While he's crazy hard with his Russian standards--if you really want to learn what REAL math, theorems, proofs, are about, etc. --you need to take this class. Most of the other comments are probably coming from people who dropped the class after the first day! I've learned so much from him and look forward to taking a class with him again!

He is a brilliant guy who is willing to help as much as he can. gives pop quizzes, and test are extremely easy despite what other people said. He DOES give an insane amount of partial credit even if you get the answer completely wrong. If you want a challenge and to learn a lot, I highly suggest taking him.

He's a good teacher. Gives pop quizzes which help you keep on top of the material. Reasonable grader. Always willing to answer questions. He's good looking, so chili pepper here too.

I think he was a very helpful Professor. He doesn't just lecture endlessly. He speaks about Mathematics outside of the classroom and gives advice about learning it. Pop quizzes based on recent material and a free online textbook. He teaches very clearly and to the point.

Regardless of the rest of the comments, I say that this is the best professor who is very good in teaching at high standard. Carefully goes through the definitions and theorems and asks questions to help students exercise their mind during the lecture. Another good thing: he allows us to try programming in the math computer lab.

A wonderful professor who challenges students to THINK and appreciate math. He doesn't feed students with answers bc he'd rather give them the joy of discovering the answers on their own. He's also very straightforward with HW and exams. If you're serious about math and/or interested in research, take Professor Ovchinnikov!

Very excellent professor who carefully goes over definition and theorems. He asks us thinking questions which help us learn more. Compared to other professors, he is extremely mature and wishes to offer research if you are interested in it.

2) His teaching style is odd. He spends a lot of time proving a theorem. He's very calm. Very "professional." He kind of gets annoyed when the class does not respond to a simple question. He has office hours. He's a very "If/then" type of professor. He gives pop quizzes. 20% of the grade. The textbook is so unclear. I would take again.

Very clear explanations of the topics. Quizzes are random but expect them to be given once a week or so. Tests are fair if you know the material. Would take again.

He's a man who firmly believes in following rules. He's not friendly but is approachable. He really wants you to learn and I can respect that. If you just come to class everyday and take notes you should do well on the tests and quizzes. Study the notes really well. Know every theorem and definition and you should do fine. Would take him again.

Fantastic

Not an easy A, but a nice person who gets down to business and follows the rules.

This quite funny and extremely intelligent man hits you with everything he knows from his years of studying in Russia and in the US. If you stick it out to the end and apply yourself he will not hold you to his own brilliance, but will fairly evaluate you on your actual progress in his course. You will end up surprising yourself.

One of the most brilliant professors in the math department!

His class is one of my best experiences in college. I got to understand the topics intuitively because he goes through everything very clearly and constantly asks if everyone understands what he is saying. If he sees that you're trying, he will definitely boost your grade. He gives out pop quizzes and drops the lowest test score. I highly recommend

Very strict and rule oriented, but not because he's an inherently mean guy, but because it creates a well-ordered classroom environment conducive to the focus required to learn. Unorthodox lecture style, very proof oriented and covers subject in a different order. You will write proofs on a regular basis, be ready for that. Nice man at heart.

He's probably one of the best professors in QC, tbh. I had him for Linear Algebra this past semester and he handled the COVID-19 transition perfectly. Many of us got A's and learned the subject matter in a unique, deep way. I was able to easily help students from other Linear Algebra classes taught by different professors.

Had Zakeri for linear a previous semester, failed. Had Berman, failed. Thankfully I passed the third time with a B+ with this guy...I tend to have a hard time with math so that says something. Maybe u will have the same experience too

I'm surprised at the earlier bad ratings tbh i thought i would have a hard time because i read the reviews on here before taking linear with him, but he was really easy

Ovchinnikov is one of those "class participation" math professors. If no one responds to his questions, he will literally stay silent until someone tries. He teaches well but students just sometimes have trouble adjusting to the style. You will have an easy time when you adjust.

His quizzes and exams are very closely based on the lectures he gives. I would also say that some of the textbook homework is harder than the test questions. So if you can do the homework you should be fine. I would've gotten an A but I slacked off a bit because I cared more about the other classes.

he's a lot easier than the other math professors i had from QC that's all I have to say

Had Ovchinnikov around four years ago for discrete. I'm now in grad school for math and am thankful I got decent preparation for proof writing from this man. If you don't want to do proofs all the time, you'll probably want to take someone else.

You have to get used to his style at first but once you do the class becomes easy

Spent lots of time on doing the textbook homework, partly because of the coronavirus pandemic giving me more time. I guess that's what really helped me because his tests are not as bad.

Consult guides on proof writing on the internet before taking this man's class. That's what I did and that's why I did well.

Back when I had discrete math I stopped bothering with learning from the textbook to save time because his quizzes are mainly based on what he does in lecture, so focus on filling up your notebook with as much stuff as you can when youre in his class

Prof Ovchinnikov is very strict with his rules, but I come from a military background so I was used to it.

He is the personification of the Math Geek Who Spends All His Time Doing Math and when I took him for introductory abstract algebra I almost became like him

studied OD for his tests but they were easier then expected lol

The textbook for his linear algebra class is this free online book that he links in his website. Once you do all the homework from that book you will be ready for the tests because they're easier than the problems from the book.

Spring 2020 was fun times. Coronavirus, getting quarantined, and this guy.

My friend who had him previously was able to give me a bunch of the quizzes he handed out, although he does change them around a bit. I recommend talking to someone who already had him so u can have an idea of what the quizzes will be like

supplement with videos from 3blue1brown and other channels on youtube, do the homework problems, and you should be fine. Most of my classmates did pretty well and said he's better than the others.

He's an awesome dude, I love math but never had a proof oriented class before, and he really trains you well for future classes that involve proofs!

CS major here ... thought he was gonna be mad hard at first but once u figure out how to write a proof the class becomes real easy . I ended up spending most of my sem on programming rather than his class which i did not expect

When I had Discrete Math I spent more time reading the textbook than I expected, but in the end I got a lot out of taking it with this professor. Probably won't have him again but if he's an option for a class I'll have in the future I'll probably pick him.

He's going to be difficult if you don't vibe with his style.

Awesome guy, he knows his stuff. We used a free online textbook and as long as you do as many of the problems from there as you can, you should be fine for the pop quizzes and the tests. Considering consulting a proof writing guide on the internet before taking the class.

he cares a lot about whether the students in the class actually understand the subject as opposed to just mindlessly reciting scripts. if you figure out how to do the proofs you'll be fine

man has an accent but he is otherwise understandable and teaches in a clear way, there's a lot of homework but it's not graded and you can spread it out over the semester in a way that isn't time consuming

Talented lecture, he knows how to integrate class participation and your specific backgrounds into each class period. There's a 5 minute after one hour so you don't get mentally exhausted. I participated more than anyone else in the class because I want to become a math teacher in the future, so having him really helped.

math was always pretty hard for me and i only got into CS for the coding so had to take linear to fill a requirement but with this guy as long as you work hard you will be fine with this professor

Spent hours upon hours studying hard af for this man's linear alg class. I had to supplement with extra problems from other books, but it all paid off in the end. His accent is ok and not hard to understand. You will get a lot better in math after a semester with him. Definitely would take again

You have to write lots of proofs in his class. Get ready to do proofs every single week. That's mostly it though. He is solid at explaining the theory in a unique way, so get ready to learn.

Intro to Alg Structures is a new kind of math class for people used to doing computations over and over again, but he was really good at making students transition to that new kind of proof heavy style. Do as many of the homework as possible and you'll be fine.

Ask questions in class every day and take detailed notes from the lectures because the quizzes are mainly based on what's in them.

Work through as many problems from the textbook as possible. Some of them are not proof based but they're still good preparation. The proof based ones are what you should spend the most time on because his quizzes and tests are entirely proof oriented.

u have to be a math geek to love his class but if u aren't you can still do well if u work very hard like i did homework is harder than the quizzes

Study as hard as you can and in the end it'll be worth it because Prof Ovchinnikov really knows his algebra (elementary, linear, abstract, differential, you name it)

If you ever have him for Discrete Math he'll assign pop quizzes every week so make sure your ready for them. I got taken by surprise a couple times and bombed a couple but thankfully I was able to get myself together and got an A- in the end

Stellar, this prof picks the best examples to teach the insight of linear algebra and matrix theory without getting too bogged down in computation after computation

Guy was born and raised in Russia so he defintely has a different attitude compared to most other professors. If you study as hard as you can though you should do reasonably. He's not as easy as other QC math profs

You'll probably have to study for his class harder than you have for any other math instructor in the past, but it'll all be worth it. Got a lot of great prep for grad school from this guy.

As someone who considers himself to practically have a PhD in "Bad QC Professors", Ovchinnikov is not one of them. He takes complex concepts in abstract algebra and makes them pretty simple. Take him when you can.

Mans aint an easy A, but I'll be damned if he is not someone who is really good at explaining math in a unique and interesting way. I agree with the reviews saying if u do all the homework u will be fine for the quizzes and midterm and final

Prof Ovchinnikov has a heart of gold and really puts effort in when it comes to making the subject clear. You'll mature a lot in mathematics after taking him.

Going into this class I thought it would be harder than the physics class I had last sem, but it turned out he was a reasonable guy who teaches in a different way but also a clear way. You still have to work hard but if you do you'll be fine

You'll have to study pretty hard every single day but it should be worth it in the end. There's no reason not to get an A if you put in the work.

if u ever have him for discrete math u you should study the topic as much as possible before u even take the class because he is mad hard at first, but once you get used to it he gets mad easy

just started my second semester at Queens College and I can already tell that my new professors aren't as good as this guy is. Treasure him while you can. You'll get used to his style if you try hard enough.

Very intelligent, even by math professor standards. You will have to spend a little time at the start of the semester getting used to his unorthodox style as he was trained in Russia and teaches that way, but as a lot of other people here said, once you get used to it it'll be fine.

first day of class I thought he was mad strict but it turned out ok in the end

I have him right now for 231 and there are lotsss of hoemwork but they're not that bad. Just get ready for a lot of work lol

got this dude right now, he has quizzes that can be tricky sometimes but as long as you study you should be fine because they are not that hard at least in my opinion not sure bout yours

I don't know why lots of people are calling him easy because I think he is pretty hard, but hten again I'm someone who struggels at math to begin with. His lectures are crystal clear tho

I'm not good at proofs so I am having a little bit of a rough time with the quizzes but he's a clear and organized and gifted lecturer.

Excellent professor. You'll really learn how to think mathematically if you take him.

All you need to do is read the textbook before class and you'll be fine, but that's my experience.

Had him last semester and didn't bother writing this review until now. Where do I start? Uhh in my experience he explains things really well, really teaches you how to write proofs, and his quizzes/tests/final are reasonable compared to what the homework is.

I took Ovchinnikov for both MATH231 and MATH333. He really knows his algebra. You'll definitely still need to refer to the textbooks but the lectures really give a clear picture of the material.

First class I took where I really learned how to think like a mathematician. Keep in mind that he is mostly for people who want to go on to grad school in math, or at the very least major in math. Style is not really for CompSci majors or anything like that.

Retook Linear Algebra with him after having it with another professor. He has a really clear lecture style and you can tell he knows the material in an in depth way.

when I first started this class I was having a hard time but after I adjusted it started being ok and I did good on the last quiz so theres that

I may be biased since I got an A+ in his class back in Fall 2019, but I remember him as the best math professor I had at QC. Now I transferred to Stony Brook but am still grateful for the proof writing skills he gave me. I'll be going on to graduate school in mathematics soon enough thanks to this guy.

Professor Ovchinnikov clearly explains even the most complicated concepts. Very organized. Grading is fair. Homework are carefully selected and I don't regret taking his course.

Best professor I ever had but then again I am an uber math nerd so I might be really biased, try as hard as possible in his class and you'll make it

His enthusiasm makes his lectures interesting. Strict but respectful to students and really really really into math. Expect a pop quiz once a week. I'm looking forward to taking him again for another class if he's available because I think he's great for math majors who love math for being math.

i had to study really, really, really hard for this class because he was def my hardest professor this past spring because i'm not used to proofs but yeah he's decent

Difficulty 1 is nonsense. He is smart, nice, and willing to help. But, this class is NOT easy, and you will have to work A LOT. Be prepared. Read textbook. Finish textbook hws and hws that he give during class. Textbook is free. No extra credits. No curve. No dropping the lowest grade. So, again, be mentally prepared.

Course is heavy, Prof is good. If you aren't ready to write organized proofs on this course then I doubt it would be a big difference even you take from another professor Prof writes perfect notes during the semester, I ONLY review his notes after each class, organized all definitions, use book as reference when needed, its already an A+ work.

Hard, that's all I'm really gonna say. You gotta prove a lot of stuff

Y'all were being od with the hate bc he was just fine for me

All the proofs in this dude's class made me want to cry no joke lmaoo but eventually I made it and you will make it too. Some of my friends had to drop though because they couldn't take it and I don't blame them this was really hard

He is a very strict guy from Russia but I love math and I appreciate his enthusiasm for the subject. To be fair I already self studied differential equations a bit before I took this class, and it still isn't over yet but I know part of the reason I'm doing well is because of how much I do math even without taking a class

I'm taking him right now for differential equations. The semester isn't over yet but I can tell he does things differently from every other professor. For some people that can be good, for some people that can be not so good. I don't really know how to explain how different he is. But I'm doing well, keep in mind I'm a super dedicated math student

Pop quizzes, pop quizzes, pop quizzes. Proofs proofs proofs. Participation participation participation. He's very different from every other mathematics instructor I've had

I had him a couple years back for Linear Algebra 1. The thing is I'm a bit of a math nerd so....I did just fine. A lot of people didn't though lol

He explains everything very well at the cost of moving slowly. HW can be a bit annoying because QC WebWork is bricked, The exams are very easy to prepare for - provide a definition, formula and example for a given topic. He is a kind professor, and his EC presentation is a great opportunity for end-of-sem points. He's a good option for 143.