come from the homework and examples in lecture. He also has this policy where if you answer a question in class or correct one of his mistakes, you get one bonus point. I believe that the max is 25 per semester. In addition, there's a final's option, in which your final test grade will be used to replace your final course grade if it happens to be higher. While there's plenty of opportunities for getting a high grade, I've found that Hamilton is not such a great lecturer. You're better off reading the textbook yourself. Half of the class doesn't even take notes. He jumps all over the place and doesn't stop to explain each step. Bottom line: Tests are fair. If you're willing to self-study, this course is for you.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/07/2010	Definitely overrated. If I had not taken Calculus before, I would have been completely unable to work with this class. My TA was about average, but the discussion worksheets are terrible and frequently irrelevant to what we were actually expected to know. The WebAssigns were fair and relevant, but there were frequently programme errors that affected grades (a problem that was inaccurately displayed, for example) and there were several occurrences where the due dates were "mysteriously" changed to be earlier than they were supposed to. As a whole, I found Denny to be completely ineffective but the book to be helpful and the TA to be occasionally useful. The tests were fairly straightforward, if harshly graded at times, and he allowed us to do corrections on the class-wide worst test of the semester. Not a class I would recommend if it's not needed, but I've heard better things about Denny than the rest of the Math Dept so you could do worse. Just expect to rely on the book more than the prof.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/20/2010	I love her! She teaches well and makes sure you understand what's she talking about. On the hard subjects she goes a little fast in class because she has to cover everything but if you go to her office hours she'll help you and is patient. When I went to talk to her about my grade she was nice and talked to me with the familiarity of a high school teacher. She wants hard-working students to do well in her class and tries to help. Yeah, webassgin sucks but everybody who takes math has to deal with it, not just in her class. And yeah, white papers are a pain especially if you come late but you can talk to your neighbor and ask her questions about it-- how can you not ace them? She's energetic and funny in an awkward way and hers is the one class I don't sleep in at all (and I sleep through ALL my other classes except for my labs b/c I'm standing). She does exam reviews (in class and maybe out of class) and usually gives you an old one to study. Her test questions change but the format and the type of question basically stays the same though there may be a proof type question on there. And if you mess up on the exam, she will go through it with you after the fact so you understand what you did wrong. If you don't study, and don't come to class you won't do well (white papers/quizzes do count). If you want an easy teacher, find someone else (people love her husband). If you want someone who will push you and make you learn this stuff, take her. I'm pretty sure I'll take her for 141
Justin Wyss-Gallifent MATH140 Anonymous 11/09/2010	I kind of want to marry Justin. Or be him. Yeah, he's that good.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 11/08/2010	Shes moves along too fast, without really reviewing the material. Get Denny.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting an F Anonymous 10/20/2010	I took calculus BC in high school and decided I wanted to retake it in college to make sure I fully understood it. If it I hadn't taken it before, I would have NO idea what was going on! The webassigns are awful! Yeah they test your skills but they often have little relevance to what you actually need. The discussion sections are by far the most helpful! The TA's are personable and knowledgeable. The lectures on the other hand are terrible. She goes over proofs for the longest time and then does these little white paper quizes right afterwards. Yes you get to correct your answers at the end of the quiz but she will take off large amounts of points if you forget an = or add a negative or forget a parentheses. Then on the tests, she grades equally frustratingly. My last test I got a 46%. All of the math was right, and I had all the theorems and ideas correct. I got a 46 because I worked through the test and left off little things like a limit or an equals sign or added a negative or left off an x from a little part (and the next line down the x was there! so it didn't even change the answer!!!!) All in all, I recommend taking this class with another teacher... Which is probably what I'm going to have to do next semester...
Justin Wyss-Gallifent MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 09/21/2010	I had taken calc1 3 weeks later the previous semester with Okijo he had a longer name and i learned nothing in the course. But Justin taught everything perfectly. He did a amazing job explaining concepts and, unlike most professors, started out like you knew nothing. He would explain things that you thought you knew, but he would give you a deeper understanding about it. He is a really cool guy and makes lecture fun with his jokes.If your taking calc, make sure you have him as your professor and no one else. He is hands down the best teacher I've ever had. lol I wish he taught calc 3 lol
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting a C purpleeagle 05/16/2010	She certainly knows what she's talking about, but I never did well with her teaching style. She's more into deriving the formulas rather than actually going over the applications. She gives plenty of pop quizzes, webassign HW assignments, and worksheets. The webassigns never helped me to much; I always found myself trying to finish them by the deadline instead of actually learning the material.
Justin Wyss-Gallifent MATH140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/11/2010	I also took Gulick's 140 my first semester here and although he was a great teacher, I still had a difficulty learning and understanding the material. Justin made it really simple and easy to understand. By writting literally every word on the board taking notes was easy. His sense of humor and cool accent are an added bonus! I really wish he taught all of my math classes!!!
Justin Wyss-Gallifent MATH140 Expecting an A- xbfrittsox360 05/06/2010	There's a reason Justin is the highest rated professor on this site: he is the absolute man. I had the privilege to take MATH140 with him this semester and understood the material 10 times better than when I did in high school. He teaches the material with such clarity that it is impossible to not understand what is going on (no matter how dumb you may be). What separates him from every other professor here at UMD is his teaching style. He is incredibly fun and engaging with the students. He always goes off topic with a joke or random topic at least once per class and it just makes you think to yourself "this guy is so cool." This may sound like a strange love story, but I guarantee you that if you take this class (or any class) with Justin, you will feel the same way. One day I saw him walking around campus in his red converse sneakers enjoying the awesome weather outside and I feel like that sums up who he is completely: the best professor I've ever had. Thank you Justin!
Justin Wyss-Gallifent MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/06/2010	Great professor. Teaches on a good pace for everyone to follow and understand the content. Justin gets his students well prepared for the exams. If student gets a bad grade, there's no excuse because Justin does everything he possibly could to get the students prepared for the exams. A really good professor and I wouldn't want any other math professor other than Justin.
Justin Wyss-Gallifent MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/22/2010	I took Gulicks 140 and failed with a D. He is by no means a bad proff however. He just doesnt teach it the way Justin does. Justin thoroughly enjoys the nuances and implications of what he teaches and puts everything in terms that non math majors can understand. He starts with a non proof driven explaination and follows it up with the reasoning/proof. Drastically simplifies the overwhelming material in the book. I have not opened it once this semester. every question i've had could be answered by my notes. Ive definately needed to study for the exams but my work has been rewarded. The exact same amount of work in Gulicks earned me a D but i fully expect an A or B+ this go-round.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting a C jamgord 03/06/2010	I have nothing against Professor Gulick because he's soooo nice and really sweet, but I think he's a bit overrated. He taught well but he was not the best professor I've had. I think because he's so entertaining with his cute noises and little kid voice impressions that people just fall in love with him and want to recommend him all of their friends. I don't know if it was the fact that his class is at 8am and I was never fully awake, if it was his teaching methods, or maybe I just couldn't grasp the concepts, but I ended up getting a C in the class. He actually did a reallllly nice thing and let me come back to his office for 15 extra minutes to finish my first exam because I overslept and ran to class so I wouldn't miss it. I guess the point is, if you don't mind getting up at the crack of dawn and want a funny professor, then take Denny, but if you don't think you'll be able to make it to all the lectures, you're better off taking it with another professor. (As long as it isn't his wife)
Frances Gulick MATH140 Anonymous 01/10/2010	If you go to her outside of class, she is very responsive and helpful but her lectures are horrible. She spends most of the time with proofs and "surprise" graded white paper assignments in class than actually going over the important information. It is not impossible to get an A in this class but you do it by speaking with her one on one or through TA's help since the lectures are random and she gets sidetracked easily. I think she would be a wonderful high school teacher.
Kasso Okoudjou MATH140 Anonymous 01/07/2010	Gives good notes - very precise and clear - but there's a major discrepancy between what we go over in class and what's on the homework and tests. A lot of his tests don't follow the homework OR the examples he covers in class, and he also doesn't curve the class very much. Really hard to get an A unless you ace all four midterms and do fairly well on the final. If you've taken calc before and understood it thoroughly, then he's not a bad prof to take. If you're looking to learn calc for the very first time, I recommend taking Prof. D. Gulick. Much better, and much more patient and thorough with the information, plus his tests are actually on the material gone over in class.
Kasso Okoudjou MATH140 Anonymous 12/23/2009	if you havent taken calculus before, i strongly suggest you do not get him. He is extremely hard to follow in lecture, and since he does example problems from the book, going isnt a necessity. Although he does occasionally have pop quizzes. His accent makes him kind of hard to understand, but discussion is very helpful. I took AP calc in high school and got a B. If youre looking for an A i strongly suggest you try and get D. Gulick.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A- beane 12/17/2009	Frances loves in-class proofs. This makes a lot of sense; they demonstrate clarity of thought and a straightforward presentation of the material. Unforunately, her rigid concern for this sort of order invariably leads to a sacrifice of precious class time which could be used for review and practice. She incessantly emphasizes the importance of the short class time, and then proceeds to waste it with proofs. While I find the proofs interesting and useful, they tend to confuse and frustrate the majority of the class, to the point that while most of them started out fresh and eager to learn at the beginning of class, they were tired and worn by the end of it. She assigns internet homework after every lecture (before and imediately after tests not included), and expects the student to practice a good deal of problems recommended in the textbook. To paraphrase Frances from her class syllabus, you CAN do well in her class but it requires a LOT of work. This is due largely in part to the rather strange format of the tests. There are generally 5 questions, with mutliple parts to each question. Regrettably, the paucity of test questions leads to a proportional increase in point values per questions. If you make a mistake on part of a question, you can easily lose 5 to 10 points. Coupled with the single point losses for careless error throughout the rest of the test (which are common, because they are so thorough and lengthy), the grade for a test that you were well-prepared for can easily slip into the 80's. WebAssign, worksheets from discussions, and in-class quizzes are collectively a huge part of your final grade. Frances compensates for her exams by allowing a great deal of points to be made up elsewhere. MOST IMPORTANT PART: The tests are relatively straightforward, without much mathematical innovation necessary. She is the math teacher for people who work hard, but don't like math (despite the counter-productive proofs during lecture). If you are of a mathematical bent, you will find her class tiresome and frustating, but will likely get an A with work. If you are not such a person, you will find her class thorough and work-heavy, but you can discover that you will be able to scrape up an A or B with consistent effort.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/16/2009	Denny is a pretty cool guy. He drops 2 quiz grades, some webassigns, and worksheets. His tests are way easier than his wife Frannie(or as he calls her: his better half). Denny is also quite funny. He makes some lame math jokes, but that early in the morning you'd laugh at anything too. He does give random quizzes, so sometimes when you can't get up for his class, you'll lose a quiz grade, which is pretty much why I got a B.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/10/2009	Taking this class was the biggest mistake ever. First off if you are a business major take 220 bc there is no need to put yourself through this hell. While I hear all the calc teachers here are bad, his class is just awful. Waking up for an 8am class three times a week is a lot harder than you think, which is why his class is so difficult, since he gives a quiz once a week without telling which day. Also the TA's are not only stupid because they wont help you at all in discussions (also worth a significant part of your grade) they grade with no regard to partial credit. Derivatives are understandable for not receiving any credit, but most other problems on tests the TA's basically look to see if you have the right answer, if you dont they basically cross it out, and if you do, they look for things that you might not have mentioned to take off excessive amounts of points. While his class has its funny moments, and he is very nice bc he always holds review sessions, his class is tough and unless you think you will be able to make more than 90% of his classes, I suggest not taking him.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Anonymous 12/01/2009	He's a great teacher, and funny! Even though his classes are at 8:00 am, he's entertaining enough for you to be able to pay attention when you're tired. He is tough on partial credit, but he drops a lot of assignments with low scores AND he curves. If you do all the assignments and come to class every day for the quizzes (which are super easy), it's an easy A!
Denny Gulick MATH140 smefeman 04/02/2009	He only holds lectures at 8 AM which may be a problem for some people (like me). I was frequently tired during lecture, but he was able to teach the material well and even cracked jokes once in a while to liven the mood.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting an F Anonymous 02/08/2009	She is literally the devil. I would say "devil in disguise," but she also looks like the devil. She is the WORST teacher I have ever met. Correction-she is the worst HUMAN I have ever met. Disregarding family deaths as excused absences, religious holidays because the U is "secular," this lady is a completely insensitive heartless devil. I have seen more people cry in her class than a theater full of preteen girls watching The Notebook. Avoid her at all costs. If you have to wait to take calc, do it. If you have to defer your college acceptance, do it.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/24/2009	i strongly agree. she is nothing short of a huge *** and a **. she spends most of the class writing up long proofs on the board that no one ever needs to know. she doesnt care about any of her students, even gave a quiz the day before thanksgiving. she grades ridiculously unfairly like taking off half credit for missing an equals sign or similar things. often goes on to long tangents during class and im pretty sure i know her whole family history not to mention she told us the story how her son missed his calc final like 80 years ago at least once a week along with the story of how her daughter got her car stolen twice cause shes a fuckin idiot and left it unlocked. if i hadnt already taken calc in high school i would have gotten a D or dropped. whatever you do DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS!! itll be your biggest regret of the semester.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/23/2008	Amazing math professor. One of the few classes that add inspiration to my life lim sin(1/x) =GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR x-->0
Kasso Okoudjou MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/19/2008	His lectures consist of writing theorems on the board and proving the theorem. He never actually used the theorem to do an actual example problem, which made homework impossible. If you take his class you better just pray that your TA is good.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2008	He is certainly one of the greatest math professor... if u go to lecture, u will get a good grade. he is Funny! the "krrrrgh" thing as the last person said. Once in a while, you will write "BOO" in ur notebook, which means you wont be able to get an answer.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/09/2008	MATH 140 is supposed to be Calculus for engineers, there are hints of this in the class taught by Frances Gulick but overall the class misses the point. F. Gulick attempts force feed her students mathematical proofs throughout the semester and her obsession with notation is enough to convince one that F.Guclick is nothing more than a math teacher harboring a resent against engineers. Her efforts to appear modern by using a projector come out as forced and futile, and lectures can easily morph into useless convoluted time wasters when one of her signature obscure proofs introduced. Those students who hadn't seen calculus before were lead straight to the slaughter, her drop-out rate only tells half the story as some stayed and dragged through the semester like fatally wounded sheep. Overall I would recommend Frances Gulick to anyone who loves unnecessary amounts of work and stress, and strives to build-up a deep hatred for math.
Frances Gulick MATH140 babygnau 12/09/2008	Frances Gulick is a very tough professor, however you do learn a lot in her class. I thought her exams were fair, albeit rather difficult. Overall go to class, and do all of the assignments. I was amazed how many points I lost by not bringing my clicker to class and participating in the clicker problems. Its a hard, challenging class, but if you put forth the effort you should be fine.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2008	Expect a lot of work, but "A" is not impossible. You have to keep up with your Web Assigns and problem sets in the book to do well on the exams. Her exams are challenging and she's very picky with notations.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/05/2008	He is very strange. He likes to make strange noises like "krrrgh" as he describes an equation, and he likes to talk to himself in high voices. He seems almost senile, yet he is very effective. He's certainly not boring, and if a student dozes off or appears distracted, he will embarrass them. This is for their own good. He certainly provides a wide variety of examples, and goes through every topic very thoroughly. A good student should have no trouble understanding the material and thus, doing well on exams. Also, he wrote the textbook (well him and Dr. Ellis, whoever that is...)
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A- tallboyt 11/17/2008	People seem not to like her, but she's not bad. She will answer questions and offer help all the time. If you study the prac. exams well and do the webassigns at math success there should be no problem. Clickers were used near the end of the year. People who complain typically don't try in class and blame the teacher -- even if she tries to help.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/13/2008	Prof Gulick is absolutely amazing. He makes the tests self explanatory by listing the upcoming test topics and using Webassign by reviewing the previous lecture the day of discussion. Highly recommend to all calc beginners and veterans alike. Prof Gulick has some personality quirks which make the class exciting. He talks to the class as if we did not understand and thus comes across as arrogant to those who know but greatly helps those who have no idea what is going on. I highly recommend his class to anyone taking calculus. Personally i am signing up for his MATH141 class next semester.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting a B babygnau 11/12/2008	Denny Gulick is an awesome teacher. He is really good at effectively explaining the topics and he has a good sense of humor. The only slight downfall with him is that I found him to be very strict with partial credit.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 09/29/2008	he's awesome, make sure you get him - D.Gulick, instead of another Gulick... that's a big difference.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/13/2008	Dr. Gulick is a very good professor, those who write these reviews obviously did not show up to lecture, did not do assigned homework, and actually the funniest point that someone tried to make is that "math comes naturally to them." This is a calculus course for engineers, chemists and a couple other majors, IT IS NOT MEANT TO BE EASY! Dr. Gulick sets out the guidelines and expectations the very first day of class and follows the syllabus to a "T." I learned more in this course than probably any other, because Dr. Gulick will take the time and put in the effort to help any student that actually puts forth an effort. Professor's that hand out grades do not do anything for the students, the University, or society that has to deal with engineers that forget decimal places. If you want a passionate teacher, a good class, and to learn a lot than I say to you, "take it with Francis Gulick," if you want an easy math class than head back to kindergarten children.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Anonymous 05/02/2008	Absolute garbage, if there is a worse professor alive, I have never had them. She is a 100 year old, she-devil ***** who is a control freak and a terrible human being. Homework is assigned constantly, and they don't really teach you anything. Every discussion had new problems that were never seen before, and never would be seen again. There was no flow whatsoever to this class. The class is so disorganized it's incredible. The lectures are a pointless exercise in proofs (which she messed up on every single day), the discussions test really obscure extremities of the material, and the homework is generic, but almost inapplicable to the test. It's pretty clear that the only reason this retard has a job is because her husband runs the department.
Denny Gulick MATH140 jmartin1 04/23/2008	Denny Gulick was awesome, like the person below me said. He wrote the book, and is very good at explaining the material. The class was at 8AM, but if that doesn't bother you, you will do well.
Frances Gulick MATH140 Anonymous 02/22/2008	i think she might be the worst teacher i have ever had in my whole life. she screws up what she is doing constantly in lecture. she is some kind of control freak, she yells at kids when they leave her class early, like she can make them stay! she throws alot of pop quizes to make sure kids show up for lectures. she even yelled at my TA infront of his class, and he was easily one of the best teachers ive had. if i had not already seen calculus before i would have easily failed this course. oh yes, and dont believe what she says about her point scale for grading. i blew off the web assign because she said it was worth 50 points out of 650 total. by the end of the simester it had become closer to 250. im just glad i passed and can move on with my life and never, ever see that woman again
Frances Gulick MATH140 Expecting a C egloger 12/15/2007	If you ever take a class with her, be prepared to stress about it a lot. She's good at teaching, but the homework and tests are unreasonably difficult. There's a reason why her drop/fail rates are so high.
Kasso Okoudjou MATH140 mmeyers 12/03/2007	Worst professor ever. He will present the theorem on the board, without adequately explaining the concept or the application, which, ya know, is pretty essential to doing well on the tests. There was a big disconnect between what was covered in class, what was on the classwork, and what was on the tests. He's really not good at explaining things. You may do well in this class if you have previous experience in calculus. If you haven't, then you're screwed. Don't expect to learn a thing from this professor. He moves extremely fast in lectures, and he doesn't stop to explain his mathematical process. I don't get the sense he cares about his students at all. Compared to the other teachers of this class, his tests are much harder. If you want to learn anything about calculus, stay far away from his lecture.
Frances Gulick MATH140 avigana 11/16/2007	She is an extremely tough professor. The averages on her test are always really low but if you disregard your grade you realize that you learn a lot in her class.
Denny Gulick MATH140 Anonymous 11/13/2007	Best calculus teacher at UMCP. Having his 8am class is better than having a 11am class with someone worse. Try to get him. You have the best chance of getting an A with him.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/20/2024

Dr. Williams is the epitome of a class act. As someone who took AP Calculus AB and BC in high school, taking MATH140 with Dr. Williams was one of the best decisions of my life. Coming from someone who did good in both AP Calculus courses, I still learned a lot and saw so much value in this course. Amazing lectures and loves to help his students. Also, it is clear that he cares about his students including during office hours. His class is not easy, and he will push you but in a good way. If you stick with Dr. Williams until the end you will get better at calculus and will understand calculus in a more critical way.

Shin Song
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/20/2024

She’s a pretty good teacher and is fair with her exams.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/20/2024

I took calc 1, 2, and 3 in high school but my school didn't do APs so the credits didn't transfer. Here I was back in calc 1... when I looked up Tim P. on this website after registering for this class I was horrified by the reviews, but told myself that math was my strongest subject and I'd probably make it through with a bad teacher since I've already taken calc 1 anyways (and literally finished that class in high school with a 100%). Lesson learned - this man literally made my life a living hell for 4 months. He is just all around awful - he screams at students in the moments before exams begin, creating an EXTREMELY stressful environment, during lectures he flips through the slides at lightning speed with little to no explanation (this is where my previous calc knowledge proved to be useful as I'm not sure how someone with no calc experience could possibly understand anything he says), and his seemingly "generous" grade calculations at the end of the semester where he rounds grades up and cuts your lowest exam's weight in half actually makes no difference, because the students who have fallen behind have performed WAY too poorly for his "generosity" to make any difference. Thankfully, I scraped by with an A, but I owe NONE of that to him - it was all from reviewing on my own time and having already taken this class before. If you have never taken calc before, and you are taking him, you should probably switch while you can, but if you can't, just prepare yourself to be content with a C+ if you're lucky (the class average on all four of our midterms ranged from 60-70%). Not to mention that the TAs are HORRIFIC graders... I once got 2 out of 11 points on an exam question that I answered completely correctly but didn't use the exact theorem we were taught in class. If you have taken calc before, and you remember most of it, you will probably be okay, but just save yourself the headache and take literally any other professor but him. This class is already rough for most students and he will make it ten times worse than the other professors. Please do not take this class with him.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/19/2024

I did not take a calculus course in high school, so this class was a journey for me. This class is most certainly a weed-out class, so be prepared. I had to teach myself everything outside of class. The lectures consisted of Dr. Williams having us write notes and then jumping into example/practice problems from the textbook. One aspect that bothered me was that he would often make mistakes when solving problems. Sometimes he would realize them, but in most instances, he did not, and by the time we found out about them, it was too late and there was no point. However, I did appreciate him recording every single lecture and putting in the time to answer questions. The webassign homework assignments were difficult and graded harshly for no reason and only gave you 3 tries per part. Some of the lowest grades were dropped, but I believe that homework should be for learning and practicing the newly learned content rather than worrying about whether it is correct or affects your final grade or not. This was the same exact issue with the discussion worksheets, which were super difficult and had limited time to complete. Additionally, the textbook was not that useful. Oftentimes, Dr. Williams would teach the content differently and the textbook covered the lesson in a complicated, unnecessary way. There were 4 midterms and a final exam, and they were worth a large portion of your grade. The exam questions were long and complex. They were graded very harshly, and there were no curves or extra credit opportunities. I will note that no answer keys were provided for the practice exams and worksheets. This wasted much of my time in that I had to find the answers online or ask the people around me just to check my answers, making my studying experience even more difficult.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/19/2024

Dr. Williams is the epitome of a class act. As someone who took AP Calculus AB and BC in high school, taking MATH140 with Dr. Williams was one of the best decisions of my life. Coming from someone who did good in both AP Calculus courses, I still learned a lot and saw so much value in this course. Amazing lectures and loves to help his students. Also, it is clear that he cares about his students including during office hours. His class is not easy, and he will push you but in a good way. If you stick with Dr. Williams until the end you will get better at calculus and will understand calculus in a more critical way.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/19/2024

DON'T TAKE THIS PROFESSOR AT ALL COSTS!! I've previously taken Calc in high school, but didn't get the credit. However, I still managed to get terrible grades in his class. Never in my 18 years of living have a seen a math teacher using powerpoint for math lectures. He never writes down anything on the white boards and he spends more time singing in his classes than actually teaching. Even when I knew the material extremely well, the phrasing of his questions are weird and they confuse you for absolutely no reason. If there was an option to give him negative stars I would. The worst math teacher I have ever had in my life!!

Zaire Caldwell
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/19/2024

Zaire is a great TA. He knows his stuff and is very willing to help you during discussions, whether that's on the discussion worksheets or if you have another question about MATH140. His teaching style could use a little work, but otherwise, he is probably one of the best TAs you can get for this class.

Boyu Zhang
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/19/2024

Boyu is a really kind professor with a great understanding of calculus. He wants you to understand calculus as well as he does, which is both good and bad (I'll explain later). He teaches exclusively using the blackboard and does not record his lectures, so it may be helpful to attend them, especially since he occasionally drops an example that turns out to be very similar to a question on his exams. His way of teaching can be pretty hard to keep track of, especially at the beginning, as he writes really fast and creates proofs that are sometimes confusing and unnecessary for MATH140. I feel as if he thought we were a lot better at math than we are up until the (very, very hard) first midterm, and that showed in the class average. HOWEVER, since he's a really understanding professor, he adapted his teaching style after that exam and became more clear and concise. The exams were adjusted accordingly, with the averages being significantly higher thereafter, especially on the fourth midterm, where the average was almost 90. If you have taken calculus in high school, and have a solid understanding of the foundations of calc, I would recommend Boyu. If you haven't taken calc at all, maybe consider another professor like Dong Quan Nguyen or Chadwick. Like I said, Boyu is really kind, cares about his work, and he is also willing to meet with you if you need it, which I know I did after the first exam. Additionally, the class had a legendary curve on the bottom end, so much so that even if you do below average on every exam, you probably still have a shot at passing the class with a C-. His curve is much higher than most other profs for this class. If you think his class is hard, you're right, it is, but he really wants you to do well, and the curve is proof of that. Just be prepared for college calculus being much faster than high school or AP calc.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/16/2024

Chadwick looks like a skinwalker, but overall he is a decent professor. The class is not too difficult. The lectures are pretty straight forward and easy to follow, but my TA could barely speak English which made it difficult. The homework is not hard but it takes forever, the quizzes are super easy, and the exams are the hardest part imo. I got a 59 on my first exam and still ended with a B+ because I locked in. Chadwick is very strict with his grading policy however, so keep that in mind. I ended with an 89.1 and he immediately shut down any conversation of rounding up.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/16/2024

Dr. Williams is a good teacher in my opinion. His tests were fair except for exam 3. The reason I am only giving 3 stars is because exam 3 was way more challenging than any practice we did in class or on homework. I think he made it like this to teach us a lesson, aka make sure you study more, but I had studied really hard for that exam so it was really annoying.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/15/2024

Quite possibly the best professor I have had or will ever have. Schlenoff brings a life to math that I was unaware existed. Although his class is a bit more fast-paced, as long as you go to lecture and stay on top of your work, you will succeed. The only downside is the fact that he doesn’t teach more levels of calculus.

Shin Song
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/14/2024

For her first time teaching MATH 140, professor Song did great, her lectures could be sometimes boring but they were easy to follow, and she uploads all lecture notes. Homeworks could be pretty annoying but are manageable, weekly quizzes are easy if you do the homework, and her exams are pretty fair if you do the practice exams and understood the concepts. There was also a generous curve at the end

Shin Song
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/14/2024

Dr. Shin's teaching is great and she curves exams. I had few horrible grades and still was able to clutch it. There shouldn't be any major problem taking her for MATH140.

Boyu Zhang
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/13/2024

READ THIS REVIEW CAREFULLY!! I know I gave him 4 stars but there was a lot a different factors that go into my review. Boyu is one of the most caring and passionate professors you'll probably meet in the math department, and if you're a math major or just someone who's retaking calculus to understand why it works, I'd take this class with him. However, if you're an engineer/want to know just how to do calculus and have no prior knowledge of it, I would think twice. A lot of times it was really hard to follow what he was doing (eventually throughout the semester you get used to it, and exams also did get easier as time went on, a review below covered that well). That being said, he was really good about answering my countless emails which was great when I couldn't make it to office hours. He'll explain the material as slow as you need if you ask outside of class, and welcomes curiosity. If you do take him for 140, you'll be fine but you'll have to teach yourself (though I think that's how many college classes work), and don't stress when he teaches implicit differentiation, it's not hard, it's just confusing with him.

Boyu Zhang
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/12/2024

Take Dong Quan Nguyen! Zhang is a very sweet man and is truly impossible to hate on. However, his teaching is a bit scattered. He clearly understands higher math, but that makes his teaching of calculus difficult for a non-advanced student. I took calc in high school, so I wasn't totally lost but I still found myself having to watch Youtube videos to teach myself a significant amount of the content. Homework is easy, tests were hard initially but he started giving us study guides that were very helpful. Discussion was super helpful and attendance is mandatory because they have graded worksheets. Overall, they curve significantly and drop a lot of grades, but I don't feel that I truly learned calculus by taking this course.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/12/2024

Professor Williams is pretty fair when it comes to grading and the level of easiness of his midterms. The last two midterms are relatively harder but honestly not too bad. His TAs are amazing and very accommodating when it comes to reviewing and teaching concepts. He has a lot of resources to help you succeed in the course and is easy to understand. I highly recommend him!

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/10/2024

Having taken calc before this course was not that challenging. Dr. Williams is a great professor even if his lectures seen to be kinda boring at times (they are recorded), his office hours are very helpful for completing homework webassigns. His exams are very much like the practice exams so doing the suggested practice problems and practice exams helps a lot for the real one. also going to guided study sessions for those who need extra practice helps too. Would recommend taking his course for calc 1.

Shin Song
MATH140

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
12/10/2024

I think for her first year in Math140, Prof Song did a great job. :)

Dong Quan Nguyen
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/10/2024

First of all, Dong is a super nice guy. He is funny while he teaches and he can keep your attention. He does have a semi-strong accent. I haven’t seen anyone else talk about it but I could not understand everything that he said. (Maybe 1 in 10 words I didn’t understand) The class is very easy, he drops a lot of assignments and even the lowest midterm. If you have calc experience you will most likely get an b+ or higher. His actual teaching is not the best though. He mostly does practice examples from the homework, which is nice, but it doesn’t give you a holistic understanding of the topic. Without lots of studying it can be hard to really learn the material that you need for the common final. (He also starts the year literally saying”God bless you” for the final)

Dong Quan Nguyen
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/10/2024

Dong is the best, take him if you can!! Offers so many extra credit opportunities, extends basically every single homework deadline, drops multiple bad grades, and the midterms are very easy (he also gives a sample midterm before which is exactly the same as what the real midterm will be). You probably will struggle more on the common final and will have to study more since our midterms and quizzes are so easy, but if you have good grades in the class (you will) it shouldn't even be that bad.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2024

Good prof. Not too much homework, but it is a lil bit difficult. Exams are easier. Lectures are straightforward and easy to understand.

Samuel Bachhuber
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2024

Samuel was not a good professor. Taught super fast paced and was never in sync with Shin song. Also did everything on the blackboard so you couldn’t go over his notes.

Samuel Bachhuber
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/07/2024

Professor Song is the reason I will be passing this class. He did not communicate this class well with professor Song. Professors taught how to do things in different ways. Also Samuel was way too fast paced and would teach in a way where a beginner wouldn't understand.

Dong Quan Nguyen
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/06/2024

You will not regret having dong as your professor. He cares for his students, he is absolutely hilarious, and WANTS you to pass. All midterms are very easy and as close to the practice midterms as they can. Be on time and be prepared, sometimes he feels like throwing extra credit, they are random quizzes. He always goes over the topic before them, i always took notes so they were never an issue. Quizzes in discussion are reviewed in lecture and they are almost the same. Also, extends deadlines for homework which saved me multiple times…. because he felt like it he dropped one of the midterm grades. He is really chill and real, and it shows he is passionate about what he does.

Dong Quan Nguyen
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/06/2024

Absolutely the best professor EVER. He is hilarious. Not only that, but he genuinely has such good teaching methods and wants you to pass. From his teaching I see that he is passionate about what he does. Be prepared for at least some random quizzes… listen, take notes, and be there on time. These are a great boost to your final. Also, his midterms are exactly like the practice he gives and the class before he goes over all of it for you. He also explains very well. For homeworks, Cengage is a pain, but there is not anything he can do because it is standardized. To make it easier, he always goes over homework's during class and extends all of the deadlines. If I did not have a prof as good as Dong, then I wouldve been screwed.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/06/2024

Dr. Williams is a pretty good MATH140 professor. He goes through a lot of practice problems so you have a basis for different kinds of problems and he also provides many textbook problems for review. He also records his lectures, so if you miss a lecture, it'll be there for you. I will say, though, he does sometimes make mistakes in his lectures as he goes along with what everybody else says, so you may need to check your work to make sure it's 100% correct. Overall, though, he's a good professor and his exams are exactly like the textbook problems.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/06/2024

Probably one of the best MATH140 professors I've seen here at UMD. He explains calc concepts really well and makes it so it is easy for us to understand. His lectures are very well organized as he goes by one section for each lecture and his notes are helpful as well. He is also very heavy with the textbook problems and gives us practice problems to work on that really really help us prepare for the exams especially since he copy-pastes all his exam questions from the textbook. The webassigns are really bad, but the TA's do really help. I highly recommend Williams.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/06/2024

This guy is literally the greatest professor, he is really nice and does a lot for his students to help them out. He makes calculus a lot more fun and easier to learn just by the way he teaches and the way he organizes information so you can remember it more easily such as the math "tool box". He has a funny sense of humor too. He is also amazing at giving analogies to complicated calculus concepts as well as showing proofs so you can actually understand how the calculus you are solving works. I'm hoping I can finish with a B- (after the final) and I would say my grade is not indicative of how good Professor Schlenoff is at teaching because otherwise it would be an A+, calculus is just pretty difficult. TAKE THIS PROFESSOR IF YOU CAN!

Shaoyang Zhou
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/06/2024

He was my TA for Calculus Freshman Connection class and was really nice. He offered personal help when you were stuck on a certain question on a worksheet and would describe in detail on how to succeed on the quizzes. If you put in just a little bit of effort you should be able to succeed.

Shin Song
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/05/2024

Not much to complain but I'd agree that she just goes over the textbook. Nothing wrong with that but everything could be self-taught and or learned from youtube if the time given and you would probably retain the information better. This class was offered in Freshman Connection so I had it later in the day but what was confusing at times were the online homework assignments. It was my first time using WebAssign for math and the questions on there would be completely different than the test and or what we learn in class.

Boyu Zhang
MATH140

Expecting a W
Anonymous
12/05/2024

I had to withdraw, take DONG QUAN NGUYEN for math140.

Boyu Zhang
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/05/2024

Is very passionate about calculus, and always teaches like he loves the class. But his way of teaching is often hard to follow, as he goes into very detailed proofs and very specific examples where it gets really hard to follow. I often learn nothing going to his lectures and more than half the class end up skipping. His exams were also tough towards the beginning of the year with averages around 60s-70s, but the lowest midterm is weighed less, and your lowest quiz is dropped. His saving grace is the curve at the end, as he makes sure more than half the class gets an A. As long as you score around the mean on his midterms and you can learn the material in discussion and the homework you will do well in his class.

Boyu Zhang
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/05/2024

In the beginning, I was afraid of how this semester would go. Most lectures I would sit confused about what was going on. I would be following along and then halfway through the equation, he would lose me and then I would have to sit through the rest of the lecture daydreaming about what he could've possibly been teaching that day. He got better as the semester went on though, a little more clear, and exams seemed to get better as the semester went on as well. Overall, he is a "good" professor in that he is very enthusiastic about the class and teaching students. Most classes he would be running across the room to the other side of the board or jumping up and down to answer a question when someone finally asked one or teaching us by connecting a folktale he was teaching his kid with that morning. Silly guy. If you take this class, you'll probably be alright. Even better if you already know calculus.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/04/2024

Decent professor. Uploads lecture notes to elms after lectures. His notes are pretty reflective of the textbook. Worksheets are much more difficult than anything you'll see on exams. Exams are difficult, but webassign problems and previous exams are good study material for exams. Drops 1 quiz, 3 homeworks, and halves your lowest exam grade (if you got a 70/100 it would be a 35/50).

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/04/2024

Dr. Chadwick is a really fair MATH140 professor. His lectures consist of him writing neat notes for you to copy down for each chapter. He speaks well and is easy to understand, however sometimes he doesn't explicitly answer class questions. Make sure to pay attention in lecture as it can be pretty fast paced. His office hours are very helpful, he really gives the time to explain answers and concepts. His exams are challenging but that is to be expected. He posts 1-2 practice exams prior which are really similar to the actual exams. Overall, Chadwick is very knowledgeable on MATH140 and I recommend him for this class. The discussions are challenging but that is across the board for all MATH140 sections. My TA was very personable and helpful and gave as much help as he could without giving the answer away. Each discussion has a worksheet that is difficult, but follow directions and work with a group. Break the ice early on in the class and form that group! Also, quizzes are given every so often which are easy. For the latter half of the semester, the TAs review the quiz material before it is handed out which is very helpful. The beginning quizzes are not like that though so study before you get there. The homework is annoying as it takes a long time to complete and is only worth 3% of the grade. Dr. Chadwick will often extend homework if enough people in the class email him prior to the deadline. Dr. Chadwick is great for MATH140. I recommend him.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/03/2024

Good prof.. I like the way he writes notes during the lecture so you can see the process. However, he sometimes gives vague answers to questions or doesn't answer them at all. If you have a choice, try to get a TA other than Kaiwen. He's very good at math, but sometimes fails to explain concepts to people with a lesser understanding of math.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/03/2024

Overall solid professor! goes through many examples and explains the examples well. Overall a good and engaging teaching style, and explains the concepts well for beginners with little experience. The tests are quite hard (sometimes harder than the worksheets in my opinion), but still cover concepts that were discussed in class.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/02/2024

He uploads the notes for each class which is nice and he gives out practice tests which are very similar to the actual tests. His lectures are very helpful and he is good at explaining things. However, discussion was annoying. We were given worksheets to complete, 5 points for completion and 5 points for accuracy. The worksheets were super hard to do and way off from what we did in class or what was on any of the tests. They webassign homeworks take a really long time to do and they end up being only like 3% of your grade which was really annoying.

Dong Quan Nguyen
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/02/2024

Easy class, easy lectures, easy quizzes. No reason not to take his class. Other MATH140 teachers suck apparently. TAKE THIS TEACHER.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
11/26/2024

I'm going to give an overview of the pros and cons with this professor and my overall experience. The good thing is he has online lectures that were made during quarantine and are good to watch if you missed class or need to review something, he also drops half of your lowest exam grade, along with the five lowest homework and discussions. Something I found useful is sometimes he hints at what may or may not be on the exam. For the cons, he claims he has arthritis and dyslexia so he doesn't write on the board, which in my opinion is understandable, but if you can't learn through a PowerPoint alone then this definitely isn't the class for you. On the exams, he usually throws in these super weird questions that are different from anything you would see on the homework or in lecture, and these questions are worth between 10-15 points so if you get those wrong you've pretty much blew the exam. Something I found annoying was there were things I didn't feel like were made clear in lecture that I had to find out on my own. Personally, I had a very difficult time in this class trying to study and get the bare minimum grade I needed to move on. This class has eaten up all my time this semester, which has taken away from the classes I actually wanted to study. With the exams it gets to the point where it feels exhausting and hopeless with the amount of studying you need to do, just to end up getting a bad grade anyway. It also feels like you're teaching yourself half the time. I think if you're someone who has taken calculus before, you might be okay. If you take this professor my advice would be to go over the lecture videos and take notes before class, make side notes while in the lecture, make sure you understand the homework and can do all the questions, go to gss (or do the worksheets at home), do exercise problems from the textbook, watch YouTube videos (The Organic Chemistry Tutor is good), and do problems from test-banked exams. Honestly the best way to do good is to do as many problems as possible. Hope this helps!

Dong Quan Nguyen
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/22/2024

“All Hail Dong” we said in unison. Very funny and understand guy who’s course load is manageable and exams are fair. DONT EVER LEAVE ME DONG I STILL NEED YOU

Shin Song
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/22/2024

This class was very straightforward. Dr. Song is an excellent professor who covers all the material you need to succeed. The midterms are fair and closely resemble the practice exams. While the WebAssign assignments feel largely unhelpful, Exam 2 did include some questions related to the WebAssign problems. I honestly skipped many of the lectures, but her notes are so thorough that you can understand the topics just by reading them. To prepare for exams, I reviewed the notes, worked through the discussion worksheets, and completed the practice exams. The class structure includes the following: - 4 midterms (100 points each) - 1 final exam (200 points) - 13 worksheets (3 are dropped; 100 points total) - 28 WebAssign assignments (40 points total) - 6 quizzes (10 points each) Exam difficulty (from easiest to hardest in my opinion): Exam 4, Exam 2, Exam 1, Exam 3.

Dong Quan Nguyen
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/20/2024

Overall really great professor. He does a good job of reviewing basics and higher-level stuff that you may need to know later. Quizzes are one question very similar to homework and he gives you a practice question in advance in addition to dropping one of 6 quiz grades. Tests are identical to the practice tests he posts, so know them very well. His accent is a little hard to understand at first but you get used to it fast. He gives a decent amount of homework but also extends basically every deadline and goes over many questions in lectures. If you can take him, I recommend it he wants you to do the best you can and drops enough assignments where you can afford to mess up a few times and still get an A easily.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
11/17/2024

Boy, where do I begin. Ignore every other review you’ve seen—this professor is a catastrophe of epic proportions. He’s hands-down the worst professor I’ve ever encountered in my 18 years of walking this earth. His class isn’t difficult; it’s soul-crushing. Imagine crawling through a trench filled with broken glass, molten tar clinging to your skin, while the sound of wailing souls fills your ears. Every step forward feels like dragging your body through a field of rusted barbed wire as acid rain pelts down, peeling away what little hope you have left. That’s what his teaching feels like. He doesn’t explain a thing, nor take questions. He skips over every essential step like it’s beneath him to teach. He mentions the start and the finish, and you’re supposed to magically know how to bridge the gap in between, as if you're the assistant in a magic show, and instead of pulling a rabbit out of a hat, you're somehow pulling out a live bear with a bad attitude. Everyone’s waiting for the grand reveal, but all you’re left with is a confused, angry bear and a very disappointed audience. And don’t think I’m saying this because I’m bad at math—I’m not. I took Calculus 1 in high school, got an A with a teacher who got pregnant and left 3 months into the school year, and scored a 4 on the AP test. I know calculus. But what he was showing us in his class wasn't math it, was something we've never seen before. I thought taking this class would be a good prep for higher-level college math which is why i didn't use my test credit. Big mistake. HUGE. If you’re thinking about taking this course with this professor, its over for you. Take it literally anywhere else. I’m serious. And the tests? Don't even get me started. Other classes average in the 80s on their exams. My class? A devastating 67 average and there are some SMART kids in this class. He doesn’t curve either. The best he’ll do is drop the lowest test grade by 50%, and that gives you maybe a 2–3% bump in your grade. Not enough to save you, not enough to make it worth it. Do yourself a favor, avoid him at all costs. Anyone giving him anything higher than two stars is one of those people who can't understand that just because they did well mean the teacher is objectively good. This professor is an academic apocalypse, and you will not come out of it unscathed.

Dong Quan Nguyen
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/05/2024

Awesome math professor who is very passionate about the subject. It's awesome how he doesn't mind going over basics on the side if the whole class needs a refresher. He also knows tons of history and proofs about the concepts being taught in the class which make it extremely entertaining.

Dong Quan Nguyen
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/31/2024

He is a great professor. He is very flexible and honestly explains everything well. He is always open to questions and never seems to push off students trying to understand math better. Did I mention that this guy is funny asf? He could be talking about math and come up with the most random stories and then occasionally say the most random nonchalant things. In terms of difficulties, he basically gives you the sample midterm test for practice but changes up some numbers on the ACTUAL midterm, so just do the sample and you should be good. (*I WOULD RECOMMEND STUDYING HARDER FOR THE FINAL BECAUSE HE DOESN'T MAKE THOSE SO THE QUESTIONS WILL BE DIFFERENT AND HARDER*). His class is easy and you should be fine if you stay on top of the WebAssign and worksheets in the discussion, and just hope you get a good TA who can explain the material well.

Dong Quan Nguyen
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
10/21/2024

Nếu b là người Việt, hãy take bằng được lớp của thầy này, chăm chỉ đến lớp là có được con A trong lòng bàn tay 👍. Giáo sư giảng rất dễ hiểu, exam không khó, rất tạo điều kiện cho những ai chăm học 👍. This gentlemen of a professor is so great you can not miss, his way of teaching is on top.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
09/27/2024

Horrible professor, don't make the same mistake I did of taking him. Rude, condescending, and doesn't know what he's doing.

Dong Quan Nguyen
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
09/26/2024

Great professor, explains things really well.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Anonymous
09/09/2024

Not a good professor. Retaking MATH140 with him was difficult and I rarely felt I understood anything with his in-person lectures AND video lectures. This course is not known to be an easy course at all so having a professor that seems uninterested in making it any easier is not surprising but it definitely shows in his work. Often times he speaks as if he's giving a philosophical lecture on the science of calculus during lecture and will leave you completely clueless assuming you're here to learn you're like anyone else and looking to understand the problems, complete the work, pass, and that's it (most of us are here to do that). I would never take him again but I am also not taking calculus again so there's that.

Shin Song
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
07/22/2024

She is a great professor. She goes into detail about many topics but lets you know what you need to know for the course. She cares about her students and answers questions during office hours. I would suggest really revising her practice midterms to help you study. The only thing is that she takes a while to grade some assignments. Other than that, I totally recommend her!

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
07/14/2024

Dr. Williams was a class act. Very professional, kind, and dedicated. Takes ALL questions. Encouraging in office hours. Exams are straightforward (he will tell you what to study). The web-assign is BS, but it is standard across all MATH140 classes. Try to get help on it when you can in either office hours, a tutor, or classmates. I often was kept up late at night working on web-assigns (due Tuesday and Thursday mornings) and went through 2 large notebooks throughout the class. Keep in mind this is a difficult class and many of my classmates struggled. I did well on web-assigns and got A's on exams got a 92 on the final and passed with a low A--which was a lower grade than I was expecting. This was my first time taking calc and he made it very simple. If you need to take an extra math class to better prepare yourself it can go a long way. The low ratings reflect more on the content and not professor. If you need MATH40 TAKE Williams!

Anna Szczekutowicz
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
06/24/2024

I took both Calc 1 and 2 with her, and I was super rusty on algebra and trig coming into college, and was never really that good at algebra in the first place. This definitely made me struggle a lot initially, but I'm super glad I took this course with Dr. S. She's genuinely one of the best math teachers I've ever had. She's super relaxed but definitely seems to care about students and teach things in an understandable way. These courses suck, and that's just the way calc is taught here, sadly. However, she is super down to earth about it, and if you put in the effort you should do ok (not to mention the numerous resources in the math department as a whole to help you).

James Hanson
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/29/2024

He's not a great lecturer honestly. He's very nice and his exams are fair, but I honestly skipped a majority of the lectures and taught myself the content on my own. Would recommend him if you are an independent learner and not a great test taker.

James Hanson
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/19/2024

if you cannot teach math do yourself do not take this course. no joke from he first day this man doesn't tell you a single thing about the course and he just started with alright unit 1. Absolutely not normal and not a thing is said about the class, the syllabus and grading etc. he doesn't communicate and many times we would do something in class and not finish and just be expected to do the homework without learning the stuff. I dont think a single test had an average over 65 and many times in the 50s and he doesn't Adress it at all. his office hours are a joke bc the entire class tries to top to them and if you email him best of luck bc he will not respond. the way eh teaches is a joke bc all he just is relay everything in the textbook and I never took calculous before and the organic chemistry tutor was my savior!! dont think you have had to have taken calc to do well bc I still somehow finessed a good grade but it was a huge sweat at the end. I would avoid him at all costs if I could unless you are the kid that can teach everything to yourself and has a friend that does attend lecture so you can know exactly what to study pros he posts exactly the break down of each test (def gonna put the hardest question for each thing tho) I think he dropped the lowest midterm (didn't say anything about it just did it in canvas and didn't mention it in class) lectures are mandatory cons legit just expects you to teach yourself the stuff that you dont learn in class and for the final there was just things we never learned and its worth 30% so much homework and its on stuff that we legit didn't learn- too bad still expected to know out (two homeworks a week) discussion is mandatory but actually kinda helpful lectures are legit just the textbook on the board with little to no more explanantion

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
05/16/2024

He has good lectures I guess, but it's not worth the hassle in terms of grades. Just take James or any mediocre professor that will curve because he will surely not. We had a 55 avg exam and he hasnt curve d. mind you he's a good prof but compared to your other profs i dont know if its worth it. What I would do is take anyone else and then go to his lectures then you living life.

James Hanson
MATH140

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
05/16/2024

Hanson is honestly not the best lecturer, especially at the beginning of the semester, as he often sped through the material so you will need to do a lot of self-studying to do well. However, he is very accommodating and made grading adjustments that ultimately saved my grade. Homework were unnecessarily difficult at times so take advantage of tutoring and office hours to ask questions.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/15/2024

Dr. Williams is a very great professor. I personally love his teaching style. He goes into detail about the steps involved in solving a problem which I thought was very helpful and he loves when people ask questions. He teaches right out of the textbook so the suggested problems are really helpful when studying for the exams. Oftentimes the questions are also pulled right out of the textbook. His exams were super fair and were really helpful for the finals. Overall Dr. William is a great professor and I would totally recommend taking him for 140.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/15/2024

Dr. Williams is a good professor but sometimes during lecture he never finishes a problem and tells us to finish it on our own. The problems he goes over during lecture are relatively easy compared to what is assigned for homework. Midterms were quite difficult, especially exam 3 with an average of 52%. He drops 4 lowest worksheets and 5 lowest webassigns but he doesn't drop any midterms or does any curve; I don't know why people say that he drops the lowest midterm? If you have some calc knowledge you should be fine and as long as you do the suggested problems since sometimes he pulls out the exam questions from them. .

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/14/2024

His teaching: I really enjoyed the structure of this class. In lecture he just goes over problem after problem and writes out the steps. He has good handwriting and is good at explaining the concepts. Each week with each section he assigns suggested problems. I personally didn't work through them, but if you do you'll most likely ace the exams. A week before each exam he gave us the exam from last semester, these were the most helpful, as the format typically aligns with the exam. The third exam will be the hardest, so do not slack on that material. Towards the end of the semester he assigned two group HW assignments. These were probably one of the worst parts of this class. DO NOT MISS A WRITTEN HW ASSIGNMENT. We only had four assignments and this accounted for 15% of our grade. The final wasn't bad, practice as many past final exams as possible. His attitude: The reason he lost 3 stars is solely because of his attitude and lack of communication skills. He doesn't respond to emails until days later after assignments are due, and going to office hours are a complete waste of time. I tried going in the beginning of the semester and whenever I asked a question he was extremely dismissive, and told me to ask other students in the room, completely defeating the purpose of office hours. I once asked for him to explain the steps of a concept in office hours and was told that he "couldn't do that right now since there's other people there, but he could sit down one and one and explain it". Later in the semester sent him an email days prior, and when he didn't answer asked after class in which he said "idk what your email says so I cant give an answer". I've also asked a question after class in which he replied, "send me an email" which he took three days to answer. If he doesn't answer your email within two days email him again. Trying to communicate with him was excruciating but if you can get through the semester without having to talk to him you'll do great.

James Hanson
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/11/2024

James hanson wasen't a particularly difficult professor. Honestly if you went to class and took notes the midterms are a walk in the park. He posts what each question of the midterm would cover and the point value. If you go to class and make an effort there is no shot you fail and will atleast get an B. Although the Tas are terrible graders. the range so heavily when it comes to grades for dicussion with some being so nice and some being assholes. then finally I have had to submit so many regrades for ridiculous points being pulled off my exams. but all in all not too difficult of a class and you just cant skip and expect a good grade. I would recommend him such a caring guy

James Hanson
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/08/2024

I'm retaking MATH140 to improve GPA, so I already knew most of the things. I never once went to lecture either. So I don't know about his teaching skills, I was never there. He's alright though. Very understanding and kind. Gives hard exams, but started curving and 1/3 of the way through the semester said he'd weigh the lowest midterm exam at half of the others, since people did so bad on the first one. I've removed a star because on the first three exams he always had one crazy unsolvable question. Also, he NEVER replied to email so you HAVE to talk to him in person about anything. But he's not mean or anything. I guess just bad with email. Statistics for our class on the exams. All exams out of 100: Exam 1: Mean: 59.29 Median: 60 High: 92 Upper Quartile: 73 Low: 6 Lower Quartile: 46.75 Exam 2: Mean: 74.02 Median: 81 High: 97 Upper Quartile: 90.13 Low: 9.5 Lower Quartile: 66.38 Exam 3: Mean: 65.88 Median: 66.5 High: 96.5 Upper Quartile: 78.5 Low: 10 Lower Quartile: 53.63 Exam 4: Mean: 72.9 Median: 77 High: 100 Upper Quartile: 88 Low: 6.5 Lower Quartile: 63.75

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/07/2024

Dr. Schlenoff is a great professor, and I like his rigor, but if you are slow, his teaching can be pretty fast-paced and hard to follow. though it does get you ready for the final, so take him if you are willing to put more effort for a better payout.

James Hanson
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/06/2024

Wasn't a fan the first few weeks since he went through topics so fast and it seemed like he only went over easy examples whilst leaving us to do the hard ones but he grew on me over the semester. He lectures very efficiently and incorporates the theorems of calculus very well into the lesson. He's also super accommodating to students, dropping grades, offering to curve tests, giving exact topics each question goes over, providing practice exams. In any case I know he did more than the other MATH140 spring 2024 lecturer to provide us with resources and help. If you put in the work, you will easily pass this class with him.

Nick Forman
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/07/2024

This is the best TA you can hope for. He is very knowledgable and is also funny. He is very willing to help and will extend his office hours if needed.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
02/06/2024

Dr. Schlenoff is great. It is easy to tell that he actually cares about his students and wants them to do well. His class is extremely well organized and he lays out exactly what you'll be doing each day. His lectures are easy to follow because he knows which topics are difficult and paces the lecture accordingly. The exams are pretty fair and you will do well if you go to the lectures and prepare yourself.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Anonymous
01/29/2024

I've only had him for a little while but I have to say I love his teaching style. He is very open to questions is super kind and is always available for extra help. Math 140 is a tough class but his slow methodical teaching style makes things easier. Definitely recommend.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Anonymous
01/26/2024

He doesn't understand the difference between teaching a subject and knowing about the subject you are teaching. I'm sure without his slides he isn't very useful. He had some good days though, but outside sources such as the TA's and videos helped me more throughout the course.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/25/2024

He’s an excellent professor for Math140. Took him Fall 2023 and the exams were literally what he assigned to us on WebAssign and what he went over in class. Just show up to class, take notes, go to discussions and you will pass. The only thing you have to watch out for is the written homework being weighed pretty high, it is easy and you have plenty of time to do it, but make sure you check over your answers. This class was light-work.

Anna Szczekutowicz
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/24/2024

Good lecturer and very chill teacher. Everything was organized and she posted notes after lecture. One downside is that the web assigns are usually due the day after lecture and can take a bit of time to complete, but they aren't worth that much of your grade

Anna Szczekutowicz
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/13/2024

Anna was the best math teacher I've had. She spends just enough time going over the actual content so that she can focus more on practice problems. She gives an easy version of practice problems during lecture so that students can understand the actually process of doing specific problems, but she ups the difficulty for discussion worksheets and webassigns. Definitely don't be afraid to ask your TA for help on homeworks & make sure you pick a good group to do your discussion worksheets with. Ultimately, the biggest chunk of your grade is going to be exams, so you should spend the most time reviewing for that. You can find practice problems for most of the topics in Paul's Online Math Notes; doing those and reviewing old webassigns is what I found most helpful for quizzes + tests.

Anna Szczekutowicz
MATH140

Anonymous
01/09/2024

I 110% recommend taking this course with Anna. Even though she posts the notes, I found going to her lectures was really helpful because she explained the topic and concepts really well. Especially when she reviewed the material in the class before the exam, as the content she covered on this day as well as her practice exams were important for doing well on the actual exam. In lecture, she managed her time well too. I felt that the practice problems from the textbook were the most helpful for me to get extra practice and feel more confident solving questions. Overall, I think her grading system was very fair too. I also found going to Anna's office hours was helpful, because she was really compassionate and good at explaining if I had any questions.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a C
Buss003
01/06/2024

Pilachowski teaches this class like a robot, he didn't do a single problem on the board with a marker. He just goes through the slides he made twenty years ago by clicking through them while explaining them poorly. His redeeming qualities are the fact that the tests are fair, just do the practice tests from the test bank. Attendance is not mandatory as he records all lectures and posts them to the class. Not an awful person, but a poor teacher. Avoid if you can.

Anna Szczekutowicz
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
01/05/2024

Dr. S is a great lecturer. Her notes are very clear and she explains concepts very well, however she does not really take questions or interact with the class. Be prepared for the exams they start off easy but do get harder. The annoying thing is you actually have to show up to discussions because the worksheets are graded, although a few are dropped. She was very helpful and understanding regarding ADS accommodations too.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/03/2024

He's an awful professor, I took calc in high school but I knew it'd be harder in college. But his exams are probably the hardest out of any professor and he does an extremely poor job teaching you. I taught myself the whole semester.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
01/03/2024

As many reviews state, Chadwick does care about his students and their success. However, he often was not the best at explaining concepts/ explaining how and when to use what we learn. The class consists of mandatory lectures (he does post notes but they are confusing without your own), discussion worksheets that are very difficult but you can work in groups to complete them, quizzes (extremely easy), 5 exams, and homework that often took 2+ hours to complete for very little credit. Chadwick is one of the better Math140 professors as he provides past exams that are identical to the ones you will get in class. Lectures were confusing at times, however, he does try to set you up for success.

Anna Szczekutowicz
MATH140

Anonymous
12/29/2023

I 110% recommend taking this course with Anna. Even though she posts the notes, I found going to her lectures was really helpful because she explained the topic and concepts really well. Especially when she reviewed the material the class before the exam, as the content she covered on this day as well as her practice exams were important for doing well on the actual exam. In lecture, she managed her time well too. I felt that the practice problems from the textbook were the most helpful for me to get extra practice and feel more confident solving questions. Overall, I think her grading system was very fair too. I also found going to Anna's office hours was helpful, because she was really compassionate and good at explaining if I had any questions.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/26/2023

Course: Overall the class is pretty well structured. Lots of assignments but that’s just expected for a common math class like MATH140. There were worksheets, online homework through WebAssign, written homework, midterm exams, and the final exam. The WebAssigns were more to assess and make sure you understood how to do the material, the worksheets are harder but will be more of what your midterm questions will be like, the written homeworks are kinda miscellaneous but they’re important to your grade. If you put effort into this class and get help from office hours, the tutoring center in Kirwan, or just online help, then you will be fine in this class. Don’t slack off on the exams. Breakdown: - Worksheets (20), 10%, they’re done EXCLUSIVELY only in discussions, and you must turn it in by the end of it, otherwise you won’t get points, so don’t skip discussions and do your best on it. You can always talk and get help from classmates if you need to. - WebAssign (28), 12.5%, anywhere from 8-15 questions per section. These are usually due at 7:30 AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and usually address the content that you learned the day before when you had a lecture (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). - Written Homework (5), 15%, THESE ARE WEIGHTED PRETTY HIGH. There are only 5 of them, so take them seriously. The first 3 are on your own and you have to submit both online through ELMS/Canvas and the day it’s due in discussion. HW04 and HW05 are group written homeworks that are you guys doing practice exams leading up to the final, so get with your group early. - Midterm Exams (4), 37.5%, these are all weighted equally, so don’t worry about the 1st exam being weighted more than the 4th exam. He will provide you with a past practice exam for each exam, and if you want more practice exams, just email him if he has any more. As long as you study the notes and worksheets, you should be fine. - Final Exam, 25%, study a bunch of the practice exams beforehand, go to his office hours, go to your TA’s office hours and you should be ok. Make sure to read the questions. Professor: I think Kendall Williams is pretty good. Some people may say he moves slow, but that’s not necessarily the case, it’s just he explains every part of the example problem that he does. The examples he does in class are very well explained, any questions that you need just raise your hand and he will explain it in depth how he got there to make sure that your question is answered and that you understand it well. He doesn’t post his notes so you should go to class otherwise you probably won’t know how to do the material or know what’s going on unless you’ve already taken Calculus 1 in the past and understand it well. He emails back pretty quick, his TA’s are pretty good (shoutout Jacob). Also has a sense of humor, if he doesn’t get to the material in class, he will push back the due date for the WebAssign, and is very professional all around. I would always recommend him to other people.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/23/2023

To be fair, I have taken calculus before, so take this review for the class itself with a grain of salt. Dr. Chadwick is a good professor. He tends to read straight from the textbook, which can make things a bit confusing, along with being somewhat monotone, making it challenging to pay attention sometimes. However, he does post his notes on ELMS, along with being more than happy to help students whenever they ask a question. Whenever someone asked a question in lecture, his face would light up, which is a really good sign that he likes what he does and really cares about his students. The practice exams are also very similar to the midterms he gives, which I have found to be quite helpful. Additionally, the work load is manageable, and it is very helpful for preparing for exams, however the homework is annoying since its on WebAssign, which doesn't offer any explanations if you get an answer incorrect and only gives you 2 attempts, but I know that isn't Chadwick's fault. What is annoying is that it only counted for 2-3% of the final grade. Additionally, the final is a common final, and even after doing many previous finals for MATH140 along with doing Chadwick's previous midterms and practice midterms for practice once again, this semester it was much harder than the previous ones, and although I did very well on the midterms, getting a mediocre grade on the final dropped my grade from an A- to a B+. Chadwick also cuts your lowest midterm in half, not completely dropping it, which is helpful. In summary, if you have taken calculus before, Chadwick is a good bet, and if you haven't MATH140 is difficult no matter who your professor is, and from my peers who took calculus for the first time this past semester, it could be so much worse.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/23/2023

He didn't round up my 89.6 grade to an A- even though I scored 96 percent on the final and put in a ton of effort. The discussions weren't helpful; you're stuck dealing with problems much harder than the ones covered in lectures. While you can ask the TA questions, there are 25 other students just as confused, and every discussion worksheet is turned in for a grade. Overall, if you've taken AP Calc in high school, you'll be fine. But if you're like me, taking it for the first time, it's gonna be hell. The homework is way tougher than the problems covered in lectures, and there's usually a lecture with corresponding homework due the next day at 7:30 am. So, if you're confused, you don't really get a chance to go to office hours. If you end up taking Chadwick with no prior calc experience, my advice would be to try reading the textbook because problems from there might appear on the homework. Also, go to GSS study sessions. Big shoutout to Chet, the GSS leader teacher, who was very nice and actually really helped me get a decent grade in this course.

Anna Szczekutowicz
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/22/2023

Taking a class with Anna is overall a solid experience. For MATH140 the course structure is 3 lectures a week with 2 TA led discussions. The lectures are mostly done through Anna writing down notes on her Ipad and explaining it as she goes. The lectures can be a bit dry but the notes are fairly simple with her explaining the concepts for each topic and going through a few example problems. The lectures are usually easy to follow and notes are posted after the lecture if you get confused. The discussions are always just one worksheet that you need to complete and you're allowed to leave once you finish. The worksheets can be complicated but you're allowed to work in groups up to 4 and you can ask for help from the TA's. Occasionally in discussion you'll be given quizzes which you'll know in advanced. The quizzes are always 1 or 2 fairly simple problems from whatever unit you're in. The exams and grades given are always fair, you'll pretty much always know what to expect from each exam as long as you've done the notes. The course says you need to buy a textbook but you'll be fine without one, they're only used for extra practice. Reaching Anna or her TA's is fairly easy but she's strict with gradecutoffs, you're not gonna be able to get a sympathy gradeboost from her as mentioned in the syllabus. It can be a difficult course especially if you didn't take calculus in high school, but you're given everything you need to do well. If you're struggling you can go to office hours and attend exam review sessions hosted by TA's.

Anna Szczekutowicz
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/22/2023

Goated professor. Covered everything we needed in class and published notes for later review. Class is very organized and Dr. S follows the textbook so it isn't hard to study if you didn't understand the material in class or just want to learn ahead. Parth the TA was also very nice and helpful. The midterms were decent, averages were always around an 80. Take Dr. S if you want to pass Calc 1 and have a good time.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/22/2023

He is overall a fine professor, though I would be wary of attending office hours. I've experienced that he does not have much regard for you if your doing fine, and if you are struggling I've heard it's much worse. He teaches straight from the textbook so it's the same from the worksheet/quizzes and the exams are not as difficult. Plus, he curves the lowest midterm. But, be very careful about who is your TA.

Anna Szczekutowicz
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/20/2023

She's a great professor! Fall 2023 was her first time teaching at UMD (she came from UT Austin) and I think she very well being new and all. Her explanations during lecture were extremely helpful and made understanding the content so much easier. She does post all of her lecture notes on Canvas, but I would still highly recommend going to class because her explanations are simply that good. I also really liked my TA and found that the discussion sections, while hard worksheet-wise, really helped boost my understanding of the concepts in lecture. My main issue with this class was that the homework was SO HARD, like unreasonably so. Unfortunately, the profs don't set the homework for Calc 1, the head of the math department does. Anyways, whoever they are likes to make all of our lives a living hell and give problems way harder than the ones practiced in class or on the exam. I would recommend setting aside a minimum of two hours for each homework and starting them early so you have time to go to either Dr. S' or a TA's office hours for help. Also, the final (decided on by all the calc profs) this semester was WAY harder than the previous semesters, so my advice is to study the hard problems from the course because if you don't think it will be on there, it probably will. Overall, she's a great prof and you will learn the content and concepts better than Chadwick's students.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/20/2023

Fantastic professor! If you participate, go to office hours (if necessary), and go to discussion you will pass the class. Professor Schlenoff was one of my favorite professors this semester. It is worth forming a connection with him. Would highly recommend.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/20/2023

Professor Schlenoff is a fantastic guy and was one of my favorite professors this semester. Make it a point to get to know him and form a connection. He has relatively large lectures so it can become easy to skip classes and lose out on participation points. Just be engaged in lectures, go to discussions, and go to office hours if struggling. I promise you it will be worth your while and you will pass the class if you engage.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/19/2023

He did not round a 89.6 grade to an A- even though I got 96 on the final and put a lot of effort in this course. His discussions are useless, we were required to tackle problems that were so much harder than those covered in lectures, either on our own or with friends. You can obviously ask questions to your TA but keep in mind that there would be 25 other students as confused as you, who also want explanation because every single discussion worksheet is turned in for a grade. Overall, if you have taken ap calc in high school, you will be fine. If you are someone like me, who took it for the first time, it would be hell. The homework is so much harder than the problems he covers on his lectures and there was usually a lecture with corresponding homework due the next day at 7:30 am. So if you are confused, you don't really get a chance to go to office hours. If you end up taking Chadwick with no prior calc experience, I recommend reading the textbook, because problems from there might appear on the homework and exams. Also, go to GSS study sessions. Shout out to Chet who was a brilliant GSS leader and actually helped me get a decent grade in this course.

Anna Szczekutowicz
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/17/2023

I never went into office hours but Ms.S is a really great math professor. She gives you the basics without confusing you and makes sure that you understand the overall topics and why they're important. She is cutthroat in the way that she will not bump or boost your grade. But if you do tons of practice problems and attend all the discussions you'll be set.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/17/2023

Calc is a hard class, but Kendall makes understanding each topic easier especially if you have never taken calc before. For my class he didn't record his lectures so you needed to be at all three lectures per week. One thing that he did that all the other 140 teacher didn't do was that he didn't give out any quizzes, which I liked. You have to attend discussions because there is a graded worksheet for each one. Kendall also doesn't give out minuses, so I got an 82% but I'm still going to get a B as my grade. One thing that I heard other students complain about was that Kendall makes his test harder then other teachers. I believe his first two test were easy, however, each of the last two test had one problem that was not like any of the others that we went through in class, which most of the class would end up getting completely wrong. I think that overall Kendall is a good professor and you should take him if you can.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/17/2023

Professor Schlenoff is the guy. He's funny at times but efficient, focused, and not at all rude in any way compared to other professors. If you need math140, he will get to the point regarding the work and efficiently prepare you for the final exam. With emails he's very responsive, and if you have a question, he will explain it in a way to help you understand in solving the problem. Don't get it confused, all Calc classes are hard might as well take it with someone who can teach well. You do need to make an effort, take notes on the problems done within class, review and try on your own. If you label each step he does, it makes absorbing the info easier. He does have quizzes once a week which can seem intimidating but they truly help you prepare for the midterms and final. He has an excellent ability to actually teach and help you learn. I'd taken calc before in HS and never understood the processes until this class. I'm glad I had him as first semester FC student.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A-
elija_hrs
12/16/2023

Really nice dude, very approachable and patient. Goes very fast through material but will slow down if you ask

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting a B-
supercool
12/15/2023

Math140 is honestly just a hard class in general. Williams did a good job explaining most things and made sure to answer every question without hesitation. The midterms (4 of them) were hard but he ended up dropping the lowest one which helped. The webassigns and HWs were time consuming but helped when studying. His lectures were fine but as a person he is super nice.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/15/2023

Overhated. Sometimes his lectures are unclear and the class would benefit if he actually did math during class, but otherwise he's not that bad. If you're taking him though you have to be willing to teach calc 1 to yourself to some degree. He gives lots of personal freedom in the class, technically you don't have to go to lecture at all and you will be fine. Discussion sections help your grade and I had a good TA. Just do a practice exam or two before every test and you should be fine.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/15/2023

I honestly don't know why Dr. Williams has so many bad reviews. He's a great lecturer and explains everything really well. If you pay attention in class, and redo the problems done in the lecture, the ones he suggests in the lecture, and the ones suggested in the syllabus you should honestly be fine. His office hours are pretty hectic with the amount of people in there, but you should definitely go because he'll re-explain it. My TA was also great and was really helpful with understanding the stuff we went over quickly. I will say the discussion worksheets and WebAssigns are really hard but he doesn't make them, the department does. ALL IN ALL, you should definitely take him for MATH140.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B+
ysnim
12/15/2023

Chadwick is a solid professor. His lectures are kind of just reading word for word off the textbook a lot of times because I don't think he necessarily knows how to explain it at an introductory level like many students need, and that means a good chunk of the lectures are just going through the proofs and theorems to GET to a certain formula you will need to memorize, so you'll have to sift through what you actually need to know vs what's fluff sometimes. Lectures are not recorded but he always posts the notes he takes for each lecture on canvas so if you miss a few (and have a good grasp on the prior concepts) it's not a huge deal. Exams are very fair if you study the practice sheets you're given prior to the exams. Every discussion involves solving a graded worksheet. Your lowest midterm score is halved but that's all the curve he gives, at least for the Fall 2023 semester, I've heard others got their lowest quiz score dropped but we did not. I don't honestly know how well I would've done in this class if I didn't already take calculus in high school, but you're probably not going to get much better than Chadwick for MATH140.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/15/2023

Overall he's a genuinely nice person who wants to see his students succeed. That said, you have to put in A TON of work outside of class in order to understand the material, especially if you haven't taken calc before. My biggest problem is that he didn't understand what really needed to be weighted in the lectures which made it sound like he went on tangents sometimes. For example, he went on a tangent about how you can name a variable basically anything rather than focussing on the more important topic of limit substitutions. However, he did pretty much say that you have to teach yourself the textbook content on the first day in order to find value in the class so it's possible that the majority of people didn't take that seriously. That aside, if you take time out of the day to learn the textbook section before lecture (i.e reading and doing the suggested problems) you'll have no trouble with the class as the exams are fairly easy and strait forward. His office hours are also really helpful but not necessarily for the fact that he gives individual attention but more for the fact that they end up being like a discussion period for answering questions about the WebAssigns. He does not curve the class or exams but HE DOESN'T GIVE MINUS GRADES which in of itself is amazing but is also an inherent GPA boost if you're in that territory (only expecting an A because of this).

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/14/2023

Don't take Pilachowski if you have no prior calc experiences, he assumes a lot of prior experiences which makes it hard to follow along in certain lectures. His exams are also harder than average for the department and are unnecessarily difficult compared to the given practice exams, and often covers cases that were not covered through examples in lecture. He has a habit of rushing through steps in lecture and presents using a PowerPoint instead of actually writing out his math, which makes it hard for you to follow along if you don't have prior experience or are just less skilled in math in general. Please take someone else if you have no prior experience, but if you have prior experience, he's fine I guess.

Turner Pepper
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/14/2023

A great TA! His explanations for things were clear and straightforward, highly recommend.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Anonymous
12/14/2023

Nice guy, midterms aren’t terrible bc they look like the sample exams. but the final… IT WAS SO HARD FOR NO REASON. It was much harder than the previous finals that you can find on the test bank or even the sample finals he gives you. make sure you know everything about calc when you take his exams

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/14/2023

IF YOU TOOK CALC BEFORE, you should be okay. I'm getting a B+ though, because I forgot about conic sections XD I think throughout all my math classes, they've all used PowerPoints so idk what everyone's talking about. Tim's PowerPoint goes step-by-step for each example problem, just like if you had written them out by hand. He doesn't WANT you to fail. He tries to teach you & gives advice (i.e. if you're feeling stressed tell a bad joke to yourself, songs to remember formulas, etc). PROS: - Doesn't give negative letter grades - Has videos that go over the material in class (if you wanna skip / miss a lecture) - TAs are very friendly & helpful (I love you Karthik xoxo <3) - Examples gone over in class are hard, so doing hw is slightly less difficult I guess... - Exams are structured similarly to what the final looks like (i.e. separate pieces of paper for each question, honor pledge, etc) CONS: - Uses PowerPoint if you don't like that (I'm fine with it) - Goes through slides quickly - Hw is on WebAssign. But Webassign is bad in general so yeah - From other friends, the hw problems are the same across sections? So... - Tim's schedule is like this: Mon lecture, Mon hw due at 7:30am Tues. Wed lecture, Wed hw due at 7:30am Thur. Fri lecture, Fri hw due 7:30am Tues. - Exams are harder than exams in the math test bank

Anna Szczekutowicz
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/13/2023

Prof S is awesome. She explains concepts well and provides examples of common errors that most students make. She is very reasonable with extending homework due-dates (Calc 1 has so much hw and its all back to back). Her exams are basically everything from the textbook lecture or discussion. If you pay attention and do all your homework, textbook practice and review the lecture examples she does in class you will get out on top. Except fair exams with some curve balls but if you see a curve ball I can promise it will only be 1 question. The 3rd exam was the worst no one finished on time and she took that into account when grading. (Small curve). She does her best to help you succeed. The rest is up to you. Calc here is tough and you gotta be willing to put in the hours to learn how to solve these problems. Professor S made Calc 1 manageable but you gotta meet her half-way. Good luck and pick professor S.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/11/2023

Dr. Schlenoff is an extremely nice and helpful professor. He wants his students to succeed and always provides resources and encourages questions during class

Emilio Dominguez
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/11/2023

a great TA, really good and teaching and trying to help the students succeed!

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/11/2023

Chadwick was a great teacher and was super nice and accommodating when I had a difficult time this semester

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A+
boiledegg44186
12/09/2023

Chadwick's a nice guy and solid lecturer. I feel like his lectures might be a bit confusing if you haven't taken calculus, but if you have some prior knowledge it should be fine. If you don't understand something make sure to go to his office hours, it might get a bit busy but it's very helpful and he'll make sure to explain in a way that you understand. The Webassign homework can get a bit tedious but it's not worth that much of your grade and it's probably harder than the exams, so it prepares you well. The exams are very fair, since gives out practice exams that are just past exams, so you should know what to expect.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/08/2023

best calc professor, explains everything in detail and always answers questions, quizzes and tests are very reasonable to what we do in class, always understanding about issues on your end, 10/10 recommend

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/07/2023

Awful professor. Doesn't teach at all, exams way harder than other professors. Take if you like failing classes.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
12/06/2023

Great guy, super nice. His exams are absurdly hard for no reason. Homework is 20x as hard as the material covered in class. The worst math class I've taken, almost made me drop out. Please avoid it for your own sake.....

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/06/2023

TAKE THIS PROFESSOR. Dr. Schlenoff was an amazing professor. His lectures were very important and meaningful for providing the base you need to understand the topic, and the homework gradually enhanced your ability to master that topic. He speaks very clearly, answers questions perfectly, and occasionally offers extra help 30 minutes before and after class. He also put multiple practice questions from the textbook for each section (not just chapters but each section like 3.1, 3.2, etc). If you do these problems every week, you will undoubtedly get A's on all of your quizzes. Sometimes to persuade you to utilize the practice problems, he will put a problem on the quiz that is the same concept and uses similar methods as the practice problems. He also provides you with practice exams for your exams. Overall, you have all of the resources needed to get at least a B in this class. Don't slack, take the time to do your homework, and don't wait until the last minute to do so, use the resources he provides, and you will do great.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/06/2023

Literally avoid at all costs, you'll have to put in 3 times more work as all the other teacher because he thinks he's above teaching. He doesn't write anything and uses power points he made 10 years ago, all he does is click a button and the entire problem is solved so you have to try and go through it yourself and understand it. He gives homework twice a week that takes about an hour each time. His discussions are graded worksheets that are usually harder than the test material but are good practice. He says use the MATH140 testbank to get practice exams, which is a good piece of advice but he often throws curveballs to try and trip you up on exams. Don't try going to office hours as he usually just tells you what to learn to solve your problem and not how to solve it. The TAs I had were wonderful though, all three of them knew the material and were happy to help, but this is probably going to vary semester to semester. Overall the best thing you can do if you do have this guy is to make friends fast and study with them, going to lectures isn't necessary as he posts the videos online, but still go to try and pay attention. His class is manageable, but it is a LOT of work so don't be fooled.

Anna Szczekutowicz
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/06/2023

Overall really nice professor who cares about her students, always posts lecture notes (no recording though). Really good job explaining concepts and grading harshness is middle-of-the-road. Responsive to emails and just looks out for students, like explaining how course regs work and always always reminding us when and where exams are.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/04/2023

Chadwick's a solid professor. Although he can be confusing sometimes, he's generally good at explaining the material and goes at a good pace during lectures. However, he frequently arrived late to class (I hope it's exclusive to that semester. One time, he showed up 10 minutes late). The homework is a pain, but it's only 3% of your grade. Discussion worksheets have unnecessary theory, but the quizzes are very easy, and his review sessions reflect on the exam. However, your TA is arguably as important or even more important, so make sure you go to office hours and cover concepts you don't understand. As long as you put in the work, you'll be fine. The weight of your lowest midterm is also reduced.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Fozziebear17
12/03/2023

Chadwick cares about his students and knows the math really well. However he is not good at articulating how to do it. Following along in class feels more like a color by numbers you have to interpret later. He also has a tendency to skip around making it harder to understand. The Exams are always easier than the homework and the TA's grade pretty easy. If you put the work in and have some prior calculus knowledge you'll do fine. If you've never taken calculus before, please try Khan Academy.

Shenghao Li
MATH140

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
12/01/2023

Shanghao is seriously a really nice and funny dude. The problem I have with him is that he is way too smart for his own good. He goes at a fast pace and explains things at a level that is past MATH140. This could be due to the slight language barrier or the fact he is in his Phd program. He grades quite harsh on quizzes but gives slight leeway on exams. He responds to emails very fast though!

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/23/2023

He just uses a powerpoint, does no work by hand, and expects you to know almost everything before he even teaches it. You could study for his exams for hours and do all of the practices exams and then still fail the tests bc they are nothing like the examples he gives in class. Discussion worksheets are good for ur grade but useless otherwise bc he considers them "too hard to put on exams". Homework is easy but doesn't count for much. Doesn't give - grades tho and drops a few homework and worksheet grades. Overall if you want to do little homework and teach calc to yourself take him, otherwise steer clear.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/20/2023

DO NOT TAKE HIM! He doesn't teach you anything. Practice exams, textbook questions, and homework are nothing similar to his exams. He makes his exams harder than every other professor teaching MATH140. I basically taught myself using the textbook. Avoid at all cost. Almost impossible to get an A in his class. Half the class withdraws after the 3rd exam.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
11/17/2023

Although I am expecting to receive a C- in the class (I hope), Dr. Schlenoff is a great professor. I recommend you sign up for his section if you can as he is extremely helpful and does all he can to provide support to his students, which is hard to find in some other professors.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a W
Anonymous
11/06/2023

Honestly, if you know calculus and all previous maths then you should be fine. But if you don’t know pre calc or trig you’re screwed bc he doesn’t touch that at all in lecture. And if you need to see how a problem is done then Tim isn’t your man. This is because everything is taught of a pp and numbers come out of no where. He also goes EXTREMELY quick and doesn’t like to answer questions. Honestly if you have Tim you’re screwed so good luck. Thanks to tim I’m behind in my comp sci classes.

Anna Szczekutowicz
MATH140

Anonymous
10/31/2023

Not a good lecturer IMO. Just copies word for word what the textbook says and provides no further assistance. Discussion material and homework are generally 100 times harder than anything she teaches.

Anna Szczekutowicz
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/19/2023

Great calculus professor! Her exams and quizzes aren't too difficult and she prepares you well for them. The homework and in-class worksheets are often difficult but never impossible. She's very nice and understanding, which is reflected in her lenient grading. Her lectures are also super clear and engaging. Solid professor.

Zhenghe Zhong
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/17/2023

Probably the funniest TA I've had. He's pretty lenient on grading which is nice, and he's always available to talk to for help at his office hours or via email. My only issue is that he's not great at explaining complex topics. He's a great TA if you're confident in the course material, but you might struggle if that's not the case.

Anna Szczekutowicz
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/13/2023

I personally think she's a great lecturer, she explains concepts well and gets straight to the point. However, the way the class is set up is annoying. In discussion, we have worksheets with problems that are 10x harder than what she teaches us and often times the material on the worksheets is stuff we haven't even learned in lecture. There have been multiple instances where we have to solve a problem using a theorem or method we end up learning 2 days later in lecture. I also think some of the questions on web assign are annoying, but I get that isn't her fault. It's also a bit frustrating because it seems like she uses the worksheets from a different prof and also gives us practice exams from a different prof but her exams are quite different so it won't help you that much. She's a good teacher but she should start looking over the material she assigns us before we have to do it.

Zhenghe Zhong
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
10/13/2023

Michael is probably the funniest TA in the whole department. He's always super fun and an overall great guy. He's also really understanding and lenient with his grading which is nice. However, I have to subtract a star as his explanations for various concepts are often confusing and hard to follow. You'll have a great time with him if you don't find the class too hard, but it might be worth switching TA's if you're struggling with the material.

Nathan Janus
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
09/13/2023

I only had Nathan for about a month over the summer and he has truly been one of the best, if not the best math instructors I've ever had throughout my entire time in school. He is relatable, understanding, and a pretty chill guy. His ability to explain and break down certain topics makes the class way less overwhelming. It was also really easy to talk with him and ask questions. Overall great guy, great hair, nice shoes. Nathan > your TA

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
07/25/2023

Although I passed the class with a satisfactory mark, that does not mean I was satisfied with Dr. Williams. Firstly, what prompted me to even make a review in the first place is to correct a lot of lies that people are claiming he "drops the lowest midterm." First of all, he does not do that. In fact, he does not curve at all despite the fact that most midterms averaged a score of 50%. What presses me even more is the fact that his office hours are not helpful at all. Instead of helping you with questions about topics from a lecture, he will tell you to "look in your notes" as if that was not the first thing I did. To make matters even worse, the examples he does in class are SOMETIMES unfinished. What do I mean by that? I mean that he doesn't conclude with an answer, but probably a few steps from the answer and tells us to "finish it ourselves." The only positive experience about this professor were the way he explains problems. It was a lot more direct and he focuses more on the application rather than theory. On a final note, his midterms are NOTHING like the webassigns. There are questions that were flat-out never presented to us on our homework, so really you should be studying your textbook rather than the problems on there. This god-forsaken math department lacks any real talent, so I still believe this professor is your best bet.

Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
07/23/2023

I took calc 1 with him in the spring. He seems like a nice guy but he's a bad teacher. He overcomplicated the topics like crazy. Most of the time I was confused sitting through the lecture. But to be fair, his exams looked very similar to the practice exams so that's a plus.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
07/15/2023

Kendall Williams is a cool professor and holds great lectures. He spends the majority of the time doing practice problems so the students can follow along and learn, as opposed to other calc1 profs. that spend too much time on tedious proofs. Calculus 1 is so easy if you don't waste your time watching youtube and playing video games. Just open up your textbook and do practice problems and you will get an A guaranteed. So many reviews on here say "he doesn't curve", if you are expecting your teacher to curve the most rudimentary math class at UMD you should think twice before blaming your bad grade on the professor.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
06/08/2023

I personally thought that Dr. Williams was a good professor. He was a super friendly professor and did a good job of teaching all of the topics. I thought he was pretty clear on what topics were gonna be on the exams. There were 4 midterms and one final in the class and he dropped one of the midterms. The final was not very difficult. The difficulty of the midterms was a bit unusual where on two of the midterms the average was around a 50% but on the other two they were closer to 80%. I might be biased since I already took Calc 1 in high school so I knew most of the topics and was just relearning the material for the most part. I didn't put a ton of effort into the class and was able to get an A but I do think that even if you have no calculus background that if you put in the effort and did all of the assigned work that it is definitely attainable to get an A as well. Every week he gives us a list of assigned problems that we should do and I would recommend doing all of those problems because he would usually put at least one of those problems on every exam, and those were the problems that were usually more difficult. For discussion there was a quiz every week on Thursdays which were very easy and you were told what topics were gonna be on the quiz beforehand. This might differ with TA but on Tuesdays it was mostly just the TA solving any problems that we were confused about on the hw or somewhere else. I never went to his office hours but I did ask him questions after class and he was super friendly. I would recommend taking his class. I don't know how he compares to the other calculus teachers for 140 but I think he's a good teacher and you'll get a good foundation of calculus from him.

Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes
MATH140

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
06/01/2023

i took chadwick last semester and completely failed, mostly on my own fault but rigo this semester offered so much help and prioritized his students. - Posts all of the lecture notes on ELMS - Drops a couple of homeworks, quizzes, worksheets, and one midterm - If you can't make a homework deadline, you have the option to give yourself a personal extension of 48 hrs - Lets you know what exact content will be on the quiz - His practice exams for the midterms are the EXACT format as the actual midterm. Genuinely a lifesaver and you know what to study for the midterm (while chadwick's midterms were more difficult and not like his practice exams) I would definitely study a ton more and make use of his office hours (very helpful). The class is pretty difficult but Rigo makes it very manageable and a bit enjoying- he's genuinely a great guy and answers your questions, holds long review sessions near midterms/exams and dedicates his time to clearing up any confusion in the content. Leaving this class satisfied with my knowledge in calc. If you have the opportunity to take Rigo instead of Chadwick, DO SO!

Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes
MATH140

Expecting a B-
sialessis
05/24/2023

Rigo is a pretty decent professor. He's good at explaining the material, and his practice exams are identical to the real ones. I did find at times he would give more complicated explanations than when I would watch videos online, but overall he's pretty good. He posts all his notes and drops one exam, two quizzes, and two worksheets. Just make sure to go to lecture and study regularly, and you should be fine.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/23/2023

Dr Williams is a great professor. I am not super into math, but he explains concepts well, making the class manageable. The exams were mostly fair (I can remember one problem on one exam that was not fair imo). If you do the suggested problems and homework, you will do well. He was also very accessible in office hours and cared about the success of his students. Would recommend.

Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes
MATH140

Anonymous
05/23/2023

Such an Amazing Professor, very engaging, quick to reply, and more than willing to answer questions. Practice exams were very similar to his exams. He also drops some of the homework and quiz grades. He also drops the lowest exam score.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting an F
Anonymous
05/23/2023

I FAILED THE CLASS. I will say I was not the best student so I won't complain the exams or anything like that because I do believe thats kind of my fault. However, I will complain about Kendall Williams character. He in class says to come in for office hours if you're not doing that well, he is liar. When you go in for office hours, he does nothing but berate you for not understanding a concept. Which entirely defeats the purpose of going in for office hours at all. If this is your first calculus class I'd just be careful. Then again I was not a good student so it might be a different experience for other students. I hated this class ong.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/19/2023

Not good at teaching and did not give curves even though the average on the finals is a 60 so save yourself if you are not good with math because you basically need to teach yourself everything

Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/19/2023

A very skilled lecturer who made lectures entertaining while still explaining things thoroughly. The class structure was two homeworks a week, 1 quiz in discussion a week, 4 midterms, and 1 final. Lowest midterm gets dropped. On the exams themselves partial credit was given out generously I thought. If he is available definitely take him.

Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes
MATH140

Expecting a C
dotwell123
05/18/2023

He is a good professor who definitely does all he can to make sure you understand the subject matter. His lectures are often fast paced as he is trying to cram in as much information as possible in the 50 minutes he has. There is a weekly quiz that are each worth ten points. Webassign assignments are due every tuesday and thursday. There are four exams, the lowest grade gets dropped. As well as the two lowest quiz scores, four lowest webassign grades, and two lowest discussion worksheet grades. The final exam is tough but fair. You are given a decades worth of previous final exams in the MATH140 test bank and if you start practicing those more than a week before the final exam you will do well. The exam is basically a mixture of the previous few years exams. There was a curve at the end of the class that was worth a few percentage points. Overall, I would recommend Professor Rigo if you plan on taking MATH140.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/17/2023

there's not nearly enough reviews on math140 as of recent, so I'll supply you all with one. dr williams is a great person, but not the best professor. im honestly teetering between giving 2 stars or 3 stars, but for now, i think i'll stick with two. dr williams' class should not be nearly as challenging as he makes it. it's based a lot on theory, which can be helpful for some, but the application of topics is really important for exams. and don't even get me started on the homework...half the time i would be stuck on a hw problem, and he would say smth along the lines of "well don't worry about the way webassign puts it, i wouldn't give it like that"....then why is it in our hw? why am i being given calculator problems when we cant even use a calculator on quizzes, exams, etc? it's just a waste of our time. i also spent a lot of time in office hours, and u can ask almost any of my friends that after a while, i would be demotivated to even go to his office hours, bc he just seemed so demeaning when u would ask him a question. it's like he didn't even want ppl in his office hours, but that's legitimately the only way to understand some concepts outside of class. if you can, maybe taken another calc teacher with higher ratings, but if you're forced to..ig take dr williams? just be weary lol. also just some quickfire notes, that are the same amongst most calc classes: there r 4 midterm exams, 1 final, one midterm is dropped. 4 webassign homework are dropped, and webassign homework is usually due the day after classes (tuesdays and thursdays) at 7:30 am good luck!

Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes
MATH140

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
05/16/2023

Now do not get me wrong, he is a great dude; he is kind and likes to crack "funny" jokes. However, he makes countless errors, telling us to take a look at his notes (which he does post and they are quite helpful), and he skips over several steps, confusing the class and causing unnecessary questions and confusion. His exams are not too difficult if you understand the concepts and follow the practice tests he provides. The TAs are okay with assisting with problems but sometimes they're clueless. The worksheets, in my discussion, were solely graded on writing your name at the top, and the quizzes are pretty easy since he tells you what questions are going to be on them (he gives the questions during the lecture).

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/11/2023

Fair professor. Wants us to do well, very good with email.

Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/11/2023

Genuinely not that bad, I never went to class so my grade is my fault but he truly wants to make sure his students understand the topics and gives two easy exams at the beginning of the semester and then the last two he makes a little more difficult, so really understand why you have to do certain steps in a problem. I don't know the other calc professors that well, but I would say he is probably one of the best (solely based off reviews I've seen from other profs).

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Anonymous
05/09/2023

One of the best math instructors I have ever had. If you are not that confident in your math skills, Prof. Schlenoff will help you in every way that he can. I was in danger of failing this course but he and his TA sat through hours of office hours with me and provided me the support I need to pass. Truly a great teacher. Very fair grading policies and some opportunities for extra credit as well. Also, do the problems in the back of the book as they are almost identical to his test and quiz questions.

Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/08/2023

Best math professor ever. He is so straightforward and clear with the content and almost explicitly shows you the problems that will be on the quiz. Posts all his notes and is NEAT. I find it so hard when math professors are messy cuz then I can't follow along, but he color codes as he lectures and is so organized with the work. Highly recommend him for any math course. If you pay attention to lectures or notes, you'll have no issues, you get to drop one exam and some quizes + hw so I started to skip at the end of the semester but I am still chilling

Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/04/2023

Good teacher, extremely accomodating if you talk to him. Exams fairly easy (compared to other teachers) and generously graded. Minor downside may be that he sometimes rushes but all the material is posted. (Also he stays after class most days to help people with things they don't understand)

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/04/2023

Overall a really good professor! His lectures are informative and explain the content well. The exams reflect course material. I find the discussions kind of annoying since they are mandatory, but they can be helpful. The homeworks are the only downside, they are on webassign and are a pain. Homework is drastically harder than anything covered in lecture or on exams. If you have ever taken calc 1 before (i took ap calc in hs), you can honestly skip most lectures and still be fine for exams.

Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/03/2023

He is the best!! Makes jokes and is really kind. He always pauses and asks if anyone has any questions before he moves on from something in lecture. He never makes you feel dumb or afraid to ask questions. His practice exams are nearly identical to the real ones and his notes are easy to understand and follow. Writes clearly and is excellent at explaining concepts.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/01/2023

Average lecturer and kind of a meek, unrelatable guy, but at the moment he's definitely the best choice to take MATH140 with. I switched from Kendall Williams to Chad right before the first exam, and the averages for the first midterm between the two classes were around 20 points apart (I think chad's were in the 70s with Williams' in the 50s). This was a consistent pattern all semester. All of this is to say that even though Chadwick could improve some aspects of his class -- in fact, I found Williams to be a much more engaging lecturer -- Chadwick's exams are far more forgiving. You're given a sample exam that will be close to identical to the exam itself, with the occasional curveball (but emphasis on occasional). If you did well in calc in high school, but fell short of the AP score needed to bypass 140, this class will be totally manageable. Study, stay on top of it, and Chad will set you up to succeed.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/20/2023

If you have to take Tim just know you will be teaching yourself Calculus 1, which is doable but you’ll have to work hard. Go to discussion and go to your TA’s office hours they will help you way more than Tim. He only reads from his slides and those slides are the exact same as his covid recordings. The slides are not really representative of the difficulty of what you’ll have to learn, they only really expose you to what you need to go learn on your own. The benefits of Tim have nothing to do with his teaching, but his system. The exams are generally pretty similar to the practice exams, he drops a few hws/discussions, Halves the effect of your worst exam, and tends to curve grades by a little bit at the end. Tim himself is a horrible teacher who doesn’t even try, but he has some resources and policies which are better than nothing. Tldr if you are planning on teaching yourself calculus there are some benefits in taking Tim, if not you are in for a rude awakening.

Jose Rigoberto Enrique Zelada Cifuentes
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
04/18/2023

Honestly the best math teacher I’ve ever had. Engaging. Funny. And overall keeps an upbeat mood to keep you into what he’s teaching.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/11/2023

Great professor. Lectures are easy to follow and the exams reflect the difficulty of in class work/examples. the textbook can help, but isn’t fully needed. homework is on webassign and they are the worst part of the class lol. i spend more time trying to figure those out than i do anything else in the class, but he drops the three lowest grades for HWs i think, and u can get by with photomath and chegg and stuff. the discussions are mandatory because the work is graded, but it’s honestly not too bad and is a good review of the content. the discussion quizzes (usually like every other week), are usually pretty straightforward and reflect what we did in lecture. definitely a good professor for this course!

Nelson Moll
MATH140

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
03/21/2023

What isn’t there to say about Nelson? He’s got all the stuff that makes him a good professor and guy. He’s always willing to take time.

Nelson Moll
MATH140

Anonymous
03/21/2023

What isn’t there to say about Nelson? He’s got all the stuff that makes him a good professor and guy. He’s always willing to sit down with me.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous_Entity
03/11/2023

I'm late reviewing him as I took math 140 3 semesters ago, obviously. He is bad, JUST BAD. Don't take him, take gulick instead if you are willing to have an early schedule. His exams are rediculus and he reduces the lowest exam score by half and drops alot of assignments but that does not make up for how downright bad he is. AVOID HIM!

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
03/10/2023

The following will be a comprehensive review of both the class and this professor specifically. First, let's start with Professor Chadwick. Hands-down, Professor Chadwick was the worst mathematics teacher I have ever gotten. Accompanied by the fact that I have never learned Calculus in my life, his explanations were dull and his methods of teaching were non-existent. In fact, it got so bad to the point where I never showed up for class and had to learn derivation and other topics all on my own. Even for students who have taken calculus in high school, he does NOT teach and you will be sitting in a room for an hour and 30 minutes that consists of him doing textbook problems on his own and talking to himself. On that note, his method of "teaching" is to just translate the whole book word-by-word verbally which helps literally no one. He often skips steps on problems and rushes which leads to a lot of questions. As for his responses, they are all so convoluted that it makes everything more confusing than if he would have just ignored questions altogether. When he asks students if they understand, they would nod their heads and just stay silent for the remainder of the hour (or year for that matter). Chadwick does NOT curve, mostly does NOT offer partial points, and does NOT record lectures. One more important thing to note is that Chadwick's exams do NOT have any WebAssign problems nor any resemblance to the study guides he gives us. Do not expect to succeed unless you have taken Calculus before and even then, it's still difficult to pass. Every positive review about Chadwick is, by assumption, a student who has taken Calculus in high school or someone who failed and is trying to get others to fail alongside them. Again, to reiterate, I have never taken a year of Calculus prior to Chadwick and only by sacrificing marks of other classes and using external resources did I manage to pass. Now onwards to the Math Department as a whole. Math at UMD is so comically difficult that it should be considered a cruel and unusual punishment. They do a terrible job at writing exams relative to the time students spend on each topic/chapter. Students have other responsibilities, however UMD math still continues to assign weekly quizzes, biweekly exams, and unforgiving WebAssign due dates (7 AM every Tues/Thurs). Not to mention that WebAssigns on average take 5 or more hours to finish because of the nature of the problems. I recommend everyone to steer FAR FAR away from the math department at UMD or transfer credits over from a community college.

Melanka Wedige
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/21/2023

Melanka was a great TA for Calculus 1. While homeworks were pretty manageable, the hard discussion questions were barely possible to answer without Melanka's wonderful explanations. He was like a mini professor who could break down the concepts really well and explain them perfectly. He made my base in Calculus 1 stronger.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an F
Anonymous
02/10/2023

Lectures were easy problems but exams were on a completely different level, extremely difficult, if you took Calc in high school this class should be easy but if you've never taken a Calc course before, taking it with Chadwick is like a death sentence. You need to put in a lot of effort to learn stuff not taught in class and are expected to know certain rules. Doesn't record lectures. Chadwick didn't allow us to check our grades on ELMS (disabled grade viewing) until the end and didn't know how I was doing. TA wasn't much help as well. Highly recommend staying far away from Chadwick and taking MATH140 with any other professor. It's for your own good.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a D
Anonymous
01/31/2023

idk about all the other reviews on here but he spends most of the class time on deriving equations which would get complicated, would be very time consuming, and even after all that, we wouldn't even get tested on that part of derivatives. he doesn't curve the class so if you're below the average, you gotta pull your stuff together. to be fair, i didn't put in the amount of effort that i should've + it seemed that every smart student just happened to be in my section so it was tough. our TA was also not very helpful in that he was lazy, refused to grade most of our assessments until the very last minute (i'm talking a couple of days AFTER the final), and was very vague when we asked questions. discussions just sucked in general 'cause they were just worksheets after worksheets without reinforcing what we went over in class so studying outside of class is an absolute must. To return to Chadwick: he's certainly not the best professor. he does the easiest examples in class and then proceeds to test you on more complicated questions which, of course, can't all be completed in the span of 50 minutes. There are way better professors than this dude so unless you're a genuinely goated math person, pick someone else.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
01/30/2023

IDK why people keep saying he's the best in the department, every professor in this department is identical. The student is a number to this department, they do not care about your problems and your only hope is if you have a good TA, which I did not. Alex did not grade any of our worksheets until the day before the final and I had no clue how I was doing in the class. Average grade ended up being a 72 and Chadwick would not curve at all.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
01/27/2023

Gulick is hilarious and a very traditional professor, who has been teaching longer than you or your parents have been alive. If you have a good morning routine, taking 8ams with Gulick isn't a bad idea. He does not upload his examples or work onto his lecture notes and his handwriting can be hard to see, so make sure to sit closer to the front. Although he moves quickly, he will always stop and ask if anyone has a question with is work. As someone who has never taken calc before, this class wasn't super hard as long as you can sit down and do the webassign homeworks. There may be some points where you need to watch some youtube videos to understand things, but it's not daily. Gulick also writes the final exams since he is the department head, he will give many hints as what to expect and it almost feels spoonfed with all the practice exams available. You will definitely have a better understanding of calculus after taking Gulick.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
01/25/2023

Amazing Professor. Super personable, answers all your questions without being condescending, and just wants you to succeed. Definitely take him if you get the chance!

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/20/2023

Probably your best bet for MATH140. Mackall's exams weren't too hard (just the third one..) and he's personable and answers questions well for the most part. The homework kept me on track and lectures were semi-useful, he spends a lot of time talking about theory and derivations instead of focusing on examples that would show up on exams. I was mostly self-taught out of the textbook and discussion was completely useless but GSS was really helpful. We went over questions that were representative of the exams. Good curve at the end of the semester and the final was easy.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/15/2023

Chadwick is a good professor in the sense that he tells you what is exactly going to appear on the exam and his exams are fair but conceptual. You should attend all his lectures and most discussions. His TAs are really good too. The only negatives are that he cannot answer a student's queries properly so you must take help from the TA and the class is time consuming. Be prepared to put in time for it. If you do those, then you are pretty much guaranteed an A

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
01/13/2023

I'll keep this simple: Confusing Lectures Hard homework assignments Hard Tests But a really good curve.

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
01/13/2023

Overall the class was taught pretty well. I think he did spend a bit too much time talking about theory in lecture, but when he actually did examples in lecture they were similar to those on homework which helped me understand the topics. I though the homework wasn't that bad and time-consuming but friends of mine struggled so I recommend having a study group to help you. Midterms were pretty hard but I recommend just doing practice problems from the textbook and past homeworks as most of the exam is made up of those kind of questions. Curve at the end of the semester was very helpful to my grade and I felt like the difficulty of the tests and homeworks helped me on the final as I felt it was very easy compared to the rest of the class.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Anonymous
01/12/2023

For the love of god, do not take this professor. He is not good at teaching at all. Even when approached outside of class, he is sarcastic and unforgiving. Take another professor if you can

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting an A-
mlc301
01/05/2023

Pros - Really good lectures, uses the blackboard and writes out steps at all examples, good at answering questions - Nice, personable, funny guy - The curve at the end was helpful and fair Cons - No lecture notes, but that didn't matter at all to me because if you attend lecture, the notes you take in there will be enough - Exam 3 had a 53 average with no curve. He only curves at the end of the course

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/31/2022

As a professor, he could be better. I feel like the lectures focused less on you understanding and more on you knowing where it was derived from. More time was spent on teaching how some of these concepts were found and their relation to others instead of making sure that you understand the idea itself. The exams are also kind of difficult so I recommend studying if you can. I didn't study for any of the exams and BS'd most of the homeworks and was able to pull through with a B+ in the end despite taking the class in junior year of high school. The curves at the end of the semester are huge though and I think that this definitely offsets the difficulty of the exams. Overall, I recommend him as a teacher and in your discussion sessions, ask your TA for any and everything you need clarified.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
12/24/2022

For everybody saying this guy is an amazing teacher, is lying. They're only saying that because they have taken 2 years of Calculus prior to college (most have taken Calc AB AND Calc BC but weren't smart enough to get the credit so they took it again.) Of course if you already know the material, you are going to do decent, I would hope so if you don't have the IQ of a dead squirrel. So if you already have a strong understanding of Calculus, you should do okay. If you had never taken Calculus, it will be a struggle for you. This guy practically freestyles the textbook, and does very little teaching. In other words, he basically copies what the textbook says, word for word onto the chalkboard. The lectures aren't interactive, and he'll just keep writing while hoping we know what he's talking about. Actually no, he couldn't care less if we know the material or not. The only helpful thing in this course was my TA, Tyler. Tyler was very helpful and I was able to go to his office hours whenever I wanted to and he was always more than happy to help me with concepts I am not sure about. However, the discussions were completely useless. Despite taking a quiz every other week, (the quizzes were generally easy consisting of 2 questions), we would be graded on a worksheet that aren't test-like problems at all. The discussion worksheets were probably harder than the tests, maybe. Overall, this guy doesn't give an f about you or your grade, so take this class seriously.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Anonymous
12/24/2022

Professor Chadwick isn't a bad teacher, but he isn't quite the best either. I have enjoyed being in his class and the one thing making me from going off the rails is my TA. Chadwick lets you know that this course is not going to be easy. The one thing I like about his class are how his midterms are structured, as each midterm appears to be "unit tests" for each chapter we have covered in class. The midterms are hard, but he gives a midterm from the previous year and a sample midterm before each exam so they prepare you very well. I have had friends in this class who self-study and do incredibly well without having to go to lectures. Professor Chadwick makes the effort to answer questions and is genuinely a nice person. The web-assigns and discussion worksheets he gives are fair, BUT are harder than what we have covered in class (they aren't really good review material, but if you work well with other people in your class it should be fine). The quizzes are similar to class notes. Speaking of notes, although he does cover everything that is in the textbook and curriculum, he tends to skip steps during class due to time so if you need any clarifications, speak up! He sometimes goes over time but the most I have seen is him going over the time by around one or two minutes. He will tell you what is on the exams and what is not on the exam, such as particular proofs that he teaches you (proofs won't be on the exam and you don't have to know it for any exams, but he has said that it is good to know). One helpful thing I would say is to go to his office hours whenever you get the chance or whenever you do not understand anything. Also, take good notes as they are helpful. Calculus 1 isn't that bad if you practice and take the time to learn or even ask questions. There are a lot of resources online to help you if you do not have the time to go to office hours. Plus, Chadwick gives you extra problems from the textbook for you to practice with. The web-assigns are similar to the problems on the textbook too. Everyone can do well in this class if they put in the work. Overall, Chadwick is an honest and prepares you well for the final. He does curve a little bit for the final as well. If you have taken AP calculus AB or BC before, that background knowledge can be decently helpful, but as usual, the AP calculus courses doesn't cover everything in calculus as calculus 1 in UMD covers some things you might have not seen before, and a lot of content you recognize previously in your AP calculus class. Personally, Chadwick's class goes as fast as AP calculus BC. Although I was able to keep up with his lectures, I am aware that some others are unable to keep up with his teaching and what I can say about that is to practice or even watch videos to try and understand. On midterms, he does give out partial credit unless said so otherwise (for example: on one of the midterms, Chadwick said that if we did not get the derivative correctly, we will receive 0 points on that question, which is honestly understandable, I don't know how you're getting through calculus with the wrong derivatives). All in all, he does a good job teaching and doesn't get enough credit for it. Shoutout to my TA for being the best and the most helpful :)

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/23/2022

His exams are tough and he spends a lot of time teaching theory as opposed to just the concept. Those are really the only downsides. Besides that it is very doable to do well in his class. He tells you what type of questions are on the exam so you can prepare.

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/22/2022

Very reasonable professor and course. I came in having little experience in calc and was able to do very well in the class. For me, the theory that he went into was helpful and made the content easier to understand but that may not work as well for others. Get into the habit of reading the textbook before class so you're prepared for lecture. Webassigns were very helpful for reviewing the content we learned. Discussion worksheets were pretty difficult and intimidating but are designed to make you think. Your best resources are the textbook, office hours, and GSS. His midterms were of reasonable difficulty and had no surprises -- sometimes the problems came straight from the textbook, other times they included problems reviewed in GSS. Sometimes you would be short on time but as long as you make sure you really understand the material and do practice (lots of practice) you should be fine. Do the homework and the suggested textbook problems and any practice exams that are given, go to office hours when you have questions, and attend GSS for the extra review.

James Conway
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/22/2022

Conway was pretty good. I think his best quality is how accessible he is. Responds fast to emails and on piazza. He is also incredibly helpful in office hours and is willing to take the time to make sure you know a concept well. I think his exams were pretty fair as well. The first one did not go so well, but he allowed it to be replaced by our final, which helped in the end. My only main negative is that he did not provide us practice exams, but this made sense as it was his first sem teaching and he tests differently compared to other profs. Overall, I enjoyed the class

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an F
Anonymous
12/21/2022

Dr. Chadwick is not so bad of a professor. I would just say that the bulk of the grade in the class came from exams. My main issue is that the material learned in class was simple. Exam questions were a million times harder. Even in discussion, we didn’t necessarily have similar practice problems. If he gave us higher difficulty problems to get used to then, I’d appreciated that more. Calc can be hard. Dr. Chadwick can be a good prof to have if you don’t already struggle with math. My TA was super helpful. Partial credit on tests were very slim. Curve at the end wasn’t huge like everyone made it out to be. Just be sure to practice and study the way you study best.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/21/2022

Having taken 140, Professor Chadwick implicitly lets you know his class won't be easy. In his lectures, you'd notice that he loves proofs: definition of derivatives, chain rule, and epsilon-delta definition of limits. On some exams, we may be asked to find the derivative of a function using the definition of a derivative, but you won't be asked to explain why it's correct. You're often taught content you don't need to know, which ultimately doesn't help since they're not thoroughly explained. In discussion, the worksheets focus on the theory behind the content taught. The TAs are an incredible help, and it's advised to ask as many questions to them. Professor Chadwick provides lectures for reviewing for upcoming exams, which were extremely beneficial. He also provides past semester exams both in discussion as practice, and online. He does answer questions during lectures, but you'd be more likely to receive the best response if you stay after the lecture, as he doesn't mind writing on the chalkboard to re-explain a topic. The homework assignments are a lot more difficult than content discussed the day of in lecture, so it's also recommended you form study groups. I'd say one should expect to be teaching themselves. The quizzes are simple, maybe one or two questions, and less difficult than discussion worksheets and homework assignments. It'd behoove one to review lecture notes daily, understand how to solve the homework questions (instead of resorting to Google), and go to TA office hours, as well as the professor's own. Professor Chadwick certainly wasn't the best, but as it's my first semester, I can't compare him with other math professors. Nonetheless, as what's in the syllabus, "you can do well in the course, but it takes work".

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Anonymous
12/21/2022

Getting any kind of a solid Math140 professor is impossible, and when it comes to lectures and their content Eoin was quite solid and answered questions. However, the discussions were unlike what was covered in lectures often and the last 2 exams were unreasonably difficult (Exam #3 had a 52% average) and did not receive a curve. The first two exams had good averages and were quality exams though. He did not record lectures and threatened to not curve the final grade at first (but he eventually did thankfully). He is one of the better options but more is desired when it comes to midterms which are important.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/19/2022

Pros: -Gulick is a funny "cute old man." -If you took any calculus class in high school, it's very easy but you still need to study for exams. -Lecture notes are posted before class and are very detailed. -Final was very easy compared to previous years (I did the past 4 years of finals from the test bank as practice and the real final was incredibly easy, but that might just be luck this year). -You can work as a group for discussion sheets. Cons: -If you did not take calculus in high school, or did not do well, then this class is going to be hard. Gulick kinda speeds through concepts and sucks at teaching because he uses very old and confusing ways to describe things. -You have to memorize theorems that are not common sense. -Tests can be hard, and make up most of your grade. -Even though I did almost perfectly on the discussion worksheets, THEY ARE CONFUSING, DIFFICULT, AND IRRELEVANT TO WHAT IS TAUGHT IN LECTURE. -Can't use L'Hopital's rule for limits. Overall: I skipped 40% of lectures and did perfectly well in the class only because I enjoy math and was good at it in high school. If you aren't math-minded, then it will be impossible to understand the lectures since the language used seems to be more of a code than an explanation. If you took any AP calculus class this will be mostly review. I would not recommend this class unless it is necessary (which it is for most of you reading this so you're out of luck).

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/18/2022

Although his mid-terms are harder than any other professor, he goes into depth for each topic, helping you understand the concept behind what you are doing. You should do okay in the class by using the textbook to study, doing practice problems, and studying in a group (most important).

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/18/2022

Dr. Chadwick is rather meek and impersonal (which may be traits of all math professors but this is the only math class I've taken here), but he is not a bad professor. His explanations are good enough and he will occasionally answer questions. TAs were good, homework can be hard but most of the grade is exams anyways. Worksheets can also be hard but TAs and classmates can help get through it, and a little bit of effort goes a long way in understanding the concepts.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/17/2022

If you take him, he has + or - which other teachers don't have, so take that into consideration. Otherwise, the practice exams before each midterm is identical to the midterm he gives, so it's great if you like knowing the format of the midterms ahead of time. He is very nice and likeable. He writes the final so taking him is a good idea if you want to know the format of the final.

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/17/2022

Get ready for the most comprehensive review of this man. To sum it up, I found him pretty difficult because he focused more on theory and made difficult exams. Homework was pretty time intensive and I did not like his personality (he came off as very condescending to me). He couldn't stop bringing up his girlfriend in lectures. I could've taken him for MATH 141 next semester, but I decided to choose a different professor because he did not know how to teach (not that any other professors are much better. The math department sucks at UMD). What the class consisted of: Three lectures a week and two discussions a week. Every discussion, we would have a 10 point page worksheet, that was difficult in it of itself to complete. If I didn't know people in my discussion or have such an amazing TA, I would've failed all of these worksheets. It's really important to get a good TA for discussions because while my TA was extremely reasonable and helpful, I had some friends who their TA would give them a 0 out of 10 on these worksheets because they made one mistake. Onto the lectures, I felt so lost during all of them. He talks a lot about theory, which causes his lectures to absolutely make no sense. Even when he talked about concepts I've already learned, they made no sense anymore after he went through them in lecture. He also was never early. If he wasn't exactly on time to class, he would either be 5-10 minutes late. I also didn't like his attitude. He had a dry sense of humor, which came off as very condescending. We had homework due every Tuesday and Thursday morning (due at 7:45am so you basically had to do it all the night before). These homework's were quite often long and tedious. Before I had a solid study group, it would taken me up to 5 hours to complete them (reduced to 1-2 hours with a study group). Because he mostly talked about theory in lectures, he was no help when it came to being prepared for homework. I had to teach all of the concepts myself to be able to even complete just the homework. Also, he didn't record lectures, not that it made much of a difference though since I didn't learn much even from going to lectures. His midterms were difficult, more so than some other professors. There were 4 midterms, all of which he wrote (a few of them also had questions about useless theory that no one paid attention to). I had about an average of 72% cumulative for all the midterms. The only exam I really did well on was the second exam (intro to derivatives and I got a high A). The worst exam for me was the third exam (applications of derivatives) as the class average was a 52%, because the questions were unrealistic for the amount of time we got. Keep in mind that I studied for a week for all of these exams. The only thing I will say about his exams is that there were a lot of problems that were taken straight from the textbook, so if I could go back, I would pay more attention to the textbook. I found the final exam a lot easier than most of his midterms. I still studied for about a week, but I was able to an 89% on the final whereas I only had one midterm that I scored above an 89%. The math department writes the final exams, so they were very similar to a lot of the past final exams on the test bank (and Mackall wasn't the one writing it so that made it more manageable). Finally, even though he said there wouldn't be a curve for anything, he did end up curving the final grades and a 61% became a C-.

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/16/2022

He is a pretty personable dude and lectures are funny sometimes. He spends way to much time on definitions and how deriving equations. I don't care how you got to that equation just show me the equation or whatever and how to apply it. Because he spends 40 out of 50 minutes of a lecture (if he shows up on time) on definitions and the proof of the equation we don't actually have time to see how to apply it. Also the homework sucks and is just completely useless most of the time plus the discussions are insanely difficult and just a giant waste of time but they are only 5% of the grade. I signed up for him after all the reviews said he was fair on exams but that didn't hold up. Exam 1 and 2 weren't bad but 3 and 4 were super hard and he basically told us he would curve the whole class because the average for exam 3 was a 50 then came in at the end and said no curve out of no where and screwed half the class. Bro is a straight genius and could actually explain stuff if you have the time to go to office hours. Go to GSS because it will save your grade. This is all on top of the textbook and overall math140 being an absolutely terrible curriculum.

Nathan Janus
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/14/2022

I had Tim Pilachowski (a very unhelpful and bad professor), but Nathan was a great TA! He really cared about us knowing the material and he was very good at explaining the topics to us during discussion. He was really friendly and helpful and he definitely carried the course for me.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/14/2022

Prof Schlenoff is an excellent professor. By far the best 140 professor from what I have heard. His lectures are super affective at teaching the material and I never felt lost. The exams, while challenging, are completely fair game with absolutely no surprises on the content. This course is challenging but completely managable with prof schlenoff. If you are an FC student I 100% recommend taking 140 with him.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/13/2022

if you haven’t taken calc before i don’t think he is the professor for you. he is very vague in his teaching style and does not actually write out any math problems physically in real time. he also i feel belittles people when you ask questions after class. also if you have any kind of test anxiety he makes testing environments so bad by yelling and screaming at people to follow his directions. if you end up with him you’ll pay be fine as long as you talk to your TA anytime you need help. it’s also nice that he drops some of the lower grades but overall i would NOT recommend

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/13/2022

Started coming in 10 minutes late regularly near the end of the semester, seems to be underprepared when he finally does show up, and comes across like he doesn't want to be teaching calculus to freshmen anymore. I learned more doing GSS than I ever did going to the lectures. He is brilliant with math, but is young for a Postdoc and has a lot of learning to do if he wants to be a good professor.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/12/2022

BEST PROFESSOR ON THE PLANET!!!!!

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
12/11/2022

Chadwick is a seemingly good professor, he teaches the material fine. Straight out of the textbook and answers a few questions, before he gets frustrated with the class. My major issue with Chadwick is that his exams were usually ALOT harder then the content he taught. On one exam, he even expected us to know a random volume equation completely offhand. If you have taken a quality AP Calc class you should be fine, but if not good luck! I would never take Chadwick again he does not curve and is not accommodating. He had no issue telling me I should drop the class, however when I met with him after doing well he refused to give me the time of day and answer my questions. If you take this class be prepared to review review review. The graded worksheets he gives twice a week and the exams are usually harder and not like the content he teaches in class. Chadwick always teaches the easiest questions and leaves us to fend for ourselves for the hard ones.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Anonymous
12/11/2022

Really helpful instructor. Do the problems he puts on the syllabus and you'll pass every quiz. He also drops 3 quizzes, a few homeworks, and half of your lowest midterm. Take this professor if you want to learn and finish with a good grade.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/10/2022

Tim is a professor who will either help you get through the class, or completely fail you. It all depends on how you learn. Basically, Tim doesn't teach MATH140 like the other professors where they work out problems on a chalkboard or whiteboard. Instead, he just scrolls through a slideshow. So if you can learn math through a slideshow or have taken calculus before, Tim is a good option. The one thing about Tim that is really great is his lecture outlines. For basically all his classes, he has a lecture outline for each unit and topic, allowing you to take notes on it digitally or print them out and take notes on them by hand. They have all the information you need, and all you need to do in work out the problems he goes over in lecture. His lectures are all recorded, so class attendance really isn't mandatory. I know a lot of other MATH140 professors aren't able to finish a topic completely in class, so having Tim's videos help a lot compared to a professor who doesn't record them and don't finish a topic completely. His exams are also on the easier side compared to other professors. He is a huge anti-bike person, so be prepared to get lectures on UMD bike laws and such. Your TA also plays a big role in your success with Tim, as my TA practically taught me the majority of the information. He applied a generous curve at the end as well.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/09/2022

Some of the reviews here are factual, but a lot of them have misleading information. Mr. Chadwick doesn't get as much credit as he deserves. He talks about all of the topics you will need to know for the class, goes over examples during lectures that are similar to quiz and exam problems, provides helpful review sheets before each midterm exam, and gives partial credit on exams if you actually SHOW that you know what you're doing. Yes. He ignores students' questions during lectures (forcing some students to call out), and he isn't great at helping you understand the material, but if you put in the effort and go to office hours or talk to TAs you will do fine. People expecting a free class shouldn't be taking a math class in the first place (and if you need a math credit for your major try your best and you will do great things). Math is complicated and you will need to put in the effort to do well no matter what professor you take. Overall, I would honestly suggest taking Chadwick, but be prepared to study and review the material to do well. This year there were 4 midterm exams (each with 5 questions and with a time limit of 50 minutes) and our final this year will be 9-10 questions with a time limit of 2 hours. I plan on taking Chadwick for 141 if a spot opens up.

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2022

He spends majority of the lecture going over the theory of the topic instead of teaching us how to solve the problems (so we can do the homework). In the beginning of the semester, he would take half of the class going over a warm up question. Personally, I struggled a lot because I have a hard time teaching myself with the textbook, but that's what was expected out of us - that we teach ourselves. If I didn't have my TA or GSS, I would have been done for. HIs midterms are difficult and not doable in the amount of time that we are given. For some reason, whenever we do bad on a midterm or express that we're struggling, he compares us to his college student girlfriend and tells us everything she's doing right and that we should be more like her.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a W
Anonymous
12/08/2022

Took this class with Chadwick based on previous reviews, but this professor is so terrible. The exams don't give partial credit, he ignores students' questions in class, the online homework has nothing related to class content, and the only way to do well is to pray you have a good ta. I would not recommend him as a professor at all, or this class at umd in general.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/08/2022

Dr. Chadwick is an alright professor if you're a pretty quiet student like me. He isn't always the best at answering peoples' questions and concerns and can come off as a little judgmental or condescending. He is also not super great at keeping his students quiet during lecture so he can get talked over a lot. There's no actual review time in this class, so really any studying or practice you do will be outside of class, because his lecture time is almost strictly devoted to learning new content. He is also super unresponsive to emails so if you have any concerns, just talk to him after class. He's an okay professor. Honestly I think for MATH140 the most helpful people will be your TAs!

Nathan Janus
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/07/2022

Nathan was my TA and he was far better than my professor, Tim Pilachowski. He is great at explaining the concepts that the professor just speeds through while reading off his slides and also led great exam reviews (absolutely go to these if you have him.) Overall a 10/10 TA and really knowledgeable.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/07/2022

I highly recommend you not to take this class unless if you have taken Cal before. Pilachowski teaches through a powerpoint and talks like a robot. His exams tend to also be a bit harder than the practice exams we are given and he's very picky when it comes to grading them. The only good thing about him is that he doesn't give minus grades and has recorded lectures. If you stuck with him I highly recommend getting close with the TAs so you can understand what is being taught in better detail.

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/07/2022

To be clear, MATH140 is just awful regardless of who you get. The process of getting a MATH140 professor is just sorting through all the professors and choosing which one is the least bad of them all. Personally, I enjoyed Mackall for what he did. I'm not going to act like I understand a single thing during lectures. He explains everything decently theoretically, which caused most students to not understand anything during lectures. He also has a very dry sense of humor, which worked for me but not for some others. To me he seems like an interesting guy at least who is just stuck teaching MATH140. The real reason why you would want to take Mackall is that he is at least reasonable when it comes to telling you what will be on each midterm. The class before he would tell us how many questions were on it and which type of topic we learned would be for each question. This is the real reason why you take Mackall. His tests are hard but if you study enough, especially with a group (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), you will get at least 70s hopefully on the tests. Compared to other professors, he is just your best option. I honestly wouldn't listen to other reviews for other professors because the general consensus amongst the people I know in other classes is that they are just worse than him. Discussions are just unnecessarily hard worksheets that you have to cheat on or just rely on someone extremely smart to figure them out to solve them. My TA was not good at explaining, when he hardly did explain anything in the first place. I wouldn't say worry about getting a good TA, just worry about finding a group of people to study with. Expect to spend your entire life studying outside of your classes studying for this class. MATH140 is just a practical joke played upon students to make them want to dropout or switch majors just because UMD thought it'd funny. I really hate this class. Good luck future students, I hope you do not become as depressed as I did taking this class!

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/06/2022

Calc is a very difficult course but this professor knows what he is doing. He grades very fairly and is very understanding when it comes to course work

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/04/2022

This class is difficult, but I fucked up: you will do much better if you DON'T do what I did: 1) I did not do the practice problems. 2) I missed about 7-9 days of discussion worksheets. Make sure you can wake up for the discussions because the grades pile up. 3) I only studied 1-2 days before a quiz/exam. Honestly, Chadwick isn't a totally bad professor, and neither is the TA that I had (my TA was prolly the best part lol). Chadwick does spend time getting into the theoretical side of calculus concepts and doesn't answer emails (isn't forgiving about the Webassign tech difficulties), but his lectures are fine and he gives practice problems that are similar to the ones that come out in the quizzes/exams. However, make sure to realize that his exams are kinda(..?) cumulative and sometimes theoretical, so you have to have a good grasp of the concepts that he introduces. Honestly, it's kind of a surprise how I even managed to get a passing grade though I put in such little effort. Just be diligent and DO THE PRACTICE PROBLEMS Chadwick gives you! They will help, for sure.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting an F
Anonymous
11/30/2022

(Preface: I didn't take any calc or precalc in high school, I didn't even do trig) I feel intuitively that Pilachowski's lectures are good ones, and he makes lecture notes & study guides which also helped, but that does not translate to my test grades unfortunately. He also posts the video versions so you can review it whenever. He answers questions well enough and tries to emphasize when something will be on the exam. Homework is a reasonable length (~20 or 25 questions a week), and the textbook is also a free pdf online, so that's a plus. I absolutely hated that discussions were mandatory though. Its so hard to think in them because they're so loud, and I didn't feel like I learned much in them; I was so behind it felt like I was just writing what my group wrote and had to figure it out later. I really wish they posted the discussion worksheets in elms so I could look them over beforehand.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/30/2022

Pilachowski is a pretty terrible lecturer; he just clicks through his Powerpoints at lightning speed without really explaining anything or going through steps to work out problems. He also wastes time during lecture by showing up late or spending the first ten minutes of class ranting about how much he hates bikes/scooters, giving condescending speeches, or reviewing basic information like his email address even well into October/November. This was very frustrating, especially since he did not actually respond when I *did* email him. The only reason I did not give one star is because he lets you watch his recorded lectures instead of attending in person. The videos are identical to the in-class lectures but at least you can watch at your own pace at your convenience. The graded discussion worksheets are not super fun but since all of the MATH 140 professors use them they are pretty much unavoidable. Overall I would suggest trying to get a different professor if you can, especially if you are new to calculus.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/11/2022

Not going to lie, this class is really difficult, which is not necessarily the instructors fault. However, for the exams, the problems that are practiced are never really given and thus you are expected to know formulas and situations which were not taught in lectures, which adds another level of difficulty. He does a good job of explaining concepts in lectures. I would recommend him for this course as it will be hard no matter the professor and Chadwick, I feel does a good job at helping make it "better".

Nelson Moll
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
11/03/2022

Prolly only the second strongest guy I know, but good guy

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/19/2022

(Preface: I took calc AB and BC in high school, though I didn't do great in either). Prof. Pilachowski is a good professor in my opinion. I believe he is an okay lecturer for the most part, but sometimes I feel he overcomplicates things which can confuse people. What makes him a good professor is not his lectures themselves, but all the resources he gives you to succeed. The discussion sessions are great for the most part, and his website has a ton of practice problems on them. His lecture outlines are also very nice since his lectures can be fast paced. Also, his grading policy is quite generous. Personality wise, he can come off as demeaning sometimes. He is other than that an absolute character, informing us on Roy Rogers deals and protecting the sidewalks from scooters.

Mestiyage Gunatilleka
MATH140

Expecting an A-
pfilardi
10/10/2022

Professor Gunatilleka was a fairly good lecturer and communicator. His teaching is nothing groundbreaking, and you'll definitely need to focus during discussion sections in order to keep up, but you can definitely do worse in terms of low-level math profs. Plus, he was willing to push back deadlines if he didn't finish covering material in lecture.

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
08/29/2022

I went from failing 140 last year to doing amazingly on tests with him. His pacing and flow in lectures is phenomenal. He doesn't rush and does example problems that are not only relevant to the material, but relevant to homeworks/exams. He definitely listens to feedback and makes accommodations for people very well. His curve at the end of the year was absolutely wild, I went up from a B- to a B+. His exams are pretty doable if you take the time to really understand the concepts taught in lectures. I totally recommend him if you're not the best with math and are looking for someone who's pretty easygoing.

Yong Cui
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
07/22/2022

Definitively one of the worst classes I have ever taken. His teaching style is all over the place and he spends most of the class time showing you proofs that you will never need to reference again. You practically have to teach yourself because his notes make no sense even when following along in class. The few examples that he does do in class are not evocative at all of the questions that will appear on quizzes, homework, or exams, they are way too simple. The questions on the quizzes, homework, and exams are so bewilderingly difficult that it's impossible to expect students to be able to complete them all in the allotted time. If you can do anything in your power to avoid taking this professor do it, his teaching style will literally drive you up a wall.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
07/18/2022

Pilachowski is such a good lecturer, I don't know why he gets so much hate. He is very lenient in correction, lowest score is dropped by 50%, 3 worksheets are dropped and 8 homework assignments too! Other than all this he doesn't give a minus grade so if you have above an 89 in the course you get a 4.0 GPA. I would recommend taking him.

Yichun Zhu
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
07/07/2022

Amazing professor. I struggled with math before and Professor Yichun Zhu made me love Calculus. Professor Zhu is super understanding and offers help whenever you need it. I recommend him for Calculus any day and any time.

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
06/09/2022

Mackall is great, first of all, the class is just trivial, but he makes sure to liven it up so lectures are definitely worthwhile. Also, his tests are comically easy, it could just be the course materials but it was honestly a breeze. In short, take Mackall and you won't even have to bother studying because his lectures are so great and the concepts are insanely easy!

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/21/2022

His lecture are kind of boring but you have to go to class because he does not record his lectures. He really cares about his students and is very reasonable for his tests. Also he is very funny at times and will make you mostly enjoy calc 1.

Rigo Zelada
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/17/2022

do not take him, he will not help you whatsoever and does not attempt to change his teaching style even when his students are failing. exams are disproportionately difficult compared to other professors within the math department and he doesn’t seem to actually care about teaching. I struggled a lot to get my grade which I don’t think should be necessary given the amount of time I put into this class.

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/17/2022

Started off a bit rocky, but he communicates his expectations well. If you seek help and guidance you will pass the class, very interesting lectures. If you pay attention and practice outside of class and attend discussions you will pass. Highly recommend. Mackall The Saint!

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/16/2022

As long you do the work and practice the rec questions from the textbook, you're set. Mackall does not lie as he always tells us straightforward which I liked the most. He cares for his students as he curved one of the midterms and created a passing score which almost everyone passed after finals. His exams are fair and similar to the practice but some comes from lecture problems or the textbook.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/14/2022

If you just need to take MATH 140 and do not need to take higher math courses I recommend taking Dr. Williams! His lectures are very straightforward and he only goes over the application not theory- so if theory confuses you he is the right professor to take. I need to take a lot more math courses, so personally I did not appreciate his application approach. I would have liked to learn more theory behind concepts to gain a deeper understanding. Also, his lectures are on the slower side so it is easier to understand if you struggle with math. For my class he recorded lectures, however I heard from previous semesters that he never recorded lectures- so take that with a grain of salt. His exams were extremely fair and put problems on the exam that he suggests in the textbooks. My class' average exam scores were around 60-70, but do not let that discourage you! If you study the concepts and his suggested problems you should be good for the exams. Just a side note- one of my best subjects is math but I truly believe Dr. Williams teaches well and creates good exams for those who do not necessarily excel in math. The only downside to taking him as your professor is that the chapter you learn in Monday lecture will have its corresponding homework due the very next day at 7:30 AM and sometimes the homework takes a long time.

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/06/2022

I don't know why the person below me thinks calculus is "beyond easy," I suspect they took it in high school. However, Eoin is seriously a great professor. He does many examples, takes questions, and is very responsive overall. He made a real effort to connect with his students and to care about their mental health, despite it being such a big class. Even though this is easily the hardest class I've taken so far at UMD, I can say Eoin was a much better professor than who I briefly had first semester before dropping it in the dro/add period (Pilachowski). Exams are hard and he doesn't curve, but Keystone Center, GSS, and Math Building tutoring make this class doable.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a B+
anon154
05/05/2022

Gulick is very straight forward with fair exams. He gets frustrated with students who don't understand whats going on right away, but overall he wants you to succeed. He focusses on a lot definitions during lectures but its not needed on exams so you don't have to worry about the proofs of which a formula is derived from.

Mestiyage Gunatilleka
MATH140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/03/2022

Will just read the textbook to you, but he is good with questions. The TAs, GSS, khan academy, and tutors are going to be far more helpful.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B+
akl2025
04/27/2022

Chadwick is a great professor! His lecture notes are neat and detailed, especially helpful for Webassign. Furthermore, Chadwick only tests what he has taught and reviewed in class, so you definitely earn a good 85% - 90% if you review and practice what he shows in class. His weekly quizzes are quite easy (20 minute quiz which covers 1-2 problems). The only 2 things that I might dislike about his class are: (1) the lecture hall sucks (it's the Armory) and (2) he isn't great at answering students' questions (mostly it's just rewording; but if you review the note after class, it will make more sense)

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/21/2022

Tim’s video lectures and lecture notes are amazing and I felt that I understand the material really well. (I only went to two lectures the whole semester because the videos were the exact same, if not better. In-person was not required.) My professor for 141 is a terrible lecturer so I’ve been teaching myself entirely with Tim’s notes for that class, which are on his website for anyone to see. His way of teaching made it very easy for me to understand calculus despite no prior experience beyond precalc in high school. One star subtracted because he is rude in emails. Don’t tell him if you ride a scooter.

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
03/29/2022

Literally the best math teacher I have ever had. I don't know why others say he is a hard teacher. He goes over tons of problems and is super easy with communicating his ideas. If you justGO TO HIS CLASS you will easily pass. He makes calc 1 beyond easy.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/14/2022

I thought I was not being a good student, but after taking math 141 with a real professor I have realized that he is awful. He is way too strict, and also doesn't even teach well. His PowerPoints do not explain how to do the problems, and then he asks questions on the exams that were barely covered in class. He makes his TAs grade the discussions harshly, which no one benefits from. Any other professor would be better. The TAs were good tho #Free Joe.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
02/02/2022

A really good choice for FC students. Calc is hard in general but he makes it not too bad.

Eoin Mackall
MATH140

Anonymous
01/26/2022

nice guy- doesn't really know how to teach. doesnt do a good job making math140 easy for those who havent taken it before. if its your first time i def do not reccomend. Schlenoff is a great option for your first calc class.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
01/18/2022

prof schelnoff is absolutely amazing, and his TA is incredibly friendly. it can be hard to understand the content of things at first if you've never taken calc or took it forever ago and forgot about it- he goes over a lot of practice problems which helped me a lot, he also does review sessions before exams- just pay attention in class and take notes, you'll be good. I've never taken calc before but I still managed to get an a-

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/16/2022

Everyone in the class GroupMe hated Tim and his class, but in my opinion, it wasn't bad. In regard to Tim's teaching style, he always uses PowerPoint slides from the previous decade. Because of his style, a majority of students didn't like him, but I think that his slides were well-structured and provided very good explanations of concepts and examples to help us understand those concepts. His lecture outlines were like guided readings and that helped me quite a bit. Also, he grades our exams quite leniently. I've heard that professors like Denny Gulick won't give partial credit, while Tim does, so I like that about his class. However, the main caveat is that you have to rely on the lecture videos he posts on ELMS. The issue with his in-person lecture is that he will start lecture late because he's quite adamant about keeping bikers off the sidewalk and he comes to the lecture hall late, so about 10-20 minutes have passed since the lecture should've started. He rushes through the slides in his in-person lecture, while his lecture videos allowed you to actually understand the concepts. I can't say much about him as a person, because, in his videos, he's like the nicest grandpa, while in-person, he's like Scrooge.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
01/14/2022

He is a good teacher and he knows it. He put some of his lectures online and by the end of the semester, there were less than 10 people showing up for the discussions. He drops some assignments and wants everyone to do well.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Anonymous
01/11/2022

The course is difficult, and Schlenoff doesn't provide any curves. On the other hand, he allows for grading exceptions such as dropping the lowest quiz grade or halving the lowest midterm exam grade. He may be fast paced but does his best to listen to the students. As long as you stay up to date and follow his recommended course of study you can get a good grade. If you find yourself struggling, make sure to reach out to him, Schlenoff does his best to help you whenever possible. For three weeks straight I requested for a one on one session that helped me review what we went over in class, and it helped tremendously. He has a good personality and has never shown a hint of a negative attitude throughout the entire semester. Even though I found the course difficult, it easily become one of my favorites just because of him.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Anonymous
01/07/2022

He gives good lectures that were easy to follow and provided relevant examples to the homework and discussion worksheets. My chief complaint is that he offered no make-up options. I had COVID and still was not allowed to take the midterm that I missed due to isolation. He also did not record in-person lectures.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Anonymous
01/05/2022

I hate math, but Schlenoff saved my butt with his grading policy. He halves one of your exams, drops one quiz, and erases 3 of your homework assignments. One time, the whole class bombed one exam and allowed us to correct our mistakes for half of our points back. If you know nothing, you gotta do your own studying (to the person who rated him 2 stars). If you DO know Calc, you'll be fine. Glad I had him as my professor because I would have failed with another professor. If you are in Freshman Connection and have him, don't switch out unless you know you suck at math. It's calc, did you expect it to be easy?

Zachary Greenberg
MATH140

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/28/2021

Horrible experience. Only survived this class because of one of his amazing TAs and working with the MATLAB tutors and the Guided Study Sessions. Would not recommend this professor one bit.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/27/2021

Dr. Chadwick’s class is the perfect combination of moderation and challenge. I found his lectures to be effective. Although it is a lot of work such as quizzes, worksheets, etc. One of the best MATH Profs.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/25/2021

Denny is a nice guy and obviously very knowledgeable about calculous. However, his lectures are not good. He skips over algebraic steps for the sake of time but in doing so leave the majority of students confused and fumbling to understand what he did instead of focusing on the complex calculous concepts being taught. Personally, I would say WITHOUT PRIOR CALC EXPERIENCE DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS/PROFFESSOR. Gulick moves too fast for someone with no experience unless you are determined to do A LOT of outside work or possibly drop the class rethink it. On the POSITIVE, his exams are almost exactly like his reviews. NO CURVE (that I know of).

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/22/2021

Pilachowski is an average professor. He is for sure not the best that you can get although I won't say he is absolutely terrible— he gets the job done. I took AP Calculus AB in high school which resulted in me getting significantly above the average on all the midterms and on the final exam but I can definitely say that if you have never taken a Calculus course before, you will have trouble in this class. Pros: - The final exam is EXACTLY the same as the previous couple years' final exams. Like pretty much identical but different nambers. If you practice about 5 of them from the UMD math test bank, you should have no problem at all on the final. In my opinion (and reflected by the scores), the final exam is the easiest exam of the all the exams you will take in this class by far. This is important because the final is worth nearly 30% of your grade in this class. - Midterms are pretty easy and fair. There is always a topic or two for each unit that was never covered in AP Calculus though (ex: Newton-Raphson Method, and Delta Epsilon Proofs— in my experience at least), so you definitely need to study for this class, even if you've taken AP. - TAs for this class are generally helpful, even if they aren't necessarily yours. - With some classes, you can get away with not going to discussion, but not this class. During every discussion there is a worksheet that you do with your table that counts for a grade. - Homeworks are on WebAssign and they are pretty easy and are good practice. - There is a lecture outline for every lecture and makes it pretty easy and straight-forward to follow through. - Pilachowski ends up dropping your lowest couple homeworks and discussion worksheets to help your grade. He also cuts your lowest midterm exam score in half so it is worth fewer points in the final calculation. For example: if your lowest midterm is a 70/100, it will be changed to a 35/50 which helps your grade by about 1 or 2%, which is helpful if you are close to the next letter grade. Cons: - My worst complaint about this professor: he spends SO MUCH TIME at the beginning of EVERY CLASS talking about absolute nonsense. Pilachowski is infamous for hating bikes and electric scooters and will come into class with a new anecdote about how he almost runs over someone EVERY. SINGLE. CLASS... He also has general messages that he repeats every. single. class. which were helpful for maybe the first few weeks but even during the last weeks of the semester, he was reminding us to "mAke SuRe YoU PuT mAtH140 In ThE sUbJeCt LiNE of EaCh EmAiL oR eLSe I wILL nOT rEaD iT" or "mY CLocK iS SeT tO ThE tImE iN cOLorAdO". Not to mention that at the beginning of every class, he states "I think I will get through chapter ___ today", but then he doesn't and tells us to read the textbook or watch the lecture video online... Maybe if he didn't talk about the most irrelevant nonsense during the beginning of lectures, then he would actually finish teaching. - Like every college course, exams are everything. In this class specifically, you will take one diagnostic test at the beginning of the year, 4 midterms, and one final which total to over 80% of your overall grade. Each midterm is 12.5% of your final grade. Study hard for these exams as they will make or break your grade. One bad exam can drop you letter grades. Overall, pick someone else please. Save yourself. Pilachowski is an option for MATH141 which I am taking after MATH140 but me, along with almost everyone that had him for MATH140, are making sure to pick someone else. Pilachowski can get you by but overall, that's not the only job of a professor. Pilachowski almost always has the most amount of seats open for his sections because people try and avoid having him has a professor, rightfully so. However, if you are just looking to get in and out of Calculus 1 and you are familiar with the material already, Pilachowski is fine.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/22/2021

I recommend taking Dr. Chadwick’s class because it was a wholesome experience. His quizzes are simple compared to the exams (20 minute quiz that’s like 1-2 problems). The exams are also fair, pay attention to the practice exam that he provides and make sure you understand how to do the problems. In lecture, he seems to try to push through the material for the day to fit it all in. He does answer questions and is friendly about it, but it’s usually just him rewording what he said previously, and sometimes I’m not sure if it really helps the person asking. Discussion worksheets and WebAssigns felt kind of pointless for me because they had harder questions than what was on quizzes/tests. WebAssigns were kind of rough because they’d take like 2 hours, but not really Dr. Chadwick’s fault because everyone has to go through it.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
12/21/2021

AVOID THIS PROFESSOR! Professor Pilachowski was late for class most days which would cut into valuable lecture time. On top of this he could consistently go over the "rules of his class" every single day. Rather than the 50 minutes of lecture we should have had it was about 40. Since he was determined to get through all of his slides he would breeze through them so fast without answering most questions. Yes, he taught calculus through a slideshow every single day. He never wrote anything on the board. He would talk about bikes and scooters on the sidewalk some days while borderline harassing students for that outside of class. Once again, this would take up lecture time. The discussion worksheets were way harder than any examples he "taught" during lecture so everyone sat there having a way harder time than they should have. Homework was the same way, sometimes even putting material that we have not even learned on there. His exams were brutal, they were only 5 questions but 50 minutes was not enough time to finish with confidence for most students. Many trick questions on exams and would not curve exam grades or total grades at the end of the semester. When asking him a question via email, he would respond with very few words being vague with every answer sometimes ignoring the email completely. Horrible professor. Do not take his classes.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Anonymous
12/18/2021

The best plus of this class was that the tests were extremely fair. That's not to say easy, but the practice tests you are provided are the exact same format and type of problems as the real test. Class time is pretty tight, so don't expect a very thorough explanation to questions, and he will go over each topic one time so if you don't catch it I'd recommend watching youtube videos on it. Just make sure you can do the practice tests and you'll be fine.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Anonymous
12/18/2021

Coming into 140 with no prior calc experience, I was absolutely terrified. I expected to immediately withdraw and hate the course for the rest of my life. Schlenoff changed that. He not only is an incredibly smart and talented lecturer, but a caring person who deeply wants his students to understand and excel at calculus. His exams are hard, the quizzes suck, and the homeworks are annoying... but by god you will learn calculus well and he will be rooting for you all along the way. I feel incredibly prepared for MATH141 after taking this course, and coming from someone who thought they would have to take 115 after dropping 140, Schlenoff is an amazing professor. If you can, take him. There is a reason why he has a 5 star review here, and the moment you start the class, you understand.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/18/2021

Professor Williams was great for this MATH140. He was very thorough during lecture and helpful in office hours whenever I had webassign questions or questions on the material we covered in lecture. He makes his exams straight from the lost of practice problems that he gives to students. For our last midterm, he put a question word for word on the exam that we had worked out in class. Overall, he is a great professor.

Zachary Greenberg
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/15/2021

I loved that he posted recordings of the lectures so you could go back and reviews concepts you may have struggled on during class. I found the course to be pretty challenging but he does a good job of balancing out the tests with other grades like quizzes and homework's. Also very understanding of student circumstances which is why he drops the worst 4 homework grades and replaced all exam grades that were lower than our final with the score we got on the final exam.

Zachary Greenberg
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/15/2021

he is very accommodating to students by providing many office hours. However, he would sometimes beat around the bush in office hours when I would ask about a homework question because he didn't want to give me an answer which ended up with me still not understanding the problem. his teaching improved over the course of the semester but there are occasions where he over explains things and makes things a lot more complicated. He keeps a google doc open for questions during lectures which many students used. If you study the material and go to his and TA office hours, you'll be fine.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Anonymous
12/15/2021

If you have the option to take calc 1 with Schlenoff DO IT!!!! He really cares about his students and enjoys teaching which really helps. I took AP Calc AB in high school but I did not understand it well. Schlenoff explained everything amazingly and was always helpful with questions. He teaches by mainly doing practice problems which is how I learn best so that was a plus. He gives weekly quizzes but they are very easy and the exams are not too bad.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Anonymous
12/13/2021

He is an amazing teacher, definitely one of the best math teachers I've ever had. He is one of those teachers that is 100% on the student's side, so if you need to take calc then take his section.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Anonymous
12/13/2021

Amazing teacher, if there are available spots for this class, definitely take it. He's really good at teaching and teaches thru examples, unlike other teachers. Posts the lecture recordings if you email him and is very understanding. I've never taken calculus and he did a really great job explaining. He is very engaging and his main goal is to help us do better. Couldn't have asked for a better math class this semester, no complaints.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/10/2021

The other reviews do not lie, if you're reading this and have the chance to take Schlenoff, do yourself a favor and sign up for his section. Extremely nice and approachable if you have questions, tells you exactly what you need to know for every quiz and exam, very effective lecturer, there's honestly not a single bad thing to say about him. He has been my favorite math teacher of my entire schooling experience, and I honestly didn't even interact with him as much as I probably should've. Participate in his class, pay attention, do the extra problems that he gives you to prepare for quizzes and exams and you'll be more than set with Dr. Schlenoff. On top of this, if you have never taken calculus before, don't worry about that either. I hadn't before this class and Dr. Schlenoff went at a pace that was perfect for the few in the class that hadn't whilst also not boring to death the ones that had taken it before. TA was also very knowledgeable, funny, and approachable if you had any issues with grading. Again, take this class with Dr. Schlenoff if you can.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Anonymous
12/10/2021

Very good professor, his lectures are fast and he often hates being interrupted. But his exams are not that bad because the format is so similar to the practice ones and he covers enough of the topic that most of the people learn the material in the class. Discussions are a pretty big waste of time, but all the TA's were great and pretty helpful.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Anonymous
12/08/2021

Dr. Chadwick is a mediocre lecturer, he'll often gloss over non-calculus parts of a problem and assume you know what's going on and is reluctant to take questions during lectures (as it detracts from the amount of time he has to give examples) but will happily stick around to give help after class. As for the course itself, he is very transparent with due dates (all hw, quiz, and exam dates are listed in the syllabus...no surprises). He only gives 2 Webassigns and 2 worksheets per week. The Webassigns can be annoying and the worksheets are more theory than anything, but all in all help you understand the big ideas of each unit. The quizzes are very easy and are a fair benchmark of how you're doing so far. A few days before each exam he'll post 1-2 practice exams that will be covered in discussion. The exams themselves are challenging but not impossible. Best bet is to find a small group to work with, go to review sessions, and watch YouTube lessons on anything that doesn't click (Professor Leonard has been incredibly useful). At the end of the semester, he drops the lowest exam and a few worksheets. Overall, Dr. Chadwick is likely the best of the Calc 1/2 professors, and for good reason. Take him if you can.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/08/2021

Chadwick is by far better than Gullick. Make sure you get a good TA--they're more important tbh. Chadwick is great though. Go to lecture and you will be fine. Chadwick asks constantly if everyone is okay with what we are learning. He never makes fun of students or talks about their race--ahhem Gulick. I wish I could have this man every semester. He is truly one of the best math teachers I've ever had. Class structure: Two weekly graded discussion worksheets like every Math140 prof, but he gives out sheets beforehand. Two weekly graded WebAssigns Occasional quizzes--not weekly 4 Midterms

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/06/2021

He cannot teach, the only thing good about his class was the TA's office hours where they were actually able to explain the concepts he taught. In the lecture, he is just telling you what the textbook says and doing problems straight from there, might as well just read the textbook for yourself. His tests are unbearably hard and my class average was around a D only a few people were doing well, even people who had taken calc AB/BC were struggling. When someone asks a question during the lecture, he would either give a rushed response or not even answer the question the student asked. Chadwick also spends 20 min doing one problem with all the steps and expects us to do that on the exam. The discussion worksheets are hard too, the way Gulick writes the worksheets is beyond me. He also barely responds to emails, I tried contacting him about a quiz grade and no response, the only way your gonna get a response out of him is after the lecture or through one of the TA's and by then it takes 2-3 emails by the TA to actually get to him. Please do not choose him as your MATH140 prof.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an F
Anonymous
12/06/2021

DO NOT, I repeat, do NOT take Denny Gulick for MATH140 if you can help it. The 8 am time is not worth it, and you will either hate yourself or stop going to class. He's like a mathematical genius which means he just expects his students to understand his super complicated and poorly-explained proofs that he writes in terrible, tiny handwriting on a blackboard during class, which don't help you understand any of the material at all, even with help of the textbook (which he wrote, btw). He does NOT record his lectures, and the discussion sessions are just an hour and 20 minutes of torture and confusion. He doesn't let you use a calculator on tests but then expects you to use a calculator on several of the homework problems, which themselves take hours to do (and you don't even get to see the correct answer if you get the problems wrong). He's also super disrespectful to students with foreign (specifically Asian) accents. TL;DR: DO NOT TAKE DENNY GULICK FOR CACL 1 OR 2.

Mestiyage Gunatilleka
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/06/2021

He's not a great lecturer -- pretty ramble-y and doesn't do a great job explaining stuff. Probably wouldn't be doing that well if I hadn't already taken calculus in high school -- definitely would look for someone else if you're a first time calculus student. However, I have no complaints about him as a person. He offers extensions on homework if enough people ask and seems to be a pretty understanding guy. If you get him as a professor it's not the end of the world -- some of these reviews are way too negative in my opinion.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Anonymous
12/04/2021

Why is everyone lying about this man's ability to teach? He is not very detailed in his lectures, in fact he'll literally skip steps on the board and expect people to follow along. Though 2 homeworks a week is nice, it's hard to look on the bright side when a large portion of your day is spent completing it. I wouldn't recommend this professor to anyone and hopefully you guys don't make the same mistake I did.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Anonymous
12/04/2021

Everyone who gave this man a positive review lied. His lectures are just him rewording the textbook verbatim, he is not lenient or accommodating to students and his tests are unfair. Your best bet is relying on your TA if you want to understand the material in the slightest. Try asking him questions in class and he'll just ignore you or be too focused on cleaning the board to answer. And in the off chance that he DOES get to answer your question, he'll just restate what he said earlier and not provide any further elaboration. Me and many other students spend around 3-5 hours on a 10 question homework ALONE and the worksheets are substantially harder than the content we're quizzed/tested on. Overall, if you have the luck of having another professor TAKE THEM! And this is all coming from someone who took Calculus in high school.

Zachary Greenberg
MATH140

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
12/03/2021

He is a really good professor and does a good job presenting all of the material. However the class is very fast-paced, and it seems like he talks and writes in 1.5 speed because by the time I copy an equation down in my notes he has already moved on to the next problem. He is receptive to all questions (and if you don't like speaking out in big lecture halls he has a question google doc too which was very helpful). Has many office hours which I would recommend going to. Overall would definitely recommend him as a professor, I wish he taught Math141 too.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a W
Anonymous
12/03/2021

Never shows his work, and changes the exams to questions that are nothing like the practice exams.

Mestiyage Gunatilleka
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/22/2021

He is not a very good teacher, his teaching style is confusing, takes too long to get to the point, and has difficulty answering questions. He's a nice guy and is flexible with due dates, deadlines, and so on. But the only reason I'm doing well in this class is because I've taken Calc 1 in high school. I find the best strategy for keeping up with the pace is to watch his recorded lectures on mute on double speed, much better than attending lecture in person. Look elsewhere if you're taking 140 and you haven't taken Calc 1 in high school.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Anonymous
10/25/2021

Awful professor. The single upside is that he posted his COVID recordings to ELMS so I could do the lectures on my own and not have to come to his god-awful class. He goes over the syllabus EVERY class. All he does is talk about how much he hates bicycles. When he does decide to actually "teach" he just talks in the most robotic boring voice and clicks through slides. Doesn't write out a single equation. It's all on PowerPoint. Have to go to Math Success every night to survive this class. I took AP Calc in high school and got an A and this is a nightmare compared to that. My TA is also useless and I have to resort to using other discussion's TAs for help. Pilachowski also never responds to emails. Homework is assigned after every lecture that is due the next morning so if you need an extension or help, don't expect him to respond. I emailed him for my ADS accommodations nearly a week ago and still have no response. Worst professor on campus. Take Chadwick instead. He is significantly better. Everyone that was lucky enough to transfer out of Pilachowski's class into Chadwick's said it saved their grade and they're doing much better. The only other upside to this class is that he drops your lowest discussion and test grade, but that doesn't make much of a difference if he's not teaching the material clearly to begin with.

Zachary Greenberg
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/13/2021

This guy makes absolutely no sense in his lectures. His handwriting is atrocious, and he does not teach what is on the homework.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
09/17/2021

If you have taken AP Calculus BC, or AP Calculus AB, or lower-level calculus-related classes at UMD, then Pilachowski is probably an average or slightly below average professor at best. For people who have never taken calculus and this is the first course you will be taking, you want to AVOID PILACHOWSKI at all costs. His teaching method is quite possibly the worst fit for a math class. The way he teaches is by clicking "Next" on a 10-year-old PowerPoint. In lectures, he does not really explain anything or take any questions or do a real practice problem or show the steps or any of that. He does none of that at all. The way you learn math from a good teacher is by them showing you an example and giving you a step-by-step process on how to solve that specific problem in the future so that you would know what to do with that specific type of problem. Rather, he just reads word for word the complicated boring textbook definitions of terms in his powerpoints that never make sense to anybody. So to the general masses, unless reading word for word textbook definitions is how you learn math, his lectures are utterly useless. Now it would be unfair of me to critique the grading because all 140 classes have discussion worksheets and web assigns due each week graded on accuracy so even though that's a bit harsh, it is not his fault that's the way the coursework is given at UMD. What I can say however is that HE DOES NOT CURVE any of the tests even if the majority of the class fails or gets low grades. The most he does is drop a couple of the lowest discussion worksheets and hw assignments at the end of the semester which will not even impact your grade (1-2%maybe at most). What I can say is that when he is not clicking away at his PowerPoint, he constantly tries to make jokes throughout the lecture, as if to make up for the teaching method. He does organize things well and gives deadlines on the syllabus which I give him credit for. In order to succeed in this class, you would have either needed to A) have taken some form of calculus already so you have a thorough understanding already regardless or B) Have an amazing TA, prioritize all of your time onto this class and make the most out of every discussion session along with self-teaching yourself the entirety of the course. He is honestly fine as a person, just not the best teacher for someone new to calc. I am giving him a 1 star from the perspective that this was my first exposure to calculus ever and this was definitely not welcoming Probably a 2/3 star if you have taken the class before Tl;DR Bad choice if this is your first calculus class and you should drop it or choose another professor You might do fine if you have a lot of exposure or have already taken calc

Zachary Greenberg
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
07/30/2021

He is very understanding of students and tries to help out as much as possible. His class was challenging during the summer, but he tries to make you learn the subjects on your own, and then clear things up in person that you don't quite understand.

Jingren Chi
MATH140

Expecting a P
Anonymous
07/14/2021

Do not take this class, Whoever you are, I am begging you do not take this class. And if its your last, LAST resort good luck . Chi lectures straight from the book and each lecture will leave you more confused than the prior. His tests are entirely too difficult and he doesn't give nearly enough time to take them. He has no idea what he is doing and your best bet honestly is your TA. Each TA teaches differently and some don't even go over the same content as lecture. My first TA Foivos was ok but he often times used difficult, high level calculus methods that we did not use in lecture, to go over practice problems. (Top that off we couldn't even use his methods during tests) The best TA, is Chang. Chang goes over practice problems thoroughly and gives you practice exams to prep for tests (which is something none of the other TA's do). If you can switch, have Chang as a TA. But in all , this class is terrible. I had straights A's all year and this is the only class I've had to pass. Avoid taking Chi at all costs. Also don't rely too much on the curve, he doesn't tell anyone about it until a few days before final grades so relying on it is a gamble. If youre struggling on the hw, look them up on youtube. Trust me and good luck!

Jingren Chi
MATH140

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
05/24/2021

Character wise, he's a meek graduate student who's pushed to teach when he doesn't want to teach. His lectures are straight from the book. His tests are difficult and the problems are dissimilar to what problems are recommended from the book. The TA's give no explanation of grading. I would avoid taking if you can. If you must, I would hire a private tutor, and I wish you much luck!

Jingren Chi
MATH140

Expecting a D
Anonymous
05/16/2021

Do NOT take his classes. He is a terrible lecturer, does not respond to emails, and makes the home works and exams unnecessarily difficult. He gives out no practice tests, and does not give the solutions to the home works, nor does he properly teach you how to solve them. The home works do not even help as the actual exams are completely different. Only take his classes if you are REALLY good at math and willing to spend an incredible and unnecessary amount of time in this class.

Jingren Chi
MATH140

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
05/13/2021

Jingren Chi is a joke of a teacher. All of his lectures consisted of him reading straight from the textbook. If you hope to learn in the class avoid this teacher. I was lucky and took Calc 1 in highschool but someone without knowledge WILL struggle. His exams do not reflect what he explains and his webassingns are detached from his lectures A student in our class stepped up and made videos for our class to help us learn if anything that student was the professor.

Mestiyage Gunatilleka
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/06/2021

After the first week I stopped going to lecture. If not for my TA and Khan Academy I would not have made it through a class that isn't that hard. Find another teacher. He has terrible hand writing, hard to understand and not a fun person. Most people I know have said the same thing. Avoid Danul at all costs.

Jingren Chi
MATH140

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
05/02/2021

His exams are nothing we’ve learned in class

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Anonymous
04/30/2021

he is literally the worst teacher. He does not care whether or not you have technological issues when submitting assignments, he will deduct 50% automatically. He has no remorse! DON'T TAKE HIM!

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/20/2021

Very detailed lecturer and clearly responds to any questions. Quizzes are very manageable, but I found GSS very helpful in studying for exams.

Kendall Williams
MATH140

Anonymous
02/21/2021

Online is horrible with him. He does not give any sympathy for technological issues and it almost seems like he wants you to fail. I don’t recommend

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
01/27/2021

This dude is a G. Huge interest in how we do in his class, but he also does a fantastic job of teaching the content. The TA got annoying, but he had little to do with that.

Yordanka Kovacheva
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
01/26/2021

Lectures were hit and miss. She teaches from Pilachowski's pdf notes and fills in the blanks. Her exams are inspired by practice exams, but needlessly longer and more difficult. Discussions were not helpful since the worksheets were overly theoretical and my group and TA were useless (but I mostly blame Zoom for that). I didn't enjoy or hate this class, but it's certainly not worth the tuition.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a C+
julianmed12
01/14/2021

I believe this class is one of the hardest classes that many undergraduates take. However, I would recommend taking this course with Dr. Chadwick. He was very detailed in his explanations of most of the concepts and would stop and answer any question during the lecture. I believe his demonstration of knowledge was what prepared many students for the exams. I'm not great at math, however I was able to do better than my expectations due to Chadwick.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an F
Anonymous
12/27/2020

From what I've heard of other Calc profs, Gullick is probably the best bet. He tries his hardest to help everyone, sometimes he does get frustrated and loses his temper. I personally found this class to be extremely hard and I struggled all the way through. Don't bother looking at your grade in elms, the grade weighting is incorrect. Also, he says attendance isn't mandatory but he throws in random pop quizzes that you will fail if you aren't in class.

Yordanka Kovacheva
MATH140

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/20/2020

This is the worst teacher I've ever had by far. Her worksheets focus on conceptual theorems and questions utilized in the stone age and her lectures are about as useful as a foam paperweight. The majority of your learning experience will come from Kahn academy and the class average will probably be a 68%. Your midterms will be at a depth she will never explain (or go over afterwards) and she cares about as much for student concerns ( as a class) as she does for putting her grades in the system. I didn't know my weighted grade on elms until literally the midpoint and last day of the semester. The icing on top is that she'll grade all your midterms within 24 hours , except for the midterm along the last few days of the dropout deadline. No, that midterm took about a month and a half despite one of the TAs saying that they've already been graded weeks prior. She knows you're gonna drop and she'll keep you from knowing your grade until it is too late. We went from 200 to about 80 students in attendance in the first week so if you're reading this , switch while you can because the other spots will fill up quick.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/17/2020

Professor Gulick is great. The lectures are very helpful and he goes over a lot of examples that are similar to homework and exams. The worksheets were pretty worthless but his sample exams are great for prep and are very close to what the exams look like. Overall great professor and nice guy.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/14/2020

Prof. Gulick is beyond knowledgeable about all mathematics and that comes across in the way he teaches. His lectures are very structured and he is always available after class for questions. The course was not easy and required a lot of work but that is calculus. The biggest downsides were that he overcomplicated some simple concepts by trying to provide a mathematical understanding by proving something or using unnecessarily obscure language/symbols and that he would occasionally make a student feel stupid for asking a reasonable question. I did enjoy him enough to take him again for Math141, but that is mainly thanks to an amazing Discord we have for our class.

Mestiyage Gunatilleka
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/10/2020

use the textbook and you will do well. he is not as bad as everyone says he is.

Mestiyage Gunatilleka
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/10/2020

has pre lecture videos which are very helpful as his lectures will be review of major concepts/ more in depth with examples, always open to questions, good/helpful TAs. textbook is extremely helpful when studying for exams and doing homework. people say he is not that great of a teacher, but i found no problem with him

Marco Bornstein
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/08/2020

Marco is the absolute greatest TA. He really helps you through the *very difficult* discussion work sheets. If you ever have a question , he will always answer it and makes sure you really understand the material. He knows zoom breakout rooms are super awkward, but he does try to break the ice. He grades very fairly and if you ever have a question about his grading he is very much willing to give you back points (if his grading was wrong). (For background info: I had Chadwick as my professor. )

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/08/2020

Chadwick is a great teacher. With online lectures, he is very detailed which really helps you understand the material and units. He always allows students to stop him if they have any questions or if they're confused. I don't personally go to his office hours, I usually go to GSS which is a big help. His worksheets he assigns us during discussion with our TA are difficult. They're nothing compared to what you learn in lecture. Especially in the beginning, you literally don't understand why it's so hard. But overtime, it makes more sense and you get use to it. Quizzes every other-ish week, and they are very easy. Tests on the otherhand are much harder. But if you know the material and do practice, it's not hard to get over a 90. HW was given on WebAssign. He was nice enough to not assign hw on fridays, so hw was only twice a week. WebAssign kinda of sucks, but isn't that awful. Chadwick, great teacher, highly reccomend if you can get his class (they fill up very quickly)

Yordanka Kovacheva
MATH140

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/07/2020

She can be really hard to understand at times and does not do the best job explaining concepts. The tests and worksheets can be really tough but she does give out old exams for practice. Overall, I would say to avoid her class but if you really try and do work out of class you can make it through class.

Priyankur Chaudhuri
MATH140

Anonymous
09/29/2020

He literally grades weeks after you turn in the assignment and doesn’t even tell you which questions you got wrong half the time, not to mention he doesn’t respond to emails.

Mestiyage Gunatilleka
MATH140

Anonymous
05/16/2020

Not that bad, not that great. Helps to go to class/watch corona-era videos because he covers what'll be on exams. Get help from TA and you'll be fine

Stefan Doboszczak
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/15/2020

Great professor! Math140 is a challenging course and Stefan made it very understandable. Great guy and funny too. Lectures could be boring, but is math so what do you expect

Mestiyage Gunatilleka
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
04/09/2020

Absolutely terrible professor that should be avoided at all costs. Gives poor explanations and basically just reads the textbook in class and provides no examples. Exams are graded harshly and some exams contain trick questions that the Ta's cant even answer. Bad move hombre.

Steven Chadwick
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
02/12/2020

Really good teacher. The lectures/notes flow easily to follow. Dr. Chadwick hand writes everything, and goes through problems and examples of what you are learning to make it easy to understand. Quizes and exams are fair, and accurately reflect what was learned in class. Discussion worksheets are more concept based, and not the most helpful, but the homework and lectures are where the main focus is. Only problem with Dr. Chadwick is that he is not good at answering questions DURING lecture. Go to his office hours (which are underused except before an exam) if you need help. Really chill/easy going teacher.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/29/2020

Also known as "The Anti-Bike Crusader," Tim is not a personable professor. I took MATH140 with him last semester, and my experience with him sucked. He spends all class clicking away through online lecture slides without really teaching (because corny jingles REALLY help), and he would sometimes go off-topic and tell us about his current status on the Anti-Bike Crusade. I went to discuss one of my exams with him during his office hours, but he was very condescending. However, his exams were similar to the discussion worksheets, which was a relief (though I had already taken the course in high school). I give him 2 stars because I thought his class was easy, but I would NOT recommend for those new to Calc 1. I'm sorry if you have to take him nevertheless.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/29/2020

If you're in FC and are taking math140, TAKE SCHLENOFF. NOW. He is extremely clear, fair, understanding, and the workload is very manageable. I wouldn't say it's an easy A but it is very easy to figure out what specific work you need to do for the A. The weekly quizzes are almost always based on the textbook practice problems from the syllabus so it's easy to do well on the quizzes. He doesn't have office hours but he is extremely responsive to email. He is chill and relatable and approachable and really is on the students' side. It's a shame his schedule only allows him to teach FC. Anyway, take Schlenoff.

Mestiyage Gunatilleka
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/27/2019

Not the worst professors at UMD. He gets a lot of flak because so many students have an ego thinking know everything about calc since they did it in high school. His lectures are heavy from the textbook, so read the section before class and the lecture becomes a review session to solidify the material. Come to class wanting to learn and visit office hours with questions, and you will get an A.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Anonymous
12/24/2019

Garbo. He is Garbo. Extra Garbo. Do not take. He is garbo.

Mestiyage Gunatilleka
MATH140

Expecting a D
Anonymous
12/18/2019

This dude has absolutely no personality, he may even be a robot. He knows what he's talking about and isn't the worst lecturer. His exams are extremely difficult and the homeworks are even harder. But if I didn't make it clear enough in the beginning, the man is a robot.

Jingren Chi
MATH140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/15/2019

You're better off just not attending lectures and self-teaching. I stopped going to lectures as he would just confuse me even more, the TA def. taught me more than professor.

Timothy Pilachowski
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/15/2019

Decent teacher but he organizes his courses very well. Lectures are important to introduce you to the topic of whatever section of notes you are on, but you really learn material through the discussions and webassign problems. Attendance is a must! Some tips for his class are to make a group that you work with in your discussions and study out of class with them. We made a group this semester and honestly that's where I learned most of the course material.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/05/2019

Taking Calculus 1 with Schlenoff was the best decision I made this semester. Hands down. He's super chill, his lectures are clear, and his tests and quizzes don't have surprises. If you listen and take notes in class and do the recommended homework problems, you should do perfectly fine. Also, he drops the lowest quiz, 3 lowest WebAssigns, and makes your lowest test grade worth half the points. Definitely worth it.

Mestiyage Gunatilleka
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/04/2019

His lectures are pretty hard to follow but some are okay. You honestly can just use Kahn Academy to teach yourself better

Jingren Chi
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/03/2019

He teaches really boring and goes on weird calc tangents when doing a review that does not help for the test, but other than that he's no different from other professors. His one redeeming quality is his curve is more lenient than other professors that I've heard from, and he writes big and very legible.

Cara Peters
MATH140

Anonymous
08/15/2019

Best math teacher yet. As someone who is on the younger side as professors go, she understands how to teach math so that you ACTUALLY understand it. Instead of only going over theory and not practicing concepts like all of my other teachers so far, she actually does examples in class which is extremely helpful in understanding the material conceptually. She manages her time very efficiently as well, going through material patiently and at a nice pace while always staying on track. In other classes, I've sometimes felt like that when I ask a question in class, the professor answers it in a way that leaves me even more confused than when I asked the initial question, but Cara always answers questions with simple and clear answers.

Nathan Manning
MATH140

Anonymous
08/15/2019

I will say, he is a nice guy, and has a very friendly / happy attitude during lectures. That being said, his class was horrible. None of the practice exams, worksheets, practice problems, or webassign HW were anywhere close to the difficulty of his exams. I often felt like they differed from each other as well. I frequently felt like what he'd teach in class had nothing to do with what we were going over in discussion the next day. Also manages his time very poorly. Never had to stay late in a class so frequently because he wouldn't have time to go over important material and just try to explain it all in the last 5 minutes. This is partially because I feel like he goes too in depth into questions during class. Don't get me wrong, I love it when the teachers give us a chance to respond to see if we are on page. But he'd spend 10+ minutes answering questions that aren't extremely relevant instead of just teaching the stuff he was supposed to.

Amin Gholampour
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/28/2019

Great guy. I just loved Gholampour, he is such a sweetheart. One of the nicest professors I ever had. He curves the class by a lot because most people taking this course are freshmen and many of them are like non-stem majors and it's a hard course so the averages for exams are like 55-68% range. Therefore, he curves by a lot. His exams aren't bad but they are questions similar to webassign. If you get your exam back and see the TAs took bunch of points off for some dumb mistake you made, talk to the professor he will give back points if you can show the mistake you made and you understand the correct answer. (Max points got back was like 10 points)

Amin Gholampour
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/25/2019

Great professor who really cares about his students. He dropped the lowest grade of the 4 exams, then curved the rest 15 points. I think he also curved the final on top of that.

Amin Gholampour
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/11/2019

Amazing professor!! Really cares about students, gives back points on tests, HUGE curve at the end of the semester. Homework and tests are not too hard, just do some practice problems and ask questions in discussion

Amin Gholampour
MATH140

Anonymous
05/02/2019

Pretty average lecturer. It can be hard to understand him when he speaks due to his accents and his hand-writing can be challenging to read, at times. Amin is good at answering any questions thrown at him during lecture and gives out bonus points to your final grade if you call out any mistakes he makes in lecture or if you correct him. The TA's are below average. They are hard to understand and the mandatory quizzes during discussion classes seem to be on material unrelated to the prior lecture. The G.S.S. sessions that are held are very helpful. His classes are nice because he always curves a lot at the end of the semester.

Craig Schlenoff
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/19/2018

BEST MATH TEACHER I HAD EVER HAD!! I did take BC Calculus my senior year but after hearing from other students with different math profs, I got really lucky with Schlenoff. He really cares about his students and tries to make class fun (also tries to tell a math joke at the beginning of his class). Lectures and notes are amazing. He writes out each step of problems and also goes over it again if you are still confused. Every problem he does is what you'll expect on the exams, quizzes, and final. TAKE NOTES IN CLASS. His weekly homework quizzes are two problems and are easy if you DO THE PRACTICE PROBLEMS that he assigns optionally. The quiz is just two of those practice problems with different numbers so they should be an easy 10 points. He is also a very lenient grader. His syllabus is really clear. He drops two of your lowest quiz grades and 3 WebAssign. The lowest of your 4 midterms will be worth half the points. He responds really quick to emails and is always enthusiastic/approachable to ask questions. If you can take MATH140 with Schlenoff, DO IT!!!!!

Arijit Sehanobish
MATH140

Expecting an F
Anonymous
12/19/2018

Do whatever you can to not have this professor. He doesn't care about his students at all and is very bad at teaching. Don't go into the class thinking everything will be fine, because he doesn't offer extra credit or curves, even when half his class is failing. His tests are extremely difficult and he has very high expectations. If you end up getting him, you have a big storm coming

Rufus Elemo
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/19/2018

Professor Elemo means well and is honestly a really nice guy but he just isn't the best teacher. He expects you to spend a ton of time practicing (which nobody ever does) so he just flies by topics that are important. I'm really glad I took calculus twice before this class because I would not have been able to learn for the first time from him

Arijit Sehanobish
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/17/2018

Arijit teaches fine. His tests are difficult, but he curves the exams with considerable points. He expects the students to practice a lot themselves and is very helpful with doubts.

Ke Xue
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/14/2018

Doesn't really prepare you for the final, avg was bellow 75%. talks about how other majors aren't real. very spazzy

Ishfaaq Mohammed Imtiyas
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/13/2018

He's a really great TA! He takes the time to make sure that everyone in our discussion understands the material. Really helpful during office hours.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/13/2018

He is funny during his lectures and teaches really well. The only major problem was that his grading criteria is too strict. Didn't draw the figure for a question (not asked in question)cuts 5 points out of 10. Wrote 5 lines for an answer and made a small calculation mistake at the end, cuts 10 points out of 10. If this was not there, he is awesome

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/13/2018

Webassign is some ass

Arijit Sehanobish
MATH140

Expecting an F
Anonymous
12/05/2018

cant teach

Danul Gunatilleka
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/04/2018

FANTASTIC. zero personality but freaking amazing. love him.

Arijit Sehanobish
MATH140

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
11/06/2018

If you have this professor, RUN.

Arijit Sehanobish
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/26/2018

Arijit was quite possibly the best teacher I have ever had. He has a quiz once a week and screws the whole class and it's hilarious .Truly one of a kind.

Wiseley Wong
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/18/2018

Great professor! He sometimes talks a little too quickly for me to follow, but he is very approachable and will answer any question you have.

Ryan Hunter
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/17/2018

He is a good teacher, makes sure students understand the concepts. He does not curve his exams and allows you to use a cheat sheet on all the exams except the final!

Wiseley Wong
MATH140

Anonymous
05/11/2018

Wong is so nice and really good at explaining concepts. He goes over the material various times until we grasp it

Wiseley Wong
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/07/2018

Great Teacher

Nathan Manning
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
03/01/2018

REALLY nice guy! charismatic and really good at explaining, especially if you go to office hours. Exams are much harder than other teachers with very little/ no curve, but you will learn a lot from him (conceptually).

Arseny Zakharov
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/21/2017

Arseny is a great guy who seems intimidating at first, but truly cares about his students and really helped me in Math140. His accent is a little thick, but over time, easy to understand, and he will clarify if you ask him to.

Ishfaaq Mohammed Imtiyas
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/13/2017

Great guy and helps you every-time whenever you got some doubt

Eric Hamilton
MATH140

lactaid
12/11/2017

Eric is a great TA! You can tell he really wants his students to succeed.

Kasso Okoudjou
MATH140

Expecting a B
terp27_ourumd
01/05/2016

Okoudjou's class is NOT easy. He's probably one of the hardest professors for Calc 1, but I definitely do recommend taking him. For most of the semester your grade will make you really depressed, but Okoudjou teaches you calculus in depth and far more than any of the other professors do. Our class average for the final was significantly higher than the students of other classes so really our grades even out. If you take his class you'll learn a lot and develop great thinking and math skills but it will not be easy at all. You will need to put a lot of effort into this class. He does curve at the end by a little, he also drops the lowest quiz and webassign (online hw assignment), and he decreases the weight of your lowest exam so that really helped my grade. Okoudjou is super nice and funny in class unlike Chadwick who is so monotone and hard to listen to (although I know that his exams are a LOT easier than Okoudjou's, but think about that final exam and actually learning!). I think those that take Okoudjou's class will be a lot more prepared for Calc2. It's a good investment and I highly consider going to his office hours and going online and using the practice exams to study because they all help a lot.

Kasso Okoudjou
MATH140

Expecting an A
BigChand10
11/03/2015

I highly recommend talking Kasso's class he is a great teacher and you will surely have a laugh everyday in his class. He is really understanding about quizzes and test and makes them reasonable. I had already gotten a 5 in Calc 1 but i wanted to take it again because I am doing engineering. I would assume many people with little to no Calc experience might find his class hard but overall i believe he is worth it especially if you are in the STEM field

David Hamilton
MATH140

indoleEntheogen
06/10/2015

David Hamilton review: don't bother, save yourself while you still can. He does not want you to be successful as a scientist/engineer/whatever you're going for. he always says in a condescending way: "you want to be scientists and engineers? this should be easy" as though you should have entered calc 1 already an expert... that's his job to make it easy by the end of the semester. his tests could not possibly be less reasonable. literally any other professor would be better for your future endeavors and GPA

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a C
TheTrooth
02/02/2015

Her approach to teaching Calculus I is mediocre at best. If you have never taken a Calculus class before, I would not take your first with the Witch. She has these unnecessary pop-quizzes in lecture called "White Papers" to guarantee attendence. There is usually no curve, and if there is a curve, you will not be happy because if you are on the borderline of a C, you will be getting a C. All bad things aside, she is a very nice lady outside of lecture, and is at least somewhat approachable. If it weren't for that, I would give her 1 star. Bottom Line: Do not waste your time.

Kasso Okoudjou
MATH140

Expecting a B+
grapes
12/13/2014

So here's the thing about Kasso: the dude's super nice, super smart and very willing to go out of his way to help you understand the content of the course. But he's too smart. In lecture he often makes jumps or skips steps that the rest of the class can't follow, and it usually takes a little while before he clears it up after a student answers a question. On a related note, and maybe one that sort of applies to all 140 lectures, he moves pretty fast. His accent isn't really hard to understand (you get it in your head after a class or two), but his handwriting makes notetaking a headache. If you only go to lecture and discussion you could probably get a B if you're a typical student, but a higher grade really requires you to go to his or a TA's office hours, because those 3 45 minute periods just aren't enough. I'd be willing to take him for Calc 3, but for a harder class like calc 2 I've gone out of my way to get Denny. Overall he's a good teacher worthy of respect, but his handwriting and intelligence makes it harder to understand the material than I would like.

Justin Wyss-Gallifent
MATH140

Anonymous
08/25/2014

One of the best, if not the best professors. He presents the materials in ways that anyone (even with poor background and fundamentals in math) can understand if he/she puts some effort. He tells students what to focus for the exams. TA was extremely nice and helpful as well. Wyss-Gallifent is just a really cool professor. His exams were fair (more on easy side since i falied Calc 1 once and re-took it during spring semester). He's extremely nice guy. When Levermore had a class before us, and left the board messy and ended late (about 2~3 minutes before our class time), Justin never lost his cool. Not even once. Take him. If you put in a little bit of effort, you're gonna pass.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Anonymous
08/25/2014

He's really nice guy. His class isn't a walk in the park. I took AP Calc in high school, but still failed for my freshman year. There is one unannounced quiz per week. His exams are not impossible but weren't easy. Webassigns are annoying. I asked if i could come to the lecture for Calc 2 for spring semester (after i failed Calc 1 with him and was taking with Wyss-Gallifant), and i went 8 AM. If you have a choice, take with Wyss-Gallifent.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/15/2013

Professor Gulick is not the best teacher, I'll admit. But, if you keep up with the readings in the book for each lecture, you will be just fine as she spends a lot of time proving many concepts. She is entertaining during lecture as well, and i never once hated going to her class. Just make sure you go because she gives small quizzes once or twice a week unexpectedly.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Anonymous
12/13/2013

Frances Gulick was not a good professor. I’m not completely comfortable writing that statement, cause she’s such a sweet lady, but it’s true. If you’re signing up for classes right now, and if you still have the opportunity, I’d recommend switching to another one. Gulick has extremely high, unreasonable standards for how you show your work. She seems to have a set of highly specific criteria in her head that you must meet, but she doesn’t feel like sharing with you until after you’ve made a mistake. I’ll give an example. The first test given out in the class I got all the questions right. All of my final answers were correct, but Gulick managed to nitpick my grade down to a C- because of arbitrary rules that any reasonable math professor would laugh at. For example, I had nearly completed a problem, and was just simplifying my answer like this (I have the work in front of me): h = (3+9)x(4+5) h = 12x20 And, in my final answer, I had my result in a box H = 240 Despite 240 being the correct answer, Gulick took off 50% of the credit for the problem. Her reasons were as followed: “You simplified 240x to 240 without showing x = 1” “h=/=H” So apparently, she only accepts work that solely uses parenthesis for multiplication. You can’t use a little x to show multiplication. Despite x not being a variable in the problem, she felt that it could be confusing for someone looking at the problem as to how the variable x appeared and disappeared. A friend of mine lost points for using a little dot to do their multiplication because it could be mistaken for “taking the dot product” despite dot products not being a part of the problem or even part of the entire course. I also lost points because I capitalized the h when I gave my final answer, which is apparently a completely different variable in her eyes. She also takes off points if you don’t indicate what the final variable is, so if I simply wrote “240” in a box to indicate my final answer, she would have marked off points for not indicating what 240 is equal to. It can be extremely frustrating losing so many points to arbitrary rules and small mistakes which most professors would ignore (you can lose full points off a problem for a simple algebra error) which can be pretty devastating when tests have five to seven problems. It can be really tough to meet her unrealistic expectations for displayed work for tests when you’re struggling just to finish just in time. You usually just don’t have time do all the work and quadruple check your work for small errors. The intended satire in this video is pretty close to truth for Ms. Gulick. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsvLLKQCxeA The website that Gulick uses to assign homework, webassign, can be equally as finicky as she is. Lots of homework points can be lost to webassign not being clear in how it wants you to give your answer. “Oh, you wrote that the answer ‘DNE’ for does not exist rather than ‘N/A’ for this problem? 0 points.” And then two problems later “Oh, you wrote N/A for this problem? The answer was clearly DNE. 0 points” Actually, it doesn’t do that. The website offers no feedback or advice. It’s often a matter of just hoping that the website accepts your answer. The website frequently crashes as well, which can be pretty frustrating when you’ve got a limited amount of time to complete it. Take a look at some of the comments here: http://www.isitdownrightnow.com/webassign.net.html And that’s really just her grading style. Gulick frequently skips algebraic steps while doing work on the board. She’ll go straight from something like: ((((6^2 * 10) + sqrt((5000*3) - 600)) / 4! ) * 4 ) - log(1 * 10^11) = 69 And then move on to the next problem, which can be rather confusing if you’re a minute behind or so. Furthermore, she does focus heavily on proofs, which is great for understanding problems conceptually, but not so great when both the webassign questions and the tests focus heavily on application problems. Her lectures are hard to follow which makes her very frequent pop quizzes (which she calls “white papers”) all the more stressful. All that said, she’s a nice lady, and very approachable. She’s got a corny sense of humor and is very willing to help you out if you need it (and you’ll probably need it, since she’s not at all clear in class). She’s a really nice person, but a terrible professor.

Kasso Okoudjou
MATH140

Anonymous
07/15/2013

Nice guy, but is a little too smart for his own good. When I say that, I mean he is so smart that he has trouble realizing that many students do not understand the mathematical concepts. If you go to his office hours, he tries to help, but it is nearly impossible to succeed if you did not take calculus in high school.

David Hamilton
MATH140

Anonymous
05/16/2013

No webassign. Gives double amount of homework than other professors. His lectures can get boring and its hard to understand what he is saying at times. Its easier to read from the book. His exam system in horrible imo. He gives 3 midterms and one final. Each midterm has a makeup one week later which includes another section. Most people dont do well on his exams. This is his way of giving them another chance. However, how would giving more exams help people out?! Just curve the exams if you want people to do well. He takes the higher grade of the two. Exams are usually only four questions so make sure you dont mess one up. Read the book and look up stuff online. He gives points for correcting his mistakes during lecture but they wont help you much.

Kasso Okoudjou
MATH140

Expecting an A
btc5105
12/15/2012

I think very highly of professor Okoudjou. He cares about the students and wants them to understand the material. His accent is not difficult to understand so I don't know why people are saying it is. His handwriting is pretty bad, but he is more than happy to re-write something and go over anything again until it is understood. He has unannounced quizzes which are not hard. As long as you pay attention in lecture and actually do the webassign, then you'll do fine. His exams are not bad really if you pay attention. He makes random jokes in class, which really are not funny, but they make you laugh regardless. He is very approachable and nice to anyone who wants to learn. If you go to his office hours once, he knows your name for 2 semesters, so he is good with names and likes to interact with students. I also am taking 141 now with him and it is not terrible. The material is harder, so you'll have to study on your own for exams. Overall, I highly recommend Okoudjou for 140 and 141 because he is a good lecturer who keeps you entertained and his exams are pretty fair.

Kasso Okoudjou
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/30/2012

Really, really hard class. In order to follow along during the lectures, I found it necessary to read and outline the textbook before coming to class. Worksheets during discussion were not straightforward at all. Fortunately, the TA was there to provide answers when nobody in the room could figure out a problem. I got used to his accent within the first couple weeks, and his handwriting is not a problem if you sit in the front of the room. I felt that his exams were always harder than those of the other MATH140 professors, but I also felt prepared for them since we got so much practice between having class 5 days and week and regular homework assignments. Doing really hard problems for practice made moderately hard test problems manageable.

Manoussos Grillakis
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/30/2012

He's an OK professor overall. My semester was the first that he taught 140. His lectures definitely aren't a thrill, but they are worth attending. Based on my friends who took other professors for this course, Grillakis is definitely one of the fairer ones in terms of the makeup of exams and the scheduling of WebAssigns. He's also a very nice and understanding guy. PS: I found the reviews given by other professors before exams to be very helpful for studying.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/31/2012

he talks fast and speeds through material. really nit-picky grading on exams. sure he's a funny/cute/smart guy but he goes too fast. i took a diff professor for math 141 and got an A.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A
FreshMeat
12/26/2011

Denny is awesome. He is a nice older man and makes calc as fun as he can considering it is an 8am. He teaches calc at 8am because he knows that the only people that will take it are students that care about their grades. It is not easy to get an A in his class but if you have taken calc 1 before it isn't hard. He is the best calc professor in 140 and 141. I am taking him next semester for 141. The people that don't like him are the ones that say "what is the point of calc i'm never going to use this...etc" If you are a normal person you will like him.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Anonymous
12/25/2011

Horrible. Tests are way too hard, don't gauge how well you understand the material, and she's just plain mean. avoid at all costs.

Kasso Okoudjou
MATH140

Anonymous
12/23/2011

I came in to this class with zero high school calculus experience, and it was not at all easy. Being successful in this class requires a previous understanding of calculus because even when he does examples, he shows you what to do with an individual problem, rather than how to do all problems that are like it. The man is ridiculously intelligent, but I think that makes it harder for him to empathize with those who are having trouble with his course. Good luck if you're taking his 140 class, and hope for a good TA.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/13/2011

Denny is as good as people say he is. However he puts s lot of emphasis no Quizzes, over 10% of the final grade. So if getting up at 8AM isn't your thing then don't even consider him. I missed a lot of quizzes and that is the only reason I got a C. If I attended them all then I surely would've gotten a B+ if not an A.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/19/2011

calc 1 is not hard. frances is decent at teaching, you will understand material easy enough. even the white paper quizzes arent that bad. but frances grades terribly. you always get points off here and there because she doesnt like your notation or the way you do a problem. theres almost no partial credit. even if you know your calc you still get random points off. so unless youre the most careful and meticulous problem solver, it will be pretty hard to get an A. Ive been getting 100 on all the webassign homeworks and the worksheets, but when it comes to the test I end up with a B or a C. And when you contest any points you got off, she somehow makes up some explanation about why its wrong and doesnt give one bit back. when it comes to points on a test, shes always right and youre always wrong. another thing is, she HAS NO CURVE. the averages for tests will be in the 50-60 range, and she wont do anything about it. even the TAs dont seem to be able to make her curve. dont take her unless youre neat and careful in your writing. her husband is supposed to be much better. I was thinking about taking her for math141 (calc 2) but instead im gonna take 8am with her husband. Its worth the sleep sacrifice, i cant deal with these unreasonable bad grades anymore.

Kasso Okoudjou
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/11/2011

Yeah, yeah, yeah his accent takes a little getting used to and his handwriting isn't always the best but he's always happy to clarify for you. Point of the matter is, he's a good teacher. He's not too abstract, and I thought he hit a good balance between computation and concepts. And he cares -- he remembers names and faces and tries to help you out. If you actually do the WebAssigns and not just WolframAlpha everything, your computational skills will be good enough for the quizzes. And make sure you utilize the Kirwan TA's throuhgout the year because sometimes he glosses over parts that the Gulick's go over. And guess who writes the finals? The Gulicks, good guess :) His exams are rough though. Sometimes he'll throw in a conceptual curveball but if you do the worksheets in discussion you should be pretty well rehearsed in these kind of problems. And yes, that means you have to go to discussion. All in all, if you can take Denny Gulick, take him but Okoudjou is good too. Much of a lesser evil than Frances Gulick IMO.

David Hamilton
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/09/2011

Half decent lecturer but I got burned because I could never get used to his teaching style. Very convoluted lectures though he can be a nice guy when he wants to (blew up in our lecture a few times and yelled for seemingly small stuff). Had a friend who took him for 141 and he changed up their exams on them without much warning. Didn't care for him either way but at least he's better than Francis Gulick....

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Anonymous
05/05/2011

She's okay. I took her for 140 in my first semester and came out with an A. I've always loved math and I took ABcalc in high school and got a 5 but I still retook it. She teaches to her tests- the practice ones that you get are ones that she's given out in the past. If you can do the practice tests you should be okay for the actual test. And by okay, I mean like a C at least. The webassigns are confusing... they purposely make them difficult. It's more conceptual. It's not bad though. They're always due the day of the discussions. They're not terrible though. My only complaint is that she jumps around from topic to topic when teaching so it can be hard to follow her. She also skips the simple steps that people end up needing to ask her about anyway. If you do go to office hours, she is helpful. Also, contact your TA when you need help. And make sure you have a good TA.

David Hamilton
MATH140

Hosea
05/01/2011

Hamilton was often very fast paced in his lectures. He seemed very condescending in his emails at times, but he knows what he is talking about. However, once you get lost, it's hard to get back on track. He also has this system where you get points if you correct a mistake he makes. However, when you're absorbing new information it is very confusing to have to deal with mistakes made when you're trying to learn the right way to do things. He also gave out many bonus quizzes and points which boosted your grade. However, this semester he did give a test the day after spring break and the average was like a 12/40. In the end it just comes down to intuition in my opinion. Pros: Approachable in person, easy to get points, gives out bonus quizzes Cons: Difficult to follow

Karin Melnick
MATH140

Anonymous
04/28/2011

Quite possibly the worst professor I've had at my two years at UMD. If a student asked a question in class she would sometimes not answer the question and tell them to see her after class or answer the question and not repeat the question so other students can hear it. She teaches proofs straight out of the book and barely goes over any examples. Her tests are significantly harder than other Calc teachers. She does not curve the class. Avoid this teacher at all costs. I'm sure she knows what she is talking about but it just did not translate well to her students. You know how I know this? All the familiar faces in my Calc class this semester. I cannot stress this enough. Avoid this teacher if you plan on learning Calculus.

Karin Melnick
MATH140

Expecting a B
CB
02/17/2011

Do not take her. Just don't. I only passed her class with a B because I had taken AP calc in high school. On every test that I took, there was always one question that I couldn't answer. So I lost 15-20 points automatically. She made everything so complicated and confusing. I only went to class because of the weekly quiz. Seriously, take anyone else.

Kasso Okoudjou
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
02/05/2011

Professor Okoudjou is a great professor who cares that his students understand the concepts presented. His accent may prove hard the first day of classes, and his handwriting may prove hard the first week. But nothing he can't clarify if you ask him during lecture. Even though Okoudjou is a reasonably good teacher who knows his mathemagic, since most of the students who enter MATH140 are entering freshmen from high-school, his rapid style may prove detrimental in their understanding of Calculus. So, I ask a student not to take Calculus1 under him, unless they have already taken calculus once before, and they've felt comfortable with it. He tended to dwell more on proofs and theoretical justifications, rather than applications. I didn't expect it to turn quite that way, since this is a Calculus course for Scientists and Engineers. Adam Ross is one of the best teaching assistants in the department. Discussions may prove crucial if one is experiencing difficulty in lecture. He is willing to take time off to ensure that what you miss in lecture, will not be done so again in discussion. Even if the concept is too rudimentary to be explained in Calc 1, Adam will go over them. I recommend either/or both of them.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
01/25/2011

Avoid her!!! Whatever you do, stay away!! Take Denny or anyone else for 140, she's nothing but bad news. Like many others, I took BC calc in high school and got a B so I thought I could do with a refresher when I got to college - big mistake to do it with her. Webassigns and tests were horrible and she was very unhelpful (and rude sometimes) whenever asking for help at her office hours or via e-mail. I was a student used to getting a lot of work but this was just terrible - I would study for hours and still bomb her exams. Her lectures went way too fast and she sets the speed of the class to match the students who she likes in the front row of the lecture. Her TAs were understanding at least and helpful with problems. Quizzes were annoying and she would grade pretty harshly taking off major points for silly mistakes like forgetting a negative that caused you to get an incorrect answer (even if your methods were good). I guess it's the kind of thing where you either love her or you hate her - I surely knew what camp I was in. If you take her for 140 (which is okay material wise with any other prof), just know what you're getting into but please consider someone else!!!!

Karin Melnick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/24/2011

the person below me pretty much said it all. this was my third year of calculus 1 (2 years in high school and chose not to take the AP credit which i did earn). the way she tests is also harder than other teachers. my section learned everything in discussion from each other and the TA.

Karin Melnick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/25/2010

I can't let anyone get deceived by the two reviews before me. Melnick is awful. All she does is teach easy material in the most complicated way. She doesn't look at her students and just writes on the board whatever it says in the textbook, then several times during the class will turn around and give a look to the class as if we know exactly what she's trying to say. Everyone I talked about her class with, HATED her. Not one person in my discussion, which was the discussion with the highest averages in the class, said one thing nice about her. I HAD to go to Denny Gulick's lecture in order to give my chance of learning the material. Who cares if she baked us cookies. I'd rather be good at math than eat one cookie on the day before thanksgiving. The reason she doesn't teach well is simple, she goes over proofs but doesn't go over concepts well or sometimes even at all.

Justin Wyss-Gallifent
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/19/2010

Justin is one of the best professors I've encountered at this university. He's very easy to relate to with his young spirited style (always wearing chucks to class). The accent is a nice touch to whatever he has to say, as well, along with his sense of humor. His lectures are VERY organized, as he writes from left to right on the board, and NEATLY. You won't miss a thing he's saying, and if you do, he's always happy to answer your questions. I had him first thing in the morning, and it was a very nice class to wake up to (:

Kasso Okoudjou
MATH140

Expecting an A
jcp5383
12/18/2010

Unfortunately, I did not need to take this class because I APed out of Calc. However, I thought that I wanted to be an engineer so I took this class. He is the hardest of all Calc teachers. I advise you to take Denny Gulick. He is the best math teacher I have seen. Okoudjou is a definitely the man. He is very smart. His biography states that he is a Georgia Tech graduate. Sometimes, I felt that he was too smart to teach us. His pace is very fast. There is also this stupid assignment online that screw up your grade because it is so hard. I got a B, D, D, C, and C on the exams respectively. I ended up with a B. You make the decision. Engineering is the hardest major out there at UMD. If you're business major, consider yourself lucky because you won't have to take this class. You would be stupid to take this class and screw up your GPA.

Karin Melnick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/16/2010

HAHA. I just read the review before me. Yes, she did bake us cookies for Thanksgiving, although only 40 people (around there) showed up for class. She is a very nice lady. She's very approachable. I have never been to her office hours, but she does emphasize that she has those hours opened for us. Yes, she does try to push the due date back for WebAssign if she hasn't taught the material. I have taken this class before and I will admit, I was pretty lost for the first few classes for some reason. It took me a while to get used to her teaching style. If you don't understand math, it may be a little difficult since everything seems to be definition. That made it pretty difficult for me at first. One person mentioned, "she teaches like a wikipedia page" and in a way, it kind of is. You need to get used to it. If you don't understand math, you really need to take notes. When you look at them later, they'll make sense. I have to admit, if you've never been a math buff, this will be a very difficult class for you. The lowest exam wasn't supposed to be dropped (it was supposed to be half the weight of a real exam), but since the average was so low for the third test, she decided to drop our lowest test grade. The class average on the last exam was pretty high, so you should be okay. Your TA will definitely help you if you need help. Having discussion twice a week is very tedious. You need to put a lot of time into this class. Good luck.

Kasso Okoudjou
MATH140

Expecting a B
hc_frog
12/16/2010

Kasso is hard to understand. I would have been completely lost if I had not taken Calc AB in high school. If you have had experience with calculus, this class may be easier, but if you haven't I would recommend Dr. Denny Gulick.

Karin Melnick
MATH140

Expecting a A?
Anonymous
12/15/2010

First thing I'm gonna say: "She baked us cookies." She was a bit incoherent and awkward at the beginning of the semester, but that was probably because she was nervous or something. Anyway, I had already seen this material in high school, where I got a C. From what I've seen, she is incredibly nice to her students. She also tries to learn everyone's names. If you're having trouble, she will try her best to explain the material further. Unlike many other teachers, if she did not teach what was on the WebAssign, she will push the due date back (Ain't that amazing?!). One thing that was a bit frustrating though was that her exams were rather difficult. Everything on the exams is on what she taught, but the format of the exams is more difficult than those from other professors. On the contrary, she does give out practice exams (in the same format as the actual exam) and she did drop the lowest exam grade. Overall, she was a pretty good instructor.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/15/2010

Despite all the negative reviews on this site, I took Frances Gulick for Calc I, and came out with an 'A'. It took a decent amount of work, but overall I think that she's a quite effective lecturer. IMO her tests are graded quite fairly, and she's a really nice lady if you talk to her during office hours. She does go a little overboard on the proofs during lecture, but after a few classes you learn to only key in on the pertinent information. The only other quipe I have with her was her placement of quizzes on very inopportune days, such as the day after Halloween, the day before Thanksgiving, and nearly every Friday. If you have her for a 9 am lecture, this kills any prospects of going out on Thursday night. Overall, I'd recommend her. But expect to work hard.

David Hamilton
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/15/2010

This is a potentially easy math class compared to others, but Hamilton is an inadequate teacher! There's no webassign. He assigns problems from the book, about 20 for each section. The homework is optional, but the TAs do occasionally collect homework from a specified section and the test questions come from the homework, so it's a good idea to do the homework. Tests are fair because, like I said, problems come from the homework and examples in lecture. He also has this policy where if you answer a question in class or correct one of his mistakes, you get one bonus point. I believe that the max is 25 per semester. In addition, there's a final's option, in which your final test grade will be used to replace your final course grade if it happens to be higher. While there's plenty of opportunities for getting a high grade, I've found that Hamilton is not such a great lecturer. You're better off reading the textbook yourself. Half of the class doesn't even take notes. He jumps all over the place and doesn't stop to explain each step. Bottom line: Tests are fair. If you're willing to self-study, this course is for you.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/07/2010

Definitely overrated. If I had not taken Calculus before, I would have been completely unable to work with this class. My TA was about average, but the discussion worksheets are terrible and frequently irrelevant to what we were actually expected to know. The WebAssigns were fair and relevant, but there were frequently programme errors that affected grades (a problem that was inaccurately displayed, for example) and there were several occurrences where the due dates were "mysteriously" changed to be earlier than they were supposed to. As a whole, I found Denny to be completely ineffective but the book to be helpful and the TA to be occasionally useful. The tests were fairly straightforward, if harshly graded at times, and he allowed us to do corrections on the class-wide worst test of the semester. Not a class I would recommend if it's not needed, but I've heard better things about Denny than the rest of the Math Dept so you could do worse. Just expect to rely on the book more than the prof.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/20/2010

I love her! She teaches well and makes sure you understand what's she talking about. On the hard subjects she goes a little fast in class because she has to cover everything but if you go to her office hours she'll help you and is patient. When I went to talk to her about my grade she was nice and talked to me with the familiarity of a high school teacher. She wants hard-working students to do well in her class and tries to help. Yeah, webassgin sucks but everybody who takes math has to deal with it, not just in her class. And yeah, white papers are a pain especially if you come late but you can talk to your neighbor and ask her questions about it-- how can you not ace them? She's energetic and funny in an awkward way and hers is the one class I don't sleep in at all (and I sleep through ALL my other classes except for my labs b/c I'm standing). She does exam reviews (in class and maybe out of class) and usually gives you an old one to study. Her test questions change but the format and the type of question basically stays the same though there may be a proof type question on there. And if you mess up on the exam, she will go through it with you after the fact so you understand what you did wrong. If you don't study, and don't come to class you won't do well (white papers/quizzes do count). If you want an easy teacher, find someone else (people love her husband). If you want someone who will push you and make you learn this stuff, take her. I'm pretty sure I'll take her for 141

Justin Wyss-Gallifent
MATH140

Anonymous
11/09/2010

I kind of want to marry Justin. Or be him. Yeah, he's that good.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
11/08/2010

Shes moves along too fast, without really reviewing the material. Get Denny.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an F
Anonymous
10/20/2010

I took calculus BC in high school and decided I wanted to retake it in college to make sure I fully understood it. If it I hadn't taken it before, I would have NO idea what was going on! The webassigns are awful! Yeah they test your skills but they often have little relevance to what you actually need. The discussion sections are by far the most helpful! The TA's are personable and knowledgeable. The lectures on the other hand are terrible. She goes over proofs for the longest time and then does these little white paper quizes right afterwards. Yes you get to correct your answers at the end of the quiz but she will take off large amounts of points if you forget an = or add a negative or forget a parentheses. Then on the tests, she grades equally frustratingly. My last test I got a 46%. All of the math was right, and I had all the theorems and ideas correct. I got a 46 because I worked through the test and left off little things like a limit or an equals sign or added a negative or left off an x from a little part (and the next line down the x was there! so it didn't even change the answer!!!!) All in all, I recommend taking this class with another teacher... Which is probably what I'm going to have to do next semester...

Justin Wyss-Gallifent
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
09/21/2010

I had taken calc1 3 weeks later the previous semester with Okijo *he had a longer name* and i learned nothing in the course. But Justin taught everything perfectly. He did a amazing job explaining concepts and, unlike most professors, started out like you knew nothing. He would explain things that you thought you knew, but he would give you a deeper understanding about it. He is a really cool guy and makes lecture fun with his jokes.If your taking calc, make sure you have him as your professor and no one else. He is hands down the best teacher I've ever had. lol I wish he taught calc 3 lol

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a C
purpleeagle
05/16/2010

She certainly knows what she's talking about, but I never did well with her teaching style. She's more into deriving the formulas rather than actually going over the applications. She gives plenty of pop quizzes, webassign HW assignments, and worksheets. The webassigns never helped me to much; I always found myself trying to finish them by the deadline instead of actually learning the material.

Justin Wyss-Gallifent
MATH140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/11/2010

I also took Gulick's 140 my first semester here and although he was a great teacher, I still had a difficulty learning and understanding the material. Justin made it really simple and easy to understand. By writting literally every word on the board taking notes was easy. His sense of humor and cool accent are an added bonus! I really wish he taught all of my math classes!!!

Justin Wyss-Gallifent
MATH140

Expecting an A-
xbfrittsox360
05/06/2010

There's a reason Justin is the highest rated professor on this site: he is the absolute man. I had the privilege to take MATH140 with him this semester and understood the material 10 times better than when I did in high school. He teaches the material with such clarity that it is impossible to not understand what is going on (no matter how dumb you may be). What separates him from every other professor here at UMD is his teaching style. He is incredibly fun and engaging with the students. He always goes off topic with a joke or random topic at least once per class and it just makes you think to yourself "this guy is so cool." This may sound like a strange love story, but I guarantee you that if you take this class (or any class) with Justin, you will feel the same way. One day I saw him walking around campus in his red converse sneakers enjoying the awesome weather outside and I feel like that sums up who he is completely: the best professor I've ever had. Thank you Justin!

Justin Wyss-Gallifent
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/06/2010

Great professor. Teaches on a good pace for everyone to follow and understand the content. Justin gets his students well prepared for the exams. If student gets a bad grade, there's no excuse because Justin does everything he possibly could to get the students prepared for the exams. A really good professor and I wouldn't want any other math professor other than Justin.

Justin Wyss-Gallifent
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/22/2010

I took Gulicks 140 and failed with a D. He is by no means a bad proff however. He just doesnt teach it the way Justin does. Justin thoroughly enjoys the nuances and implications of what he teaches and puts everything in terms that non math majors can understand. He starts with a non proof driven explaination and follows it up with the reasoning/proof. Drastically simplifies the overwhelming material in the book. I have not opened it once this semester. every question i've had could be answered by my notes. Ive definately needed to study for the exams but my work has been rewarded. The exact same amount of work in Gulicks earned me a D but i fully expect an A or B+ this go-round.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a C
jamgord
03/06/2010

I have nothing against Professor Gulick because he's soooo nice and really sweet, but I think he's a bit overrated. He taught well but he was not the best professor I've had. I think because he's so entertaining with his cute noises and little kid voice impressions that people just fall in love with him and want to recommend him all of their friends. I don't know if it was the fact that his class is at 8am and I was never fully awake, if it was his teaching methods, or maybe I just couldn't grasp the concepts, but I ended up getting a C in the class. He actually did a reallllly nice thing and let me come back to his office for 15 extra minutes to finish my first exam because I overslept and ran to class so I wouldn't miss it. I guess the point is, if you don't mind getting up at the crack of dawn and want a funny professor, then take Denny, but if you don't think you'll be able to make it to all the lectures, you're better off taking it with another professor. (As long as it isn't his wife)

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Anonymous
01/10/2010

If you go to her outside of class, she is very responsive and helpful but her lectures are horrible. She spends most of the time with proofs and "surprise" graded white paper assignments in class than actually going over the important information. It is not impossible to get an A in this class but you do it by speaking with her one on one or through TA's help since the lectures are random and she gets sidetracked easily. I think she would be a wonderful high school teacher.

Kasso Okoudjou
MATH140

Anonymous
01/07/2010

Gives good notes - very precise and clear - but there's a major discrepancy between what we go over in class and what's on the homework and tests. A lot of his tests don't follow the homework OR the examples he covers in class, and he also doesn't curve the class very much. Really hard to get an A unless you ace all four midterms and do fairly well on the final. If you've taken calc before and understood it thoroughly, then he's not a bad prof to take. If you're looking to learn calc for the very first time, I recommend taking Prof. D. Gulick. Much better, and much more patient and thorough with the information, plus his tests are actually on the material gone over in class.

Kasso Okoudjou
MATH140

Anonymous
12/23/2009

if you havent taken calculus before, i strongly suggest you do not get him. He is extremely hard to follow in lecture, and since he does example problems from the book, going isnt a necessity. Although he does occasionally have pop quizzes. His accent makes him kind of hard to understand, but discussion is very helpful. I took AP calc in high school and got a B. If youre looking for an A i strongly suggest you try and get D. Gulick.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A-
beane
12/17/2009

Frances loves in-class proofs. This makes a lot of sense; they demonstrate clarity of thought and a straightforward presentation of the material. Unforunately, her rigid concern for this sort of order invariably leads to a sacrifice of precious class time which could be used for review and practice. She incessantly emphasizes the importance of the short class time, and then proceeds to waste it with proofs. While I find the proofs interesting and useful, they tend to confuse and frustrate the majority of the class, to the point that while most of them started out fresh and eager to learn at the beginning of class, they were tired and worn by the end of it. She assigns internet homework after every lecture (before and imediately after tests not included), and expects the student to practice a good deal of problems recommended in the textbook. To paraphrase Frances from her class syllabus, you CAN do well in her class but it requires a LOT of work. This is due largely in part to the rather strange format of the tests. There are generally 5 questions, with mutliple parts to each question. Regrettably, the paucity of test questions leads to a proportional increase in point values per questions. If you make a mistake on part of a question, you can easily lose 5 to 10 points. Coupled with the single point losses for careless error throughout the rest of the test (which are common, because they are so thorough and lengthy), the grade for a test that you were well-prepared for can easily slip into the 80's. WebAssign, worksheets from discussions, and in-class quizzes are collectively a huge part of your final grade. Frances compensates for her exams by allowing a great deal of points to be made up elsewhere. MOST IMPORTANT PART: The tests are relatively straightforward, without much mathematical innovation necessary. She is the math teacher for people who work hard, but don't like math (despite the counter-productive proofs during lecture). If you are of a mathematical bent, you will find her class tiresome and frustating, but will likely get an A with work. If you are not such a person, you will find her class thorough and work-heavy, but you can discover that you will be able to scrape up an A or B with consistent effort.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/16/2009

Denny is a pretty cool guy. He drops 2 quiz grades, some webassigns, and worksheets. His tests are way easier than his wife Frannie(or as he calls her: his better half). Denny is also quite funny. He makes some lame math jokes, but that early in the morning you'd laugh at anything too. He does give random quizzes, so sometimes when you can't get up for his class, you'll lose a quiz grade, which is pretty much why I got a B.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/10/2009

Taking this class was the biggest mistake ever. First off if you are a business major take 220 bc there is no need to put yourself through this hell. While I hear all the calc teachers here are bad, his class is just awful. Waking up for an 8am class three times a week is a lot harder than you think, which is why his class is so difficult, since he gives a quiz once a week without telling which day. Also the TA's are not only stupid because they wont help you at all in discussions (also worth a significant part of your grade) they grade with no regard to partial credit. Derivatives are understandable for not receiving any credit, but most other problems on tests the TA's basically look to see if you have the right answer, if you dont they basically cross it out, and if you do, they look for things that you might not have mentioned to take off excessive amounts of points. While his class has its funny moments, and he is very nice bc he always holds review sessions, his class is tough and unless you think you will be able to make more than 90% of his classes, I suggest not taking him.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Anonymous
12/01/2009

He's a great teacher, and funny! Even though his classes are at 8:00 am, he's entertaining enough for you to be able to pay attention when you're tired. He is tough on partial credit, but he drops a lot of assignments with low scores AND he curves. If you do all the assignments and come to class every day for the quizzes (which are super easy), it's an easy A!

Denny Gulick
MATH140

smefeman
04/02/2009

He only holds lectures at 8 AM which may be a problem for some people (like me). I was frequently tired during lecture, but he was able to teach the material well and even cracked jokes once in a while to liven the mood.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an F
Anonymous
02/08/2009

She is literally the devil. I would say "devil in disguise," but she also looks like the devil. She is the WORST teacher I have ever met. Correction-she is the worst HUMAN I have ever met. Disregarding family deaths as excused absences, religious holidays because the U is "secular," this lady is a completely insensitive heartless devil. I have seen more people cry in her class than a theater full of preteen girls watching The Notebook. Avoid her at all costs. If you have to wait to take calc, do it. If you have to defer your college acceptance, do it.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/24/2009

i strongly agree. she is nothing short of a huge ***** and a ****. she spends most of the class writing up long proofs on the board that no one ever needs to know. she doesnt care about any of her students, even gave a quiz the day before thanksgiving. she grades ridiculously unfairly like taking off half credit for missing an equals sign or similar things. often goes on to long tangents during class and im pretty sure i know her whole family history not to mention she told us the story how her son missed his calc final like 80 years ago at least once a week along with the story of how her daughter got her car stolen twice cause shes a fuckin idiot and left it unlocked. if i hadnt already taken calc in high school i would have gotten a D or dropped. whatever you do DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS!! itll be your biggest regret of the semester.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/23/2008

Amazing math professor. One of the few classes that add inspiration to my life lim sin(1/x) =GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR x-->0

Kasso Okoudjou
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/19/2008

His lectures consist of writing theorems on the board and proving the theorem. He never actually used the theorem to do an actual example problem, which made homework impossible. If you take his class you better just pray that your TA is good.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/13/2008

He is certainly one of the greatest math professor... if u go to lecture, u will get a good grade. he is Funny! the "krrrrgh" thing as the last person said. Once in a while, you will write "BOO" in ur notebook, which means you wont be able to get an answer.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/09/2008

MATH 140 is supposed to be Calculus for engineers, there are hints of this in the class taught by Frances Gulick but overall the class misses the point. F. Gulick attempts force feed her students mathematical proofs throughout the semester and her obsession with notation is enough to convince one that F.Guclick is nothing more than a math teacher harboring a resent against engineers. Her efforts to appear modern by using a projector come out as forced and futile, and lectures can easily morph into useless convoluted time wasters when one of her signature obscure proofs introduced. Those students who hadn't seen calculus before were lead straight to the slaughter, her drop-out rate only tells half the story as some stayed and dragged through the semester like fatally wounded sheep. Overall I would recommend Frances Gulick to anyone who loves unnecessary amounts of work and stress, and strives to build-up a deep hatred for math.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

babygnau
12/09/2008

Frances Gulick is a very tough professor, however you do learn a lot in her class. I thought her exams were fair, albeit rather difficult. Overall go to class, and do all of the assignments. I was amazed how many points I lost by not bringing my clicker to class and participating in the clicker problems. Its a hard, challenging class, but if you put forth the effort you should be fine.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/05/2008

Expect a lot of work, but "A" is not impossible. You have to keep up with your Web Assigns and problem sets in the book to do well on the exams. Her exams are challenging and she's very picky with notations.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/05/2008

He is very strange. He likes to make strange noises like "krrrgh" as he describes an equation, and he likes to talk to himself in high voices. He seems almost senile, yet he is very effective. He's certainly not boring, and if a student dozes off or appears distracted, he will embarrass them. This is for their own good. He certainly provides a wide variety of examples, and goes through every topic very thoroughly. A good student should have no trouble understanding the material and thus, doing well on exams. Also, he wrote the textbook (well him and Dr. Ellis, whoever that is...)

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A-
tallboyt
11/17/2008

People seem not to like her, but she's not bad. She will answer questions and offer help all the time. If you study the prac. exams well and do the webassigns at math success there should be no problem. Clickers were used near the end of the year. People who complain typically don't try in class and blame the teacher -- even if she tries to help.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/13/2008

Prof Gulick is absolutely amazing. He makes the tests self explanatory by listing the upcoming test topics and using Webassign by reviewing the previous lecture the day of discussion. Highly recommend to all calc beginners and veterans alike. Prof Gulick has some personality quirks which make the class exciting. He talks to the class as if we did not understand and thus comes across as arrogant to those who know but greatly helps those who have no idea what is going on. I highly recommend his class to anyone taking calculus. Personally i am signing up for his MATH141 class next semester.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a B
babygnau
11/12/2008

Denny Gulick is an awesome teacher. He is really good at effectively explaining the topics and he has a good sense of humor. The only slight downfall with him is that I found him to be very strict with partial credit.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
09/29/2008

he's awesome, make sure you get him - D.Gulick, instead of another Gulick... that's a big difference.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
07/13/2008

Dr. Gulick is a very good professor, those who write these reviews obviously did not show up to lecture, did not do assigned homework, and actually the funniest point that someone tried to make is that "math comes naturally to them." This is a calculus course for engineers, chemists and a couple other majors, IT IS NOT MEANT TO BE EASY! Dr. Gulick sets out the guidelines and expectations the very first day of class and follows the syllabus to a "T." I learned more in this course than probably any other, because Dr. Gulick will take the time and put in the effort to help any student that actually puts forth an effort. Professor's that hand out grades do not do anything for the students, the University, or society that has to deal with engineers that forget decimal places. If you want a passionate teacher, a good class, and to learn a lot than I say to you, "take it with Francis Gulick," if you want an easy math class than head back to kindergarten children.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Anonymous
05/02/2008

Absolute garbage, if there is a worse professor alive, I have never had them. She is a 100 year old, she-devil ***** who is a control freak and a terrible human being. Homework is assigned constantly, and they don't really teach you anything. Every discussion had new problems that were never seen before, and never would be seen again. There was no flow whatsoever to this class. The class is so disorganized it's incredible. The lectures are a pointless exercise in proofs (which she messed up on every single day), the discussions test really obscure extremities of the material, and the homework is generic, but almost inapplicable to the test. It's pretty clear that the only reason this retard has a job is because her husband runs the department.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

jmartin1
04/23/2008

Denny Gulick was awesome, like the person below me said. He wrote the book, and is very good at explaining the material. The class was at 8AM, but if that doesn't bother you, you will do well.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Anonymous
02/22/2008

i think she might be the worst teacher i have ever had in my whole life. she screws up what she is doing constantly in lecture. she is some kind of control freak, she yells at kids when they leave her class early, like she can make them stay! she throws alot of pop quizes to make sure kids show up for lectures. she even yelled at my TA infront of his class, and he was easily one of the best teachers ive had. if i had not already seen calculus before i would have easily failed this course. oh yes, and dont believe what she says about her point scale for grading. i blew off the web assign because she said it was worth 50 points out of 650 total. by the end of the simester it had become closer to 250. im just glad i passed and can move on with my life and never, ever see that woman again

Frances Gulick
MATH140

Expecting a C
egloger
12/15/2007

If you ever take a class with her, be prepared to stress about it a lot. She's good at teaching, but the homework and tests are unreasonably difficult. There's a reason why her drop/fail rates are so high.

Kasso Okoudjou
MATH140

mmeyers
12/03/2007

Worst professor ever. He will present the theorem on the board, without adequately explaining the concept or the application, which, ya know, is pretty essential to doing well on the tests. There was a big disconnect between what was covered in class, what was on the classwork, and what was on the tests. He's really not good at explaining things. You may do well in this class if you have previous experience in calculus. If you haven't, then you're screwed. Don't expect to learn a thing from this professor. He moves extremely fast in lectures, and he doesn't stop to explain his mathematical process. I don't get the sense he cares about his students at all. Compared to the other teachers of this class, his tests are much harder. If you want to learn anything about calculus, stay far away from his lecture.

Frances Gulick
MATH140

avigana
11/16/2007

She is an extremely tough professor. The averages on her test are always really low but if you disregard your grade you realize that you learn a lot in her class.

Denny Gulick
MATH140

Anonymous
11/13/2007

Best calculus teacher at UMCP. Having his 8am class is better than having a 11am class with someone worse. Try to get him. You have the best chance of getting an A with him.

Reviews for MATH140