Adam Kanigowski

This professor has taught: MATH120, MATH310, MATH401, MATH405, MATH406, MATH452, MATH489D, MATH642, MATH689D, MATH858K

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Adam Kanigowski MATH405 Anonymous 10/27/2024	Amazing prof all around, took 401 with him at the same time and was really good with exams. The textbook choice was really good too (Lang).
Adam Kanigowski MATH405 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/23/2023	Kanigowski made the course very manageable. Only 6 home work assignments with 2 drops, and some of those were just reusing 240 concepts, the midterm was~30% and the final was ~45% of the total grade. Agreed with other people that more assignments (or at least proofs in those assignments) would be a good way to prep for the final, but the curve was decent and ended my 90% as an A. Probably important to note that because he give way less work than other 405 sections, there's not as much material that is put in (most classes introduce adjoint matrices and hermitians, how to diagonalize, and some get to Jordan canonical form, none of which we do), which could be bad if you plan grad school or need a more intense linear algebra understanding. As a lecturer, the class is run decently well where he knows how to make the proofs intuitive, gives us time to do exercises in class, and also allows us to provide feedback to how he's teaching which all felt very welcoming. Definitely a chill guy and if you want a nice 405 then take the course with him.
Adam Kanigowski MATH405 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2023	Was very nice and helpful. If you ask questions hell do his best to answer, cares about students. Wish there was more homework to help with understanding. We use the textbook Linear Algebra by Serge Lang, all the homework is from the textbook, you can also find solutions online which is helpful in understanding the content. Exam questions are pretty fair as well. Think there was a pretty good curve on the final as well. This class was hard for me since I had bad preparation (first proofs class, only took CMSC250, no MATH410 either), but taking it with Kanigowski helped a lot.
Adam Kanigowski MATH401 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023	This course is not very much work. You have one lecture and one in-class group assignment each week. There are two exams plus the final. I think the grading isn't very transparent in this class. You pretty much have to email the grader or go to office hours to figure out what you got marked down for. There isn't much to use to practice. He follows Justin Wyss-Gallifent & Allan Yashinski's notes exactly. I am not sure that he really adds much beyond the notes. Linear Algebra applications aren't really interesting until you have matrices that are to big to manipulate by hand. As a result, almost all of the text book examples are so complex as to require Matlab, but we don't have any calculators on the exam. While it's nice to not have homework, there really is nothing to practice for the exams. Sometimes we only need a conceptual understanding, and sometimes we need to prove some statements, but it isn't always clear which to go for. Lectures are fun or dull depending on the topic. Overall, there are some fun topics (and some boring ones) but I would say to choose another professor if you have the option. I also had Adam for 405, and I think he is significantly better for that class.
Adam Kanigowski MATH405 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/30/2023	This course is pretty tough (I mean it's a 400-level), though the assignments are not too hard. I honestly wanted more homework because I didn't feel prepared for the exam, but it was fine. This was my first 400-level math class (taken concurrently with 406), and it definitely took some effort. The textbook is pretty poorly written and unhelpful, but you can find free textbooks for proof-based linear algebra online. If you have already taken 403, I imagine this class is significantly nicer just because the notation learning curve is steep. Adam is pretty responsive to student feedback. You just have to speak up.
Adam Kanigowski MATH405 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/25/2023	Makes this class a way less stress experience than any other 405 professor. 6 homeworks worth 20 points each that consist of 5 problems from the book, 1 midterm that's 100 points, and 1 final exam that's 200 points. 2 homeworks are dropped. I've spent maybe 15 hours on this class in total throughout the entire semester. Superb lecturer and really puts in effort into ensuring students understanding of material.
Adam Kanigowski MATH405 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/22/2021	Great professor, really cares about his students
Adam Kanigowski MATH406 Expecting an A- Anonymous 10/27/2020	Very understanding man. Definitely cares about students and wants you to understand the material. Did recieve an A- in the class.
Adam Kanigowski MATH406 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/02/2020	Decent professor. Not the best lecturer, but fair and exams are not bad.
Adam Kanigowski MATH406 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/06/2020	Professor Kanigowski is phenomenal. I had him for Math 406 as a freshmen. He is so kind and patient. He is the kind of professor who is extremely brilliant but also cares about his students learning the material. He understands that students might not necessarily understand the material through one approach and if you ask questions or he notices that he has lost student in his lecture, he will go back through what he just taught and try to teach it in a different way so it makes sense. ASK QUESTIONS IN CLASS!!! He is so willing to help you understand and he WANTS you to ask questions. He will repeatedly ask during lecture if there are any questions, and every time I have asked (which was a lot) he always made sure to answer it to the best of his abilities and I always understood it better. He is very nice at office hours and will spend however much time it takes going over problems until you feel comfortable. His homework and midterm prep are very useful and you will feel very well prepared for his exams if you complete them. The class breakdown is 6 to 7 graded homework assignments with 1 midterm and 1 final. However the homework and lectures really prepare you for the midterm and final so you will be okay. He does not require you to attend lecture, and the book is helpful, but I found his lectures to be a lot more helpful than the textbook, and he doesn't go in order of everything in the book so you at least need to know what topics he covered in class. I would highly recommend attending lectures. Side note - I had him during the time that UMD went online for the second half of the second semester because of COVID - 19 and he did so much to make sure that all his students were okay. He made sure to modify the curriculum and add more office hours so that we knew we could reach out to him. He said he cares more about his students understanding what he has taught than just bulldozing though material for the sake of saying he completed everything on his timeline. He is great for people who love math, or who struggle with math. He will challenge your brain to think different for those who enjoy it, and he is there to support you and encourage you when you struggle. 100% recommend taking him and I would take his class again if I could.