2.2
Quality3.7
Difficulty25%
Would Retake83
Reviews25%
Would Retake
83
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
7
4
6
3
16
2
26
1
28
What Students Say
“Agboola, every question is a stupid question”
MATH220 - 2.0 rating“I loved the class and the material, I just wish I had a better professor”
MATH8 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
11%
Textbook Required
63%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.27 avg changeRatings by Course
220
5.0
(1)MATH115AB
3.0
(2)3B
3.0
(6)MATH3A
2.4
(9)MATH3B
2.3
(44)Difficulty by Course
MATH115A
5.0
MATH108A
5.0
MATH220
4.6
MA3B
4.5
MATH122A
4.3
Reviews (83)
Not very friendly and doesn't even care about his students
tests are not too bad, but definitely grades harder. Take someone else!
You know how some teachers say, "There's no such thing as a stupid question?" Well, to Prof. Agboola, every question is a stupid question.
he's great. he is honestly one of the best teachers I've ever had.
Agree with the lower rates: not helpful, not caring, don't take.
I took his class without money for very expensive textbooks, relying on lectures. His English is rather excellent but speach is too formal and somewhat aggressive. HW had to be typed (hard). Midterm was given in individual envelopes (nice)and seemed to me difficult. I withdrew.
Very intimidating at first. Teaches at a much higher level than you are expected to perform. Homework was rather difficult but compared to the homework tests were easy. Also he speaks with an English accent.
No Comments
Tempremental man who is obviously passionate about math and says silly things all the time. He's gone from throwing yardsticks across the room, and rolling his eyes at a student question, to making jokes and being hilariously quirky. His lectures went from more than easy to understand to way over your head. Take CLAS, they'll sort it out for you.
he was a good professor and I liked him a lot and I learned a lot and he is ver smart!!!!!!!
Speaks in a very good british accent and is passionate about his work but is one of those people who does not know how to teach.
TERRIBLE teacher. absolutely horrible. he is obviously a very brilliant man.. but he really cannot teach at this level. i get the feeling that he thinks we are grad students when we are for the most part first years.. he does have a cool accent and funny quirks.. but in all honesty AVOID AT ALL COSTS, unless you are a fan of hell..
if you have a fairly strong calculus background, he's not so bad. i was able to follow him most of the time. rough course, but i don't know if there was anything agboola could have done about that. it's not easy material. staying awake is a problem though, because even though he's funny and quirky, it's still calculus. take a nap before class.
It's calculus, it sucks. And Agboola doesn't make it better. I vaguely understood calculus before this class, but not anymore. He has an accent, but that didn't really matter.
Interesting class... Definitely was not fit to teach this class. For all those who have taken calc it is a breeze.. if you haven't, i highly discourage you from taking it. brilliant man... in string theory, but not differential calc.
He is not a good professors. Tries to be funny at times buit really isnt. Not good at teaching calculus i learned more from CLAS. If you have a strong calculus background then this class wont be as hard. But if you struggled a bit in high school then he will make it your understanding worse
class wasnt too hard. i took math3a as a freshmen for fall 07, and the lectures were prettybasic compared to the homework. first midterm was pretty easy, final was on the tougher side. somehow i pulled off an A. all in all pretty good teacher and class
I would not recommend ever taking a math class from this professor. He is very unreasonable and doesn't help during office hours. The homework assignments were incredibly long and tedious. The midterm and final were very hard and many people couldn't finish in time. If you're looking to learn calculus, I don't recommend taking the class from him.
Agboola is a very brilliant man, however he is not a good professor to teach at the freshman undergraduate level- as his method of teaching and unhelpful nature are difficult to work with. I've LOVED calculus for years, and did very well in AP. Agboola's exams are very basic but I did struggle a bit with homework and lecture.
His homework is ridiculously long and very difficult so difficult that your TA might struggle with helping you. Lectures were basically proofs of the concept that you're supposed to apply (not good). Listening to his lectures at 8AM made me want to bash my head against a brick wall. Midterm was quite easy, final was harder, longer, and more complex. Also, agboola is terrible at teaching physics applications of integration/calculus.
DO NOT GET THIS TEACHER. He is HORRID. I did final in high school calculus and passed the AP test but this class tore me up. His lectures are extremely unorganized and do not make any sense. My TA was horrible as well. Tons of homework but try to do it all bc that is the only way you will pass.
He was bad. Made lots of mistakes during the lecture which students would have to correct. Easy at first because it was review but once we went into new territory, it was hopeless. He is a terrible communicator and his jokes not amusing. First time I received lower than an A in a math class. Granted, I didn't try hard, but he was so uninteresting.
I honestly don't understand why he has so many low ratings. Although his homework was pretty difficult, the midterm and the final exam were much easier and were pretty fair. During lecture he actually proves several calculus concepts that my teachers in high school would skip over. Overall if you do the work, you can get an A with minimal studying.
I really liked his accent, and hes a very intelligent man, but he assumes everyone will be able to conceptualize calculus in the same way that he can. He doesnt like memorization, he wants you to be able to conceptually come up with the formulas yourself. Very helpful if you have already taken calculus before.
I have to say looking back on him teaching Math 3B, he really hates his students and thinks way too high of himself. He's really intelligent, and his British accent and random moments of saying "bloody" make the class laugh, but his lectures are really confusing and his tests aren't any easier.
Gave way too much HW. Hard class by it's nature. Tough midterm, Final was easier in a way, but still hard to ace. You really have to spend A LOT of time on this class if you want to get an A. Don't recommend you take math 8 while taking other hard courses (math or otherwise). Professor was very unclear on what we needed to know.
Agboola is possibly the worst math professor I've had at UCSB, he is very unclear on what we need to know for exams & is disconnected on how students are doing in class. I loved the class and the material, I just wish I had a better professor. Put in a crazy amount of effort but really small mistakes on exams cost me BIG TIME on final course grade
Legend
If you ask a question, he uses it as an opportunity to make fun of you. He skipstoo many steps and also makes a million mistakes during lecture. Only does proofs in clasHARD TO FOLLOW. TAUGHT MYSELF THROUGH THE TEXTBOOK AND I'M NOT GOOD AT MATH. He assigns a lot of homework and its difficult! But midterm was much easier than homeworks and lecture.
Terrible professor. At times he seems as if he is confused himself on the subject matter and makes many mistakes. I had to teach myself most of the time and to get through the course I've had to rely on CLAS and section which are a must if you have Agboola for lecture. Prepare to teach yourself and don't even bother wasting time going to lecture.
Brilliant mathematician, poor teacher, at least at this level. Also I literally can't remember If I bought a textbook for this class, so don't waste the money.
He spends lectures showing how to come up with equations needed and gives virtually no basis on how to actually solve problems. I took calc BC so it was manageable for me. HW is very tedious, but section saved me. Problems on midterm/final are easier. They assess basic knowledge of concepts, no curveballs. Very fair. HW is essential to passing.
The guys was a god. Though I would see why many wouldn't like to take the class with him, he made calculus seem more amazing that what it is. I hope i have him for my upper division classes
When it comes to 3B with Agboola, you kind of become your own teacher. I learned the most from my TA and the book. He is very entertaining and his jokes are terrible but he finds them to hilarious, which in itself is hilarious. If you've taken AP calc AB in high school, you've already seen half of this course's material.
The midterm and final weren't bad, but the HW was way too hard at times. My TA couldn't figure questions out in the time allotted for section so he had to email the explanation after class. One time the prof couldn't even solve his own example problem and told us to do it on our own later. I learned all of the material from CLAS aka my grade saver.
Don't even bother attending lecture. Most of his lecture is proving the theory and formulas. I learned most of my stuff through CLAS, the textbook, and Khan Academy. His midterm was stupidly easy. His final was ok--I felt like I got 1-2 wrong, but I ended the class with an A. But beware of a LOT of tough hw. Do all of it though, it prepares you wel
I could have probably never gone to class and still passed. All he did in class was go over confusing proofs which never came up on tests anyway. Homework is tedious, long and tough but if you can do the homework, the midterm/final is SO EASY. His midterm/final consisted of the simplest forms of what we learned. CLAS/section helped so much.
If you haven't taken calculus before, then this subject is pretty tough. I wouldn't say he is the best professor in the world, but in terms of the math department at UCSB, he's alright. His HW is HARD, but his tests are a piece of cake. Go to CLAS, do your HW, and you can do well in his class.
A lot of homework, which can be very difficult. The midterm and final are very easy by comparison, though.
Lots of work. Lecture was painfully slow. Material is actually quite easy, but no room is left for any errors of any kind on homework or tests.
Tests were far less scary than the homework, but lectures were a joke. Don't expect to learn much. CLAS is mandatory.
As others have said, midterm and final extremely easy compared to the difficult homework. Lectures were confusing, and I think I would've done the same without going. Going to section helped a bit on the homework. A little challenging if you are someone like me who hates math.
No one attends his lectures because they are terrible so he assigns a fk ton of homework
The only things i remember from his lectures are partial fraction decomposition and arc length, the rest my TA taught me and khan academy, his lectures are confusing and he repeats examples of riemann sums like no other. His hw takes an insane amount of time and effort where the midterm was a joke compared to the hw. Try to get a different prof.
Agboola is a cool dude (or not; his most redeeming quality is his bucket hat), but not a great lecturer. Don't waste your time going to lectures, just work on the 60 buggy webworks problems he puts out. I never went to section, but CLAS can teach you everything you need to know. The midterm and final were easy compared to the homework.
I went to most lectures, but learned more from 10 minute YouTube videos than his hour or so long lectures. Midterm and final were nothing like his lectures and the harder parts of the tons of homework he assigns. The class is very much do-able, but if you really want to learn in lecture, he isn't really the go to professor.
Lectures are only useful if you want to know what's going on in the class. (But even then you can probably ask a friend who's also taking the class or just go to CLAS). I had taken Calc before, so I didn't feel like I was learning anything - it was mostly review. CLAS was incredibly useful for practice. VERY SARCASTIC HUMOR.
Initially his lectures were hard to understand as he really tries to teach conceptually rather than practically, however in the long run it really does help to understand it on the deeper level. The homework was online and occationally ridiculously long, but still doable. His sense of humor absolutely cracked me up but not everyone feels that.
Made the class 40% midterm and 60% final. The grading was harsh: he does not grade it himself, but he refuses to meet you in order to argue any points. Additionally, he is not in his office hours half the time, and he sarcastically answers your questions. No clarifications on his explanations, and lectures are very confusing, he only writes what he
When asked what the format for the midterm was, he said I dont know thats a concept in the mind of god right now Class based 100% on 2 exams, pretty fair if you can teach yourself the material. Ask him how do you know and he answers you just do
DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR. He doesn't care about his students. Gives homework problems that are way too hard compared to the problems he discusses in lecture. VERY unorganized.
Don't take 122 with him this will ruin your GPA. His midterm grading does not give any partial credit if you get the result wrong and he gives a B- for 88.9% overall score which is ridiculous. Very unhelpful office hour and do not care about students.
If he graded his own lectures like he did his exam questions: all or nothing, then the many mistakes he made, would make him a D or F prof. Assigned INSANE amounts of homework each week. 1 midterm, full lecture load, and 19 multipart/long HW problems all due in two weeks in the middle. Also insanely rude and condescending. Wouldn't recommend.
Homework is INSANE. If the units are based on homework amount, this should be a 10-unit class, NOT KIDDING. What's more ridiculous is that only a few homework problems are randomly graded, all for correctness-that means you don't get credit for completion of the rest. Refused to reduce the HW amount upon our request. Avoid taking him if possible.
Reiterating what was stated before, Professor Agboola assigns a ridiculous amount of homework. I have never spent so much time for one class in my life. There is also a huge gap between what is taught in lecture, and the homework problems that are from the textbook. I found that going to lecture was practically pointless.
Agboola is an awful teacher. He is unexplainably rude and disrespectful. He is impossible to reach and talk to. He has no respect for students are anyone for that matter. A tech person came to class to fix the computer and Agboola simply was unbearably rude. The best thing that could happen is this teacher being removed form the university.
Prof boola is the goat and anyone who says his class is too hard is probably an econ major lmao
I stopped going to lecture pretty soon into the class. This class is mainly just doing a lot of homework so be aware. The good thing is it’s 50% of your grade, so if you do it all then you’re good but there are pretty tough problems. Class just wasn’t very useful. Midterm was easy, final was hard.
Homework and tests are the only things that count towards a grade in this class. THe homework is much tougher than the actual tests given but it dies count towards half the overall grade. Average lectures and sometimes helpful. Will have to rely mostly on self-studying and outside resources.
Assigns too much unrelated homework (expects you to spend 15-20 hours outside of class on this class).
lectures were clear and made sense but he gives a ridiculous amount of homework that is extremely hard. midterm was easy but haven't taken final yet. homework is 50% of your grade but he gives ~60-70 problems a week. CLAS drop ins are very helpful for some of the really hard homework problems. prof agboola is really funny though.
His lectures are somewhat helpful but you're going to have to do a lot more self-studying to fully grasp the concepts. There is also an insane amount of homework (like 60+ hard problems a week). The midterm, final, and homework are the only things that makeup the grade so you really have to stay on top of the workload.
Do not take this prof if you can avoid it. Crazy amount of homework that even the TAs said was way too much. Many problems that even the grad students struggled with and often if I went to CLAS they did not know how to do it either. Professor expects you to spend 15-25 hours per week on homework and it is ridiculous that this class is not 5 units.
Very difficult to follow along during lectures, makes small mistakes sometimes. Grading is tough, half of your grade stems from the obscenely difficult 60+ problem homework assigned per week and the other half from tests. Midterm was easy, yet to take the final. AVOID this professor unless you want to spend +20 hours devoted to this class only.
I give a 2 for his humor. Other than that, THIS CLASS MAKES ME WANT TO DIE. WAY TOO MUCH HOMEWORK, and scoring a 94% overall GIVES YOU B IN THIS COURSE BECAUSE THERES NO A- OR B+. Midterm was very easy, I don't know about the difficulty of the final yet. But this course is seriously stressing the hell out of me right now. Try to avoid if you can.
Lectures did not teach much so you had to learn on your own for the 40-80 homework problems he assigns per week. Homework is worth 50% and each exam is worth 25%. Exams were definitely a lot easier than the homework.
He assigns like two 30-problem sets every week that contain unnecessarily difficult problems that even the TAs struggled with. 50% HW, 25% midterm, 25% final but midterm and final were not as difficult as the HW. Better self-taught than going to lectures cause all he does is explain things conceptually. Examples were also wack.
the class was doable and the concepts were easy. he taught them well but i thought lecture was pretty pointless and just went to CLAS. the only hard part about this class was the 50-70 HARD homework problems a week that took like 20 hours. midterm and final were easy. 50% HW, 25% midterm and final
Trust me, don't go to class, just use the CLAS Canvas Course to learn everything. The Midterm and Final are take-home, the midterm is easy, the final is harder. A LOT of homework, about 70 very hard problems/week. You need a 95 in the class to get an A, a 94 is a FLAT B. This class is stressful, but this prof makes everything so much worse.
Agboola is a really bad teacher. Lectures are unhelpful and cover the bare basics. Homework is 70 unrealistically hard questions. You have to do them too since they're 50% of the grade. Grade scale was ambiguous and harsh. An unenjoyable class with poor teaching and too much difficult homework. At least the tests are pretty easy.
do not take this class if you can help it. absurd amount of homework, prof says himself it should be 15-20 hrs a week, and lectures are not helpful.
Homework was extremely long and difficult. Expect 60-80 homework problems every week. You will spend at least 12-18 hours on homework in this class. Lecture was not helpful at all with the homework. Does not answer questions in a helpful way; very sarcastic (funny sometimes). Midterm was very easy, final was more difficult. Both exams are remote.
Huge amount of homework and largely unhelpful lectures which often seemed to hardly relate to the assigned homework. In his class a 94% was considered a flat B. Very funny guy but not a great professor.
Professor Agboola's lectures are good, despite what many people are saying. He's funny but unapproachable. Fairly easy to get an A despite the scale because the midterm is stupid easy, final is less easy but still doable, and you have plenty of time for homework. Assignments are unnecessarily long for a 4-unit class. Because of that, would avoid :(
Lectures are generally pretty easy to follow along, but often only teach very conceptually. The homework (up to 90 problems per week) was BEYOND difficult compared to the lectures, but at least we received unlimited attempts. Tests were all online, and much easier than the homework, but homework was worth 50% of our grade. Very frustrating overall.
Agboola has a funny way of answering questions; he's a bit of a cornball. The lectures are pretty straightforward, but there is a LOT of pretty difficult homework (70-80 Webwork problems a week). The midterm and final were easy and covered the concepts at the most basic level. Homework was 50% and the midterm and final were 25% each which was nice.
Professor Agboola is hilarious and knowledgeable. Can come off as intimidating/might embarrass you in front of the whole class if you ask a stupid question. His whole teaching philosophy is learning by doing so he assigns an absurd amount of HW, up to 80 HARD questions/week. Midterm online/easy, final online/hard. HW is 50% of grade which helps.
This class is an interesting one. The professor is very funny and the lectures are easy to follow and quite interesting. The homework is due weekly on Thursday nights and probably takes 5-10 hours per week because you are not taught how to do the HW. You get unlimited attempts for HW and it is 50% of your grade, so an A is achievable.
Professor Agboola expects you to learn a lot outside of class. It's homework-intensive, ranging from 60-80 problems a week. He will teach you the fundamentals but you will have to learn a lot on your own. The 2 tests are online. If you do all of the work, put in some effort, and have a basic understanding, you can get an A. He's also pretty funny.
This class is hard only because of the homework but literally half your grade is online tests so it was easy to get an A. Many people are complaining about the amount of homework but it wasn't only that. I've had other classes with 70 webwork questions but the questions were actually beyond difficult. Also I swear he doesn't like college students.
It's just a lot of work, and I would have to go to CLAS Drop In every week. There were even some super difficult questions that tutors couldn't even help with. But he teaches very well, and the midterm and final are online. The emphasis of the class is basically to practice math over and over, with 60-90 math problems a week.
The midterm and final are online, just so much homework.
We can all agree hes among the worst profs at UCSB, but here's a list of my favorite agboola moments: That time he told a prof to shut up/stop asking questions during a talk. When he got pissed because he heard a single NOTIFICATION. When he didn't answer a question because he thought it was too trivial (every single question hes ever been asked)
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
11%
Textbook Required
63%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.27 avg changeRatings by Course
220
5.0
(1)MATH115AB
3.0
(2)3B
3.0
(6)MATH3A
2.4
(9)MATH3B
2.3
(44)Difficulty by Course
MATH115A
5.0
MATH108A
5.0
MATH220
4.6
MA3B
4.5
MATH122A
4.3