2.3
Quality3.5
Difficulty28%
Would Retake96
Reviews28%
Would Retake
96
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
12
4
15
3
13
2
12
1
44
What Students Say
“I took her math 340 and math 240”
MATH340 - 5.0 rating“Her exams are really easy but I mean the class itself is super easy”
MATH340 - 4.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
7%
Textbook Required
50%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.36 avg changeRatings by Course
MATH240
5.0
(2)MATH376
5.0
(1)MATH320
4.5
(2)MATH375
4.3
(4)MATH551
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
MATH221
4.0
221
4.0
MATH551
4.0
MATH375
3.3
MATH234
3.1
Reviews (96)
This was Prof. Kent's first year here, so it was understandable that he was a little disorganized. Lectures started off sort of badly, but they got a lot better. His exams are challenging, and his grading system is different because he doesn't tell you your grade until the end of the semester. He obviously knows what he is teaching.
The exams were very fair. Everything on them is a main concept and isn't an extremely specific case that is almost never seen.
His lectures are completely pointless. I don't know if he knows what he's doing half of the time. The homework is related to quizzes but not the exams. The exams are pulled mainly from material not covered or not explained in any lecture. Overall I wouldn't even take basic Algebra from this professor.
Clearly knows what he's teaching. Lectures can be frustrating because he's really into deriving the formulas you end up needing to use. It was frustrating to pick out what was going to be useful for tests and quizzes from his lectures. Exams were fair, curve was generous.
Overall decent. Lectures are hit or miss, but more often than not tedious. Exams are fair. Understands the material but too much theory for my liking.
Cute Professor, no need to attend lecture.. exams are not easy...but overall good professor.
He wasn't the best presenter of the material, but he usually gave enough examples that you got the idea. Cool guy though, has a quirky sense of humor. I disagree that his exams were unrelated to what was taught in lecture, if you paid any attention at all you understood at least what the exam questions were asking.
Great professor. His math 234 exams were just what how he said they would be, and overall the class is pretty easy with him teaching it. His lectures are very clear, and slow paced, so they are almost relaxing.
Exams were tough not always related to homework. I did the assigned homework 3 times for the final and studied 30+ hours, and still got a 50%.
HE'S CRAZY! his hair looks like he tried to cut it himself and his clothes were always too tight. His lecture's were pointless and I don't believe that he looked at the problems he was assigning us either.
Pretty good professor, but exams were tough. I found the TA-led review sessions to be the most helpful form of studying for a test. Also, try to find some previous exams to practice off of. They might not be perfect, but some of them are representative of Kent's exam questions.
Handwriting is just terrible!! I, as an international student, cannot read anything he writes!! I would avoid him.
Professor Kent was awesome! His class was just like he said it would be. 3 midterms, no final, and homework. 6 quizzes in discussion sections. His lectures were very easy to understand, and he explained things in different ways so everyone could understand. Very fair, good curve, overall a great prof!
this guy is an awesome prof for math 320. his style of teaching is a little different, but you'd learn to get used to it. easy exams if you like math, not too much homework. he's the cool, young teacher everyone always wants.
Awesome teacher. Don't listen to complainers. He teaches to actually teach, not just to get through the planned lesson.
I really enjoyed going to his class. He cracked some entertaining jokes in class and explained everything very clearly.
no homework required, learned everything in discussion section but tests were pretty straightforward only a couple questions were really hard most were the same ones we did in class or in disc.
This guy is horrible! He's really not funny and 2/3 of the time I am teaching myself calculus. In the beginning I went to his office hours and he's really not helpful!! Lecture I am lost, so I just read the textbook which is just as bad because it's custom. Avoid this guy, the TA is really helpful.
Impossible to read his hand writing and makes the material way more confusing that it needs to be.
He just writes proofs on the board and doesn't show the class how to actually solve a problem that will be on an exam
By far the worst teacher I have encountered in my years of schooling. He is not helpful at all and makes sure to put the hardest possible questions on the exams. The book doesn't help one bit because its just a bunch of loose leaf paper. Stay away from him at all costs. He is horrible
Dr. Kent really tried to teach us the material, but my TA was the one who showed me how to do everything. Pray to God that you get a good TA or else you will need to get a full-time tutor.
His first two exams were easy and extremely fair and then came the final. He is extremely inconsistent and overall not that clear. If you work hard and go to discussion you should be fine.
He is so miserably terrible I want to cry.
This man has no business teaching calc 221. Unclear, unhelpful..just horrible..RUN FOR THE HILLS!
He never actually teaches anything. It would be helpful if he went through a few problems but no. He does these abstract things that no one cares about and doesn't explain anything thoroughly. His exams are ridiculous and unfair.
Probably the worst professor I've come across at Madison so far. Doesn't try at all to be helpful, he is inflexible when it comes to make up exams even if for GOOD reasons and his exams are extremely awful. Would not recommend to anyone. ever.
This guy was absolutely brilliant. He did a great job answering any and all questions. Lectures were always interesting, and it really helped that he showed such enthusiasm for the material. If you get the opportunity, you'd be a fool not to take his class.
One of the greatest math professor in the UW-Madison. The homework is not heavy. Midterms are not hard at all. Final is tested some specific topics instead of the whole book. She cares about us a lot and is not a strict grader. Try to choose her math 240, you won't regret.
I highly recommend Professor Kent for Discrete Mathematics. Admittedly, I rarely attended lecture, but the lectures I did attend were excellent. Professor Kent made the material both accessible and engaging. Midterms were easy with a basic knowledge of the concepts.
I took her math 340 and math 240. She is good at explaining things. Exams are fair, not very hard.
It was an easy class which she could've explained things in much simpler ways but overall, her explaining will do the job. Her exams are really easy but I mean the class itself is super easy. Attended classes at the start but honestly doing the homework alone using chegg was all you need to get an A.
The lectures are way too dry and she gives little intuitive instruction on how to understand the abstract concepts. Not available through emails. Hard midterms. No homework solutions are provided. Hard to get an A.
Really appreciated the straightforward exams. She told us what problems to expect and that was essentially what we were tested on which is refreshing given many professors act all secretive about what exactly will be on the exam. Minimal amount of proofs and more focused on applications. Overall not bad.
She is really nice in office hours!
The material/tests are not that hard but it could feel hard because lectures are dry and not super helpful. Still go to lecture but you don't need to write down 90% of what she writes, just casually take simple notes on concepts/types of problems. This is definitely a class where you learn most of it on your own through the textbook/internet.
This class as a whole was not that hard. Prof Kent was good at making sure everyone was aware what was going to be on the exams so there were no surprises. No homework is collected so grade is made up of exams/quizzes. Review problems are taken out of the book. Class moves fast so sometimes more effective to read out of book than rely on lectures.
Professor Kent is a decent professor who defintiely wants to see her students succeed, although in the online format her lectures often dragged or were hard to follow when demonstrating proofs. I would have preferred more examples. Exams were fairly difficult due to short length, but there was a curve at the end of the semester.
Psychologically easy to take. Mathematically lots to think. Responsible, caring and specific. I watched the lectures 3 times longer online to pause and think. The rating is low because her students have no time to deal with ratemyprofs. Elegant writings (even via notability). Professor is not judgemental and is quite open to ideas. Take 375-6 yyds.
She just sucks
Not good at her job
She gave a midterm makeup exam that was way harder than the original exam given. I wouldn't advise taking her class because she grades harshly and has no respect for her students or their time. She doesn't understand our whole aren't school. She doesn't get that we aren't on her level of understanding. DONT TAKE THE CLASS
Lighthearted and entertaining in her teaching. However, her lectures and notes are extremely unorganized, so it's hard to follow along because there is no clear train of thought.
Kent is a nice person, but an awful teacher. She is very disorganized
She's a very nice professor, however, her lectures are extremely disorganized and some of her exams had poorly written questions. Overall the hardest math class I've ever taken due to lack of clarity in lectures and a weird first exam.
Lectures are not mandatory and I don't recommend going since it only makes it more confusing. I still went to lectures and it was a big mistake, as youtube videos taught me way more. If you want to do good on exams, expect work outside of class. The lectures are so poorly organized that you won't get an A if you don't do extra studying.
Dr. Kent is just okay. If you're really into math, you will love her. Her lectures are a bit abstract for what the class calls for but still useful. Personally, I learned from my TA and the homework assignments. EACH EXAM IS 30% OF YOUR FINAL GRADE (same for all MATH234 classes) so study harder than I did...
Professor Kent was one of the worst teachers I've ever had. While she is nice and tries to make lectures entertaining they were extremely unorganized and made little to no sense. It got to the point where I'd read the textbook during lecture instead of listening to what she said because her explanations left me feeling more confused.
Professor Kent seems like a nice person, but lectures get very boring and they often don't make sense. I learned mostly from discussion worksheets and homework. Take this class with another professor if you can. (Brian Street covered her lectures once and I found his lectures far more enjoyable.)
Seems like a great person, but mediocre prof. Lectures were hard to learn from: she jumps around alot, does not explain the math often & just demonstrates, and the lectures are for the most part very boring. Provided little information for exams, often showed up a few minutes late, handwriting hard to understand (rpi, 2integral, 5S etc).
Boring lecturer, with very few examples given. Almost all learning needs to be done from homework, textbook, and discussions. Would often be late and be unavailable for connection outside of class. 2 midterms and a final account for 84% of the total grade in this class. Exams only have 6-7 questions so really no place to mess up if you want an A.
The lectures are useful at the beginning of the semester but as you approach closer and closer towards the end, you should be ready to prepare mentally for watching tons of YouTube videos and reading numerous online articles. Test are not hard though, what I felt this year is that collective complaints lower the difficulty of the exams. Best luck!
Exam expectations are very clear. Lectures aren't great, did most of the learning outside of lecture.
Great lectures. She explains concepts thoroughly and in a way that is accessible to students, and adds pop culture references and jokes that make class fun. She walks you through how to do multiple problems step by step, so if you go to lecture you'll have a solid handle on material, and exams wont be surprising. Exams are 84% of your grade though
pretty good professor. most of the time she explained things in a clear way and would go over a few examples. you know exactly what to expect for exams because she provides questions and solutions for past exams. as long as you stay on top of the homework, you should do well on discussion quizzes and exams!
MATH 234 was a hard class. I went to professor Kent's lecture and to be honest I didn't pay much attention lol so I wasn't able to follow professor Kent most of the time. But she did go into the topics in-depth and explained things nicely. So if you listen and follow you would be fine. Exam worth 84%, be ready to study by yourself a lot.
This was an extremely fair course. Exams perfectly reflected the material covered in lectures. It's definitely possible to self-study using the online modules provided. You can succeed in this course if you take the necessary steps to study efficiently. Kent's lectures specifically were a little difficult because she has poor handwriting.
Beginning of the semester was great, but as the semester went on the quality of lectures decreased steadily, I was learning nothing from them. My friends that did well in the class only managed to do so via youtube & lots of studying.
Ms. Kent was an amazing professor. She focuses heavily into the theory rather than the application, which if you can work with is great. Only slight criticism, which isn't particularly valid considering the point of the class was to be proof based, was the lack of grounded examples of how to use mathematical tools.
Professor Kent is overall a solid professor. Lectures were practically right from the book, so it was easy to reference. This course overall delves heavily into theory and there was a lack of grounded examples at times. All exams were take home and open note. Grading is quite lenient with most students being freshman. Great class, great professor!
Great professor. Very entertaining and charismatic person. The exams are somewhat difficult in content but they're all take home tests and she grades very leniently, which makes the class relatively easy overall. Only downside is that she is kinda disorganized when it comes to pacing the class and syncing lectures with homework.
Topology's not an easy subject, but he teaches it well and his lectures are helpful since he offers plenty of intuitive examples and doesn't mind taking time to answer questions. The only annoying thing about this course was that he never provides HW or exam solutions, which kind of suggests a lack of effort.
If you get this professor drop the class and try to join another one. I already took calculus 1 and 2 and I still didn't understand what this person was talking about. Save yourself the headaches and drop the class.
The lectures were very unclear and tiresome
Lectures are almost impossible to follow and understand
I believe topics were not very well explained or taught. She very often went into great detail about example problems that had little/nothing to do with the topics we were covering in class. Was not very well coordinated with homework assignments.
Lectures are incredibly hard to follow, very all over the place and not much of actually teaching the material. You will need to teach yourself everything or pray that you get a good TA who can (re)teach you the material. Honestly dont need to go to lecture as you wont get anything out of it. My TA even said professor was confusing during lecture.
Lectures are very confusing & they have a reputation for just chatting and making weird analogies no one understands unless you are a math mathematician. Worst of all, class is test heavy & has no actual study guide, just old tests that have inaccurate examples of what will be on the exams. Find a different teacher if you struggle with math
This professor was awful, their notes are not readable, they have weird verbage for lecture, literally find yourself someone else because this professor is terrible. I will not wish this on my worst enemy.
Confusing in lecture, made my understanding of calculus actually go down after taking calc 1 and 2 in high school, please find a different lecturer to set yourself up for success later.
findpassword. if i write an essay, it would be how you shoulD nOt have this teacher who (iwishicouldsayteach) you math. 1.lectures: so boriNg nOT even clear. 2.random-TAgents-weird-joKEs. 3.first couple of weeks the TeacHer was behInd on the curriculum becauseSpoke for more than 45 mins trying to explain limits. limits. 4. unclear TEACHER
I skipped every lecture after attending the first one, Kent does not explain concepts clearly and oftentimes will go on tangents not related to course material. He takes too long on unimportant topics. I geniunely believe anyone new to this material would easily fail this class if they only attended leture and discussions. Do NOT take her.
VERY confusing and unclear lectures, with Professor Kent going off on almost completely unrelated tangents very often. I didn't take calculus in high school, and struggled in this class which very honestly should've been one of my easier ones. If you are new to calculus, plan to spend a disproportionate amount of time on this class.
Despite not teaching the quality of material on tests, professor Kent does not seem to give out partial credit on tests, with each one being 30% of your grade, prepare to tank your grade with even one question wrong. Just drop it
if you're taking lower-level math courses like calc 1 or 2 good luck. this professor is TERRIBLE at teaching. You're better off attending a different prof's lecture. 0/10.
If you don't already know the material, find a different lecturer to go to. My understanding after attending a lecture was actually worse than if I just watched a youtube video. My advice is to find a different professor's section and just attend that. Unfortunately, Kent is devoid of any teaching talent whatsoever.
Genuinely so bad, AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Always talking about random shit and I genuinely crash out every time I have to sit in lecture. I am so sorry if you have to take this prof because it's miserable.
she is never on topic. we never learn what we need to know. I teach myself everything and the discussion sheets are never ending and super hard because I don't know the content bc she doesn't teach. if you're gonna have her as a prof switch immediately. sos i am not gonna make it out of this class
she has no idea what shes teaching and goes on random tangents that have nothing to do with the lecture
Never take this professor for this class. She does not teach well.
terrible professor and i took ap calc ab in high school. cant explain anything. goes way to fast in lecture but makes no sense so its like shes skipping around stuff. DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR.
She has a very obscure way of teaching. She explains concepts in a very abstract and confusing way. Attending lectures leave me more confused than when I came in. I took Calc in high school and I had to rely on what I learned then instead of her lectures. ]
Clearly has no clue how to give an engaging lecture. If you struggle with math avoid taking her class at all costs.
Note that you'll have to study by yourself without even thinking of taking a look on his lecture notes.
I took calc in high school and when I tell you she literally explained things in such confusing ways when it could be wayyyy simpler. She was all over the place in her lectures very hard to follow. The only time the material would make sense is when my TA would cover the topic.
Nice and lenient in terms of grades, but very confusing teacher. Lectures are very difficult to follow, even easy topics are explained almost incoherently. If you end up with her, highly recommend getting a math tutor or being prepared to put in a lot of work independently studying the course work.
The lectures have no outlines and the professor does not make sense. The discussion was all group work and we were not taught anything we had to figure it out ourselves. Lowkey confused how they thought we would learn anything from the structure and random ideas brought up in lectures.
She trys to keep class interesting, especially on heavy math days. Tests can be hard, but practice exams help.
The professor taught very generic calculus, and did in class examples that were very basic and easy compared to the midterms and especially the final. I will say lectures are easy to follow, but expect much harder questions during finals and midterms.
Overexplained easy concepts by going too deep into stuff that didn't matter and never actually getting to the point. I took calc in high school and it was taught much better than what Kent did. Poor organization overall and had a confusing all over the place structure. Avoid Kent if you can.
Don't do it. The exams are nothing like the practice exams. You'll end the class knowing LESS calculus than when you started.
Professor Kent was not particularly engaging or clear, but lectures were fine as long as you paid rapt attention. My main critique of lecture would Dr. Kent's tendency to spend way too much time on activities. In general lectures were not particularly organized, but she is not awful as some of these reviews make her out to be.
Lectures were disorganized, making it difficult to follow or learn the material in class. I often left the lecture more confused than when I arrived. The final exam felt unnecessarily challenging for me, even though math is my strongest subject. I would strongly encourage you to avoid all classes "taught" by this professor.
Overall, not the worst professor ever, but very confusing and doesn't teach well at all. She has very dry humor and does nothing to engage learners/make the class interesting.
She knows what she's talking about but only explains through examples, and doesn't actually explain what you need to do to solve the problems.
Lectures felt disorganized and the professor is confusing and doesn't teach well. She went on tangents a lot and often took forever to get to point. This class with this professor would very difficult for someone without calculus experience. I found myself learning the material by either studying for tests or in discussion, but rarely in lecture.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
7%
Textbook Required
50%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.36 avg changeRatings by Course
MATH240
5.0
(2)MATH376
5.0
(1)MATH320
4.5
(2)MATH375
4.3
(4)MATH551
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
MATH221
4.0
221
4.0
MATH551
4.0
MATH375
3.3
MATH234
3.1