McBlaine Boyle

This professor has taught: MATH130, MATH131, MATH240, MATH402, MATH410, MATH411, MATH416, MATH463

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McBlaine Boyle MATH131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/17/2016	Boyle isn't that bad of a teacher and Calc II isn't too bad of a class if you apply yourself. For me personally, I did not put the effort that I should have into the class and that is why my grade ended up being so low. Boyle is not the best teacher in the world, but in lectures I feel a bit bad for him because he is super nice and you can tell he genuinely wants the kids to understand the lesson. He is a bit of a dry teacher and he pulls teeth to get kids to participate in his 9:30 am, but he gives a lot of examples and explains things in great detail. When I did go to lecture, only about 50 kids would be there, but about 200 kids were enrolled :/ Let's just say exam day, I could barely find a seat whereas any other lecture, I had the entire back half of the classroom to myself. I did not have the pleasure of knowing Boyle personally, but his grading scale is: 85% = A, 75% = B, 65% = C. It might fluctuate a bit, but maybe by 1-2% percentage points. I had a 68% in the class and got a flat C. He also drops 6 of your lowest quizzes/biomodules. The discussions are ok. The TAs urge you to come to office hours, but I couldn't because of scheduling conflicts. Overall, I had to abide by the textbook and YT vids the night before the exam during my cram sessions. The average on the final was in the mid-60s, if I remember correctly. Do I recommend Boyle? Yes. His exams are straightforward and moderately easy if you do the homework he assigns and old exams. He also writes the final (which is taken by all math sections), so you are at an advantage since you know his exam style.
McBlaine Boyle Expecting a C Anonymous 12/19/2014	Never in my life have i seen an educator who confuses you more by teaching than Boyle. Worst math professor i have ever had. I have no idea how or why he is still teaching here. I didn't learn a single thing from him, it was all from the textbook and the TAs. He spends more time writing paragraphs on the board than he does actually solving any math problems. Everything he ever talks about is theoretical stuff he never actually does any of the problems. His exams are extremely unfair. He picks tiny details to test you on that are hidden somewhere deep in the book. He made the final this semester and this was the most unfair final that i have ever taken. He tested on things that he discussed for maybe 5 mins through out the semester. This final was in no way representative of anything we learned through out the semester. It was little details that have 0 significance to the course. He is very slow to respond to students concerns. I emailed him a few times asking questions and he either got back to me too late for it to be of any use or he gave me really vague answers that are in no way helpful. All in all, DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR. He curves at the end but at this point you have already been screwed enough to where it won't help.
McBlaine Boyle Expecting an A sfrail 12/10/2014	Professor Boyle is a friendly guy and you can tell that he tries, but his teaching is not very effective. He tends to get sidetracked and it feels like he just really loves math and wants to show us cool theorems instead of actually staying on topic. This would be great if we weren't so restricted on time and trying to keep our grades up. One of my major problems with his teaching is he wont tell you what he's doing he'll just do it. He'll never stop to write a theorem or tell you "so this is how this works and here's an example" he'll just give you examples and you have to figure out what they mean, which can be really confusing. His tests are not very well put together, and are sometimes graded unreasonably. It's also really hard to tell what's going to be on them. He says it's based on the homework but even people that do the homework do badly. The test averages for this semester were really low, though I managed to do well because I've taken calc 1 already. If this had been the first time I was learning a lot of this material, I think I would be completely lost. His test reviews are also pretty much useless, he'll start teaching us new stuff instead of just reviewing what's going to be on the test. There are no practice tests, I've gotten by with Kahn Academy videos. His TA's were great. The discussion sessions are a little easier than what is actually asked on the tests, but they're still really helpful. The biology section of discussion got unreasonably complicated and strange at one point in the semester but I think it's challenging to put that stuff in terms of calculus 1 anyway and the TA graded leniently. I found that I could mostly skip or not pay attention in lectures, and then go to all the discussions and still do fine. But like I said I've taken calc 1 already. Overall he's a nice guy, but maybe not suited for teaching Calculus 1. Don't take Professor Boyle if you really want to understand the material or if it's your first time taking calc 1 and you have trouble with math.
McBlaine Boyle MATH240 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 08/05/2013	Bar none the WORST PROFESSOR IVE EVER HAD. If you are not a math major DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR. If you are a CS major deciding whether to take linear or calc 3 and boyle is your only choice..take calc 3. I'm not sure if it was just my semester but every practice test we were given was VERY different from the actual exam. It was actually quite depressing as me and my friends actually studied the practice exams and would know how to do each computation problem on the exams (and homeworks) and then his exams would turn out to be 30% t/f, 20% proofs (which are from the chapters), 20% easy problems, and 30% random bullshit he just made up while creating it. The class averages on each exam (except the first exam which was the only exam that actually stuck true to the practice exams) were around 50% and he couldn't understand why. Simply put: he does not teach the material, he just goes over random proofs that you will never have to know and then attempts to teach the material (which he ends up failing at doing). Since he fails at teaching the material you will have to resort to paying very close attention to discussion along with doing the homework and reading the chapters. I did all 3 of those things and still ended up with a C+. The only reason why I gave him 2 stars was because he was very understanding when I told him I wouldn't be able to make the final exam 6 hours prior (due to illness) and let me take the alternate exam the day after.
McBlaine Boyle MATH240 Expecting an A kingpinchimp 05/20/2013	I was not a very big fan of his teaching at all. He took a very long time to explain anything, and even after I couldn't really understand what he was going for. The lectures weren't very helpful at all, so a lot of times I brought my textbook and just listened to him in case he mentioned anything not in the book. I guess I could DO linear algebra at the end of the course, but I did not UNDERSTAND linear algebra or what I was actually doing. Another complaint I had was the excessive True/False on tests. Unless you memorized everything he has ever said word for word (and more) they are very difficult, and make up literally about 30% of the entire exam. There obviously is no partial credit for these, so on every exam it is really easy to get 10-20 points slashed off right off the bat just for not memorizing some simple and often irrelevant fact.
McBlaine Boyle MATH240 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/15/2013	I got a B-, and realistically that's on me. I was hoping for a little help from the curve to get the dreaded 2.7 GPA, but no such luck(which is an awful system by the way, why would a professor ever bring this upon someones GPA), but i digress. Boyle isn't the worst professor I've ever taken, but I stopped going to his lecture because he has a tendency to beat a dead horse and I was falling asleep in his class. Discussion and self study helped me well enough, and I aced nearly all the quizzes. My bigger issue lies with how the test-homework format is so different. For homework, you'll be given large amounts of numerical problems to work out, and a couple of theory questions as the last couple for questions. DON'T skip these!!!!! The exams are LOADED with theory questions!!!!!! Know the theory, it is crucial!!!!!!!
McBlaine Boyle MATH240 Anonymous 05/06/2013	Boyle made the material a lot more confusing than linear algebra should be. I had to learn everything from discussion, since lecture only confused the few people that still showed up. And what's more, he loves true or false. So much so that it became 36% of our exams. And it's not easy true or false, it's bullshit logic errors that can somehow make something that doesn't make any sense true, which by the way he doesn't go over in class. In short, don't try to take this class with him if you can. The exams aren't fair, lecture is confusing, and he is overall a jackass to anyone that's not a math major.
McBlaine Boyle MATH410 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/13/2012	Boyle is a great teacher, the only problem I find is his exams. I would say they are not truly fair. He doesn't focus on the stuff that is most important or he asks stuff in a very strange way. He is teaching 411 next semester and I was going to take it with him, but I know if I take it with someone else there will at least be a chance that I will get a B, maybe even an A. I feel like with Boyle my grade would be a C.
McBlaine Boyle studentXYZ 08/27/2012	If saying Grillakis is one of the best profs at UMD, then I would say Mike Boyle is slightly better than him. Grillakis presents his lecture in a very clear way and his handwriting is extremely beautiful, and what's better is, his exam is easy and pretty much following from what he taught in class. But I don't think smart students can learn a lot from Grillakis' class, simply because he makes his class "easy". Mike has almost all Grillakis' advantage, excluding his handwriting is a little bit worse..:D but I really you can learn a lot from Mike's class. He is one of very few profs that can cover Jordan measure and surface/line integral at UMD. Moreover, Mike's exames are fair, only if you read the book, go the lecture and do your homework. In general, take all classes from BOTH Grillakis and Mike Boyle at ALL COST, they worth it!
McBlaine Boyle MATH240 Anonymous 05/15/2012	Dr. Boyle is a genuinely sweet guy that knows what he's doing. That fact that he often lectured without notes shows how knowledgeable he is in his field. During lecture, it can get a bit confusing because he isn't the best at presenting the material in a way thats easy for someone that's not a math major to understand. Lecture can get a bit boring, especially if you don't follow is logic. He does try to engage the class and ask questions. His exams are completely reasonable because many of the problems come from old exams. Having said that, it's really easy to lose points on proofs and true/false questions if you don't know the material well. Quizes depend on your TA - mostly based off homework, easy points. Four MATLABs, easy points. Final is not so easy.
McBlaine Boyle MATH240 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/06/2012	I liked Boyle; he wasn't a boring professor, and he tried to keep the class engaged by going around and asking people questions about the material during lectures. The content wasn't that difficult, but he doesn't always explain the concepts that well. Then he puts concept based questions on the test that are worth a lot of points with no partial credit. Over all though, I learned a lot and would definitely recommend taking this class with Boyle.
McBlaine Boyle MATH240 Expecting a B Anonymous 04/06/2012	Boyle is the only teacher whose lectures make the material more confusing. I actually learned more for the first few months by reading the book for half an hour than by going to class. About halfway through the semester he realized he could be slightly entertaining so he would occassionally throw in a joke which did make the class non-worthless.
McBlaine Boyle MATH240 Expecting an A+ autonym 01/12/2012	If you're a math major or at least comfortable following logic throughout lecture, he's great. He is good at engaging the class, not out of touch like many. And he appreciates enthusiasm, is responsive to emails and answers extra questions after class. I have no complaints about Boyle. He does like his T/F, and sometimes asks them during class to keep you on your toes. He wants you to know the concepts well enough to be able to confidently apply logic to them; that's all. As for his handwriting, it's fine, don't listen to that guy. You try writing "diagonalizable" 5 times in chalk.
McBlaine Boyle MATH240 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/05/2012	Was not the biggest fan of Boyle. Took 240 with him and I'm pretty sure I understood 3 of the lectures or something. He would be much better if he had a written plan of what he was going to talk about/write on the board and followed it exactly. I've always been pretty good at math, I'm a math major and have never gotten less than an A in a math class. Scraped by with an A in this one by like half a percent. He's a nice guy and is willing to answer questions during lecture. He definitely knows math well, just not great at teaching it. I pretty much learned out of the book for this class. If you have to take him, you'll be fine if you read the book before or after lecture and take notes on that. I still suggest going to lecture because he loves to test on proofs and true or false questions, many of which are taken from his lectures. The tests are very similar to his other ones on testbank, so study those. VERY important: if your TA gives hard quizzes, switch TA's. He does not curve by TA, and the TA's make their own quizzes so that can really screw you over. Highest grade in my section was like 90 or something, and highest grade in other sections was 97 or 98. Overall, if he's your best option go ahead and take him, but he's not the greatest.
McBlaine Boyle MATH240 Expecting a B Nathan Mendelsohn 12/19/2011	He definitely knows the material REALLY well, but he didn't do a very good job explaining it. It was quite hard to pay attention for more than 10 or 15 minutes. Also, the tests seemed much harder than they should have been given that he only ended up curving the final.
McBlaine Boyle MATH411 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/02/2011	He is really good at teaching, and thoroughly enjoys it. Even in an upper level class, no question was too basic, and the lectures were given at a reasonable pace with full explanation. In other words, all assumptions and previous assertions or connections to previous parts of the problem were made clear at each step. Homework was also very reasonable but helpful, and he strikes a nice balance between proofs and applications (i.e. USING the concepts). Lectures were very helpful, and focused on a lot of examples of methods used to prove and solve things. He is also very helpful (and always present) at office hours. I might say that the class is a little less rigorous than I remember 410 and being and than other 411 classes I've heard about, but he does a healthy amount of relating the material to topo and linear. I would definitely say that even a very introductory view of set theory/topo is extremely useful the first unit in his class.
McBlaine Boyle MATH240 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/21/2011	he is a great professor. he prefer to test his student on definitions, which is good for students. b/c some of the teachers just show students how to solve the question, as the result, students can give formula and solve the question, but they have no idea why it's work. before the class he always give us true and false question. be careful on those question, it may on your test. every week, it will have quiz,I think different TA has different quiz. homework is easy, make sure to solve them. there are so many true and false questions in the test, thus, to do the old test will really helpful, especially, the question on true and false! Matlab is not so bad, very easy, it should not take so much time on those problems. He is the great one, and very kind, if you have question, just ask him, don't be afraid. good luck
McBlaine Boyle MATH240 Expecting a B Kevin Garcia 04/25/2011	As others have noted, his lectures are very proof-based. If you're a math major interested in pure mathematics, take any course he's teaching. He's an above average professor that is very knowledgeable in the subject. One drawback is that his handwriting tends to be rather sloppy, so adjusting may be an issue. He rarely lectures with notes, so there many instances of long pauses as he tries to work out the next few sentences. His exams have a lot of True/False questions, which can be a double-edged sword. Make sure to know properties of proofs and definitions of terms. 240 isn't a difficult subject in general, as long as you do the HW problems. It's one of those courses that you'll kick yourself for not getting an A in. Overall, if Justin W-G or Grillakis are teaching 240, I'd take it with them (in that order) before Boyle.
McBlaine Boyle MATH140H Anonymous 12/17/2010	Dr. Boyle is an extremely intelligent and nice guy. However, like they say, "those who can, CANT teach". Most of his teaching was by spending the whole class writing proofs on the board, with no one in the class having any idea what was going on. He did not take much time to simply explain the basic underlying idea of most concepts. Tests were sometimes challenging but reasonable, and he drops your lowest exam, and some quizzes/hw. I do not recommend taking this class with Boyle unless you've had calculus before and did well. Even with that, you may still struggle.
McBlaine Boyle MATH140H Anonymous 12/01/2010	Mike Boyle knows a lot about calculus . Mike Boyle knows nothing about how to teach calculus. Many times I would find myself confused in his lectures when he went off into tangents of yet ANOTHER proof , and then while doing the impossible homework problems find that he never actually taught us how to do the problem , only the theory behind the math. Many a times it was hard for everyone to stay awake, as his lectures can get very very boring very very fast. I often never understood his answers when I asked him a question and found his tests to be extraordinarily unfair. Out of our entire class there were only two A's. Good news is however he curves the class at the end. On another good note , he is very willing to help you out and is easily contactable. And every now and then he will crack a corny joke to keep you awake.
McBlaine Boyle MATH141 Anonymous 01/29/2010	I'm sure he knew what he was talking about, but the way that he presented the material was not helpful at all. He'll put the equations on the board and the proofs, but doesn't take the time to explain them and make sure that you understand.
McBlaine Boyle MATH141 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/17/2009	Ok, I'm going to say this very bluntly. Don't take this class with Mike Boyle. Very smart man, terrrrrrrrible professor. Anything I learned that semester was from my TA. He goes on and on in lecture on the stupidest, most nuance-oriented problems on one specific topic, then his tests are ridiculously difficult and are not even on what we learned in lecture. This class sucked hard-core. Take it with anyone else, not Boyle.
McBlaine Boyle MATH141 Expecting an A jthompson 12/15/2009	Agree with previous reviewers on Boyle as a teacher, final was pretty tough, but the dropped test and quizzes helped with grades. Didn't do any of the written homework but kept up on webassign, go to the lectures and discussions
McBlaine Boyle MATH141 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/09/2009	He knows the material, but prefers to focus on the history and proofs more than the actually formulas. For someone who likes to learn from their professor do not take his class. The only advantages are he drops several grades(in my class one test, two quizzes, and four homeworks)I think there are much better professors out there for MATH141
McBlaine Boyle MATH141 Expecting a B rhunter1 11/03/2009	I'll start with this: Mike Boyle knows Calculus very well, and knows what he's talking about. So much, in fact, that we never learn in lecture what ends up being on the tests. I can't tell you how many times I left lecture knowing the proof of why an equation worked, and not how the equation worked. However, he is very easy to get in touch with, and he does make a few dry jokes here and there to keep you interested.
McBlaine Boyle MATH461 Anonymous 11/06/2007	Took Linear Algebra with Boyle a few semesters ago, and he was a really great teacher. Broke the material down, and gave a bunch of examples. I would definitely suggest taking a class with him, he's pretty good.