2.8
Quality2.3
Difficulty61%
Would Retake179
Reviews61%
Would Retake
179
Reviews
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5
32
4
27
3
44
2
43
1
33
What Students Say
“One of the best professors in UCSB”
MATH108 - 5.0 rating“Common spoken words are "umm" and "obviously"”
MATH4A - 1.0 ratingClass Info
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100%
Attendance Mandatory
4%
Textbook Required
57%
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MATH124B
5.0
(1)MATH201A
4.5
(2)MATH108
4.5
(2)MATH8
4.5
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4.0
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MATH118B
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4.0
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Reviews (179)
not bad
You can tell he resents teaching lower-level math. He also mumbles and has a thick accent. And as for the things I already knew, I felt pain for those who didn't b/c he was doing such an awful job of teaching it.
I finished with him a whole year (I needed badly 201) and gave him excellent evoluation but still have no idea about his level. He certaintly has some administrative bravity and agility: chose good textbooks and TA, supported website, maneuvered in departamental wars.
I have never taken any calc and i started with Labutin. He has easy tests but good luck understanding him durnig lectures. CLAS is a must. I dont even go to the lectures anymore.
As long as you don't sit in the back row, you can understand him well although he does have a thick accent. Good teacher with clear examples. His tests are similar to his practice exams and are very easy. No curve and an 80 percent average on tests.
Easy tests, interesting TAs, occasional puts people asleep but I certainly appreciate his effort of speaking Russian Engrish. Umm, sometimes he made mistake, but at least he listens to you and apologizes after you pointed it out. Nice guy!
hard!
Take CLAS and don't even waste your time going to his lectures (unless you are skilled in understanding mumbling russian english.) His exams are very easy and he allows calculators and a notepage.
AHHH!!! Lectures = gibberish. Writing on board = chicken scratch. He knows the material very well though, midterms & final wasn't too bad. if you have to take this class, sit IN THE FRONT and go to CLAS.
australian accent
Yes, Australian accent, and not in a cool way but an annoying way. Good luck trying to understand him.
could noit understand him his exams r not bad but lecture is horrible just go to CLAS for help and ull be fine =)
I CAN'T UNDERSTAND HIS ACCENT I HAD HIS CLASS FOR THE FIRST TIME AND WAS ALREADY LOST. HOW SAD IS THAT
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Labutin's class is sooo boring, I need a lot of coffee beforehand or I fall asleep. He doesn't really teach anything in class, he just skims the surface of the subject. Luckily the discussion sessions are more helpful so go!
ridiculously boring, he doesnt teach well, CLAS saved my life.
Is very friendly
accent not bad, just content of lectures. doesn't really get into the subject-just the basics-so you more or less teach yourself. get a tutor or go to CLAS straight off. section and math lab are really helpful.
I was a math major till this class! He's not a very good teacher. His midterms are take home so thats good... but the final is wayyyy hard and it's not take home. There is homework but you never have to turn it in...the midterms are the same questions as the homework. It is difficult to follow his calculations during lecture.
Do not take this teacher! He can't speak English and listening to him made me want to get a gun.
He is very smart and the homework problems were challenging, but if you have any question he's willing to help during office hours. Overall, he's a very good instructor.
Has a Russian accent, but is still understandable. Has very elaborate and complicated ways of explaining things - he had this ass-backwards way of explaining limits. If I hadn't already had a background in Calc, I'd be needing CLAS. Midterm is take-home and fairly easy though.
He's complicated. My best description is that he is a walking textbook with a thick russian accent. Take this class if you have taken Calc already and understand it fairly well, otherwise go somewhere else. The midterms are take home... the difficutly depends on how well you understand the material, and whether or not you are honest.
If you passed high school calculus, you'll be fine. If not, drop NOW. Get into CLAS asap and only go to lectures on days when midterm is distributed/collected. Seriously.
this class is not easy.he does many things in a confusing/unnessesarily difficult manner. not clear and hard to understand sometimes. hw isnt collected which sounds good at first, but hurts students in the long run. gives takehome midterms but the final is very hard and is worth 50% of the grade w/no curve. shows no mercy.seems like a nice guy tho.
Labutin can be difficult to understand during lecture, but his midterms are take home and most of the problems on his tests come from the assigned hw (which is not even due). furthermore he is a very good teacher one on one; take advantage of his office hours, utilize CLAS, and do your homework to get an easy A. (the final was not difficult)
The midterms were take home and he never collected homework. Sometimes he makes the problems seem harder than they really are. If you want to pass the class I would recommend that you sign up for CLAS.
If I hadn't taken calculus in high school I wouldn't have any clue what he was talking about. The class was extremely easy with 2 take home midterms and the final. No hw due ever. Seems like he'd be happy to help anyone that was confused but I never really needed help so not positive.
i never took calc in high school. this class was very difficult for me to understand and follow. unfortunately, i had to drop CLAS because my tutor was a joke. (thank god for Jessie's review sessions!) the final was very hard. worth half the grade w/ no curve. hw wasnt collected which is actually a bad thing.if nvr took calc b4 DO NOT TAKE LABUTIN!
YES, professor labutin is hard to understand, and yes he doesn't collect homework which leads to the student not doing the homework, but is it really his fault? in my opinion no. i went to lecture, and when i stayed awake and REALLY paid attention, i got what he was saying and teaching. yes, its difficult only because calculus is not easy.
not good!! :(
Easy. Midterm and final were 75% homework questions. He didn't even change the numbers. Take home midterm too, but a lot of people cheated on it and were forced to drop their midterm score. Would definately take again.
The notes from the class WILL help you a lot on homework and on the exams. Even though the midterm is take home midterm, he strickedly said should be treated as real exam. Many ppl cheated which is not necessary since it is easy. I really like this professor, just the text book that the math department choosed screwed evrything.
I got an A+ in his Math 3A class. I did all the homework (even though they weren't collected), and I went to CLAS with Jesse. I also made sure that my formula sheet had everything in it. Do what I did, and you'll do fine.
Easy A+. I got 0 for midterm (take home, but I "cheated" by using the book), but ended up getting A+, because of the policy that your overall grade can't be lower than your final exam grade. He does lots of examples in class, so write them down and you'll see the same problems on final.
Lectures are COMPLETELY useless. You honestly can't understand anything he is doing and very hard to follow. I never once used my textbook, and homeworks are optional - you don't need to do them to do well in the class. Just go to your discussion section and you'll be fine. Midterms were take-home so I got a very good grade on both.
He has an accent, but he is not hard to understand. it also helps that he is extremely hot. decided to be a math major after his class.
Professor was very helpful and approachable during class and at office hours. Both midterms and final were very fair and clear. Overall, the class was quite enjoyable and interesting, being that the professor explained the importance and usefulness of every theorem and equation we learned. Definitely recommend this professor!
Very difficult to understand. If you haven't taken calc in HS its going to be kinda hard!!!. He basically goes in circles when teaching, very unclear, scribbles everywhere, makes TONS of mistakes on the board, will spend about 15 minutes doing one problem then realizes he did it wrong... but EASY FINAL if you study
He is impossible to understand. Constantly makes mistakes while doing problems. The two mideterms were take home exams. Basically have to teach your self for this class. Class is very difficult if you have never taken calc in high school. Worst teacher i have ever had.
Sometimes hard to understand through his accent, but he sounds like Borat, lol. As far as Integrals go, he is a horrible teacher. Goes in circles, makes errors constantly; If I hadn't taken Calc already, I would have failed. He once wrote a formula, then said he would clarify, but just re-wrote and boxed the formula. Easy tests IF you know material
Not a good lecture, I never went to class and never went read the book and got a B+. If you took AP Calculus in High School (and did well) this class will be easy... however if you never took calculus before STAY AWAY from this guy cuz his lecture is terrible. Two take home midterms which are easy never collect hw and fair final
i never went to lecture and the take home midterms were very simple. not a very good lecturer because he goes too fast, finds the hardest way to do problems, but the midterms are really easy. i got an A for only going to class for 4 weeks out of the whole quarter.
Go to CLAS. I do recommend going to lectures, cause they become test materials. He sucks at explaining tho
He was OK. Section was better than lecture. There was no homework, which I think caused a lot of people to just assume they knew the material when they in fact did not.
lectures were boring but if you copied down everything exactly as he did, and looked over them after afterwards, they'll make sense. it's a hard class and he doesn't help much, but the notes, CLAS, and doing the HW will save you. the midterms are take home.
Upshot: Easy math class with a professor that explains math conceptually.
He's a nice guy and seems to be available to help often. Gives 2 take home midterms which aren't too bad, and a final. He teaches really conceptually
Perfectly good professor. Take home midterms and final,got an A+ and barely studied.
This class is not to bad if you actually pay attention and learn how to do the problems. Labutin is not the easiest teacher to understand because of his accent, however he knows that and therefore makes his tests rather easy. The final was also easy because we went over similar questions in class right before too. Did I mention he is hot.
He's confusing but the tests are easy. Only take this class if you have a solid base in math. Go to lectures it may seem useless but it will help.
Midterm and quizzes are fairly easy. He's difficult to understand in lecture, and his notes are very unorganized. Sometimes he'll make the material seem harder and more complicated than it really is. Lots of people used Khan Academy and Youtube videos to learn the material instead of lectures. If you don't know any calculus, I would not recommend.
Smart guy, bad teacher. He knows he is confusing so he makes tests extremely easy.
Easy midterms, easy lectures. Final was brutally difficult.
Good teacher but could be deemed as confusing because of his accent. 2 midterms were easy but the final was pretty hard. Join CLAS! That is what saved my grade.
No point going to lectures, go to CLAS instead. Sections were also very helpful. Take home midterm and second midterm were fairly easy. Final was very hard. Don't even bother buying the textbook, he never uses it.
Labutin's class overall isnt very difficult and with some effort you can easily pass. 2 Midterms(very easy) 1 Final (Difficult) practice exams were posted online for all exams and were almost identical to exams. Hw is done online, book inst needed at all. I suggest signing up for CLAS at least until you get used to his accent (love the accent btw)
Do not take this class if you don't have any prior knowledge of calculus, or if you're not very good at it. Very confusing lecturer whose homework problems poorly correlate with those on the tests. FInal was extremely difficult. Be prepared to teach yourself in this class because you won't be getting a lot of help!
Confusing and not helpful... the class was pretty easy initially. One take home final, and one in class... then we got to the final. A little over half of the class failed the final. He also doesn't curve; avoid him if you can.
His lectures are not that interesting but if you actually paid attention you could learn a lot.Sections aren't helpful at all. Exams are easy.
He is not a good lecturer, but he lets you use a full page of notes for the midterms and final. Homework was not very important and if you learn the information you will be fine.
Stopped going to lecture halfway through the quarter. I walked into lecture understanding the material and walked out confused. Section was a joke. I took CLAS, but I didn't really need it. Never taken calc before but the tests were EXTREMELY easy.
Labutin is a very confusing teacher, don't recommend if math is challenging to you. If math comes easy to you take this class u can learn from CLAS or Math Lab in SRB and don't have to attend lecture. I aced first two midterms, final is 50% of grade and way more difficult than other exams.
A little hard to understand, and I would appreciate some more organization to his lectures. Overall, good professor who aims to help you understand the big picture, which then helps you understand how the little pieces and concepts fit together. Take-home exams. Very likable guy.
Warning: do not take math 3A with Labutin if you are not already an expert at calculus. His homework at first is relevant to subject material but later becomes increasingly hard and irrelevant to final material. Class attendance is usually low due to his disorganization and lack of clarity during lectures. Most use CLAS to understand material
His lectures are confusing and disorganized; he also has an accent. His midterms are easy and similar to his practice ones. His final is slightly difficult, but is also similar to his practice one. He seems willing to help.
He is near impossible to understand and his lectures don't cover anything on the homework or on the midterms.
Professor is very nice and I love his lecture
Labutin, formally known as Labooty, is a Russian exchange student who knows math yet can't communicate it to his student. Common spoken words are "umm" and "obviously". No Labutin - this is not obvious when you make it seem like rocket science. Tests are very basic, which is good because you will not learn a thing without Kahn Academy and CLAS.
"Is aluminum an element?" Also, midterms grades will be posted two days before the final. Silver lining is the fact that you're allowed a one page front-back cheat sheet for all exams. Cram the entire quarter's worth of material in that sheet and you're golden. No curve.
The final is tomorrow, and we still haven't received our grades for the second midterm. Thick accent and lectures are incredibly dull. Honestly not even worth going to lecture.
His accent is thick and extremely hard to understand. He doesn't explain anything he teaches, just reads off his presentation. I quit going to lecture about a week after the midterm because it was bogus. On the bright side, you can cram the entire quarter's worth of material into a cheat sheet for the final. Taught myself all the material I missed.
It's so hard to understand what he's saying because of his accent. But the lecture notes are pretty clearly and the tests are easy. I recommend to take his class, if you can accommodate his accent, you will find it's very easy to understand the course content. BTW, textbooks and lecture notes are really helpful. You should learn sth by yourself.
Very thick accent and makes it difficult to understand what is going on during the lecture because he skips and jumps from slide to slide. His lectures are not that helpful. I would really reccomend taking clas and studying from the book and doing the homework. Tests are very similair to practice. Overall pretty easy class.
Thick but decipherable accent. He obviously knows a lot about linear algebra, and can prove the concepts on the spot for you, but he moves fast between slides and tends to not be very concise or planned in his lectures. If you do the homework and learn from the book you'll be fine. I passed with more than 100%, but I'm already a math major. Sry :/
His lectures could often be confusing when they didn't have to be because he explained all concepts in convoluted variable expressions/hardly ever used examples with real numbers to clear things up. That being said, this class was very easy to get an A in: extra credit and take home midterms with a fair final; go to CLAS if you need help.
One of the worst lecturers I've ever had. Hard to follow even when I already knew the material. Expect to self-study most of the course. On the other hand, he curves the tests a lot -- average score on the first midterm was 105%.
Don't need to go to lecture ever- they're pretty awful. You get a full page cheat sheet on the midterm and final and there's ec so don't worry you'll do fine.
I don't know a single person that found his lectures even little bit useful. He has an accent, which you get used to, but he is very, very conceptual. Expect to do most of the learning on your own. Most students skipped lecture altogether. That said, the tests are not all that difficult and he offers extra credit, so an A is possible if not easy.
Terrible at teaching the material however his exams tests and exams are considerably easy and so if you study independently, it should't be too bad
Struggled to enjoy this class. A combination of Labutin's thick accent and excessively detailed slides made lecture boring and confusing. Homework takes time, be warned. I relied on section, CLAS and the (awesome) textbook to get me through the class. Overall, the class was not unreasonable--tests were manageable (and that's most of your grade).
I don't understand him for the whole quarter, and I self-studied by reading textbook and going to CLAS. However, tests are easy and he curved a lot. Easy A as long as you study. Going to lectures is unnecessary.
Went to lecture maybe 4 times. The lectures do not help, this was mostly a self-taught class.
All of the notes are posted online, you don't even need to attend the class. Tests are pretty easy if you have done the practice tests and make them understand. If you don't love math so much but just for good grade, here is for you.
Lecture is rambling, and attendance is not mandatory. Just go to section and do the weekly assignments online. very easy class, he curves each individual test generously. 1 take home midterm, 1 in class midterm, and in class final. definitely an easy A
Didn't really understand what he was saying because of his accent. His slides back-track a lot, and makes the lesson go all over the place. He seems nervous when he lectures. Section is where you'll get the most help. And go to CLAS. On the bright side, the midterm and final are almost the same as the practice exams he gives out.
Labutin has a very strong accent that sounds like French and Russian smushed together. His lectures are confusing but the amount of material in 4A is so minimal you can easily learn it on your own in a day. If that scares you then go to CLAS instead of lecture, as his lectures are very confusing due to his horrible lecture slides and techniques.
One of the best professors in UCSB. He gives a lot of extra credits and have take home final. He wants every student in his class to get an A, so he drops 2 of your lowest homework and 1 lower midterm. If you hand in homework for week 10, you get 100% credit of that homework.
Honestly, this is one of the most clear professors in terms of what he expects of you. His exams in the lower division classes (except for math 8, I think) are very heavily based off the homework you get. Leaves so much wiggle room for you to do well in class. Drops your lowest midterm score. Gives extra credit. If you can, take him for a class.
I think his lectures would be easier to understand if I spoke Russian
Labutin is fine, neither excellent nor bad at teaching. His class is not very hard. And he has accent but is not hard to understand. Some said he grades easy, but this is not the case for 118(seems he doesn't curve), e.g. 91.5 is A-.
Best professor in UCSB
His lectures are clear, complete, and occasionally very funny. He does a great job of connecting the material of the class to other disciplines of math and bringing in connections to other areas of math to make the content more clear. He does a good job of not getting bogged down in the details and presenting the subject very clearly.
Professor Labutin was a great professor to take my first quarter at UCSB. As other reviewers have mentioned, he does have a Russian accent, however it is not difficult to understand and doesn't affect his teaching abilities. As long as you pay attention to lecture and do the homework. you'll do fine on the exam.
He makes the material very easy to understand, but if you don't get something, he highly encourages you to ask questions. Homework isn't bad at all. If you can do his homework, you'll do great in his exams. Usually does at least one take-home exam! He is also relatively lenient when it comes to grading, especially if it's a mistake most people do.
He has a russian accent that I had a very hard time understanding, which meant that I struggled through my quarter. I only passed because I remembered some material from taking Calc in high school, CLAS, sections, and CLAS drop ins. So be prepared to be spending a lot of extra time for the class if you're not great at math.
This man is the definition of BRUTE manliness. Yet, he also exhibits the tender love of a mother that is missing while you are away from home. Sure, he has an accent heavier than the snowfall of a Russian winter. Sure, his lectures are mostly abstract. However, he offers so much extra credit in the tests, that you'll be fine in his warm embrace.
Labutin's lectures are very abstract most of the time and hard to understand. You have to go back and look through the examples on the slides in order to really understand what's going on. If you know calculus from high school, you'll be fine in 3B. If not - go to CLAS and TA office hours. I got an A+ because Labutin gives so much EC on exams.
A little difficult to understand, I'll admit, and you have to spend some time outside of class to learn the material but he is very willing to help his students pass. He assigns homework once a week (about 15-20 questions). His study guides are EXACTLY like his tests, which are really easy, AND he offers extra credit. (the class avg was an A!!)
WORST prof I've ever had at UCSB. Lectures are impossible to understand and you basically have to teach yourself everything. Midterms weren't too hard but the final was horrible! If you can avoid taking math with him, I highly recommend!!
Worst professor ever! CAN'T UNDERSTAND HIS LECTURE !!! Even though a lot of people say this exams are easy, that may not be relevant in his upper division class. I got 89% course total, and I ended up getting an B+.
Put this man on UCSB hall of fame.. Gives 3 midterms and no FINAL. Dennis provides practice midterm thats very similar to the actual test. midterm #2 is take home so you better skirt skirt and Chegg that woe!! seriously did not learn anything after week 3 and still going to pass this woe with an A!!! take him for math8. S/o to Dennis the GOAT xDDD
I don't think the accent is a problem. His handwritings are sometimes messy, but you can ask him to clarify. His homework is harder than other math 8 classes. We don't have final in final week, but we have 3 exams and the last one is during the dead week. It really helps to release your pressure and all the things tested are very fair.
Homework is extremely hard. Doesnt use textbook for reference. He has his own system to teach the class. Class materials are almost irrelevant to homework.
Lots of work. very difficult HW. Reasonable tests, still tough but not like the HW. Get help from and his TAs and everything gets easier. Speaks very fast and with an accent, can be hard to understand. Provides a lot of basis for what he teaches, so you get lots of intuition.
began the first day of class by saying this isnt going to be a complex analysis class, its going to be riemann in geometry with the complex you need learned on the fly/on your own. this is supposed to be an intro complex analysis class. instead he consistently used material from courses that are not prerequisite or necessary if taught properly.
it's legitimately impressive how little feedback a professor is willing to give. it's the last week of the quarter, he just assigned three new homeworks due during finals week, meanwhile he has seven outstanding assignments to grade. i'm in awe.
Honestly, his accent isnt that bad. He hosts 2 two and a half hour long open office hours where he answers any questions you may have. The homework actually helps you understand the material. He is very accommodating due to covid and posts everything as videos. A good professor. Don't be scared.
Easy homeworks and exams.
He's definitely not the best math professor around but you can tell that he cares about his students. He has a couple of office hours per week which makes it really helpful. The only thing real issue is that he reads off his lectures and doesn't explain them well, but as long as you go to his office hours you should be good.
Professor Labutin cracks me up bro. His class is super chill and, despite what everyone says, you can learn so much if you simply just listen to him. He's super nice, often confused, but his heart is in the right place. 70%: 5 exams (1 dropped), 20%: 9 homework assignments, 10%: section participation.
never wacthed lecture. never paid attention in section. started studying for exams only 1-2 days before. it all turned out well for me. this class is difficult, but labutin isn't crazy so honestly it is manageable with minimal effort. watching lectures did nothing for me and confused me even more so i stuck to only reading the textbook. way easier.
Didn't bother watching his lectures, just read the textbook and his powerpoints. Some hw problems are hard and not at all what he taught but he drops some hws. What really matters is knowing how to do problems he bases his tests off of. They are exactly the same. If you can do those you will get an A on all tests. No cumulative final, just 5 exams
Nice professor who creates fairly easy tests: If you can manage problems on the textbook, you can certainly do well in his exams. He does not even have a cumulative final, and he drops the lowest exam score. Read the textbook is more helpful than his lecture.
Dr. Labutin has been a great math professor. He was available outside of class and very helpful to students. He would even take extra time after his designated office hours to help students with any questions. His lectures were very clear. He is helpful for test prep by giving practice tests that are similar to the actual exams. Great prof!
Really just wants everyone to pass, but his lectures are not very helpful; I relied mostly on reading the textbook and asking the TAs during discussions. He is very nice though especially when assigning grades.
Dr. Labutin is a kind Professor with accents. he has 5 exams and drop the lowest. His lectures and slides are very abstract so the hw and exams are a little hard.
He cares about student and only present what is necessary to understand PDE. He always gives a big picture before diving into the specific. However, the only downside is he is hard (impossible) to reach through email.
Just live in his OH's and everything will be alright.
If u wanna learn something, do not take his class!!! He makes the abstract algebra more abstract. Literally talking to himself in the lectures. He finished a whole topology book in a moth. Avoid him at all cost!!!
His lecturing on complex analysis was ok but in the end he turned the class into a PDE class.
Super accessible outside class.
One of the best math teachers I have ever had. He is so nice and caring if you go to his office hours. As for the class content, linear algebra is not hard at all. Actually, I don't quite understand those bad reviews. If you are looking for the best professor for your Math 4A, just pick him!!!
Very easy course that has 5 exams online, and drops the lowest. Never struggled at all and just did the practice exams and problems, and did fine. Not a great lecturer personally but if you study outside of class and go to section, you will do fine.
Not a good teacher but gives out the ez-est quizzes. Lectures are good for review but for the green hands (coz it breaks ur understanding and u should review everything to forget his disordered materials). If u wanna learn some linear algebra, I recommend learning it with Dr. Gil Strang by MIT OCW. BTW, SHOUTOUT to Dr. Gilbert Strang here!!!
This professor and TA in our class are so nice. There is no midterm and final. Only you need to do is nine homeworks and five exams which are so easy. Moreover, professor cares about students' grades. He will drop out some questions that are not include in our lectures. I will definitely take his course again!!!
Terrible lecturer. He has a thick accent and the slides are confusing, but the material is super easy to learn on your own with the textbook and online resources. Grading is super easy. No final and midterm. Just five exams with the lowest dropped, 9 homework assignments that are curved, and TA discussions (no quizzes, attendance not mandatory)
Overall, made the class very easy to do well in. Tests were completely online and open note, he drops your lowest score. Lectures were sometimes confusing, especially in the beginning his accent is a little bit hard to understand, I ended up taking the CLAS and that helped a lot. Maybe not the best teacher, but definitely a chill dude.
He probably is the most caring professor in Math Department
Dropped lowest exam score. NO final. Attendance not mandatory. Curved Homework scores and dropped lowest one. The man.
NO final. Attendance not mandatory. Easy quizzes. Drops lowest score. Homework assignments are curved and lowest score is dropped. Amazing.
Professor Labutin really knows how to teach. His lectures are fruitful, and his assignments are really useful. I mean, one can learn by himself all concepts that appears in his course merely by doing his assignments. His gradings are extremely friendly as well. His grading focuses on exams, but they are really easy and he drops the lowest one.
Labooty the GOAT!!!!!!!!!!
Professor Labutin's course is a free A if not an A+. The textbook used is great, the HWs are fine, and tests are easy and administrated online.
His lectures aren't good but as long as you learn the material on your own you will do fine in this class. Homework is doable but can be a bit tricky at times and tests are very easy. There is no midterm or final and a test is dropped. Genuinely a sweet professor who wants you to do well. Take him if you can!
Lectures are confusing and difficult to follow, especially with a heavy accent, but if you follow along carefully he teaches relatively well. The class is extremely easy to do well in since there are only 5 take home exams with relatively few and easy questions. He allows calculators and online tools on exams so it should be an easy A for anyone.
While he pumps out top-notch slides for you to follow along, strictly speaking he is not the best lecturer. His accent didn't bother me at all but chances are it might bother you. No finals, only 5 simple online quizzes that dominate most of the final score. I recommend using his slides as textbook and just read that.
Online tests + easy course overall = free A. That being said he was not the best lecturer and had a strong accent so sometimes you need to learn the concepts on your own but if you are able to do that you will not have to work at all for an A.
Best you may every have
An okay but funny lecturer, but his lectures aren't the best for learning. HW sets are usually long but individual problems are fairly easy. Practicing problems in textbook is the best way to study IMO. Luckily exams are online and are in general very very VERY doable with a light amount of studying. Overall: Textbook carried
Definitely an easy class, but not one for learning things. Reading the textbook and doing practice problems was enough to get a high A, but I don't feel like I learned anything. Easy class, but I feel like it's gonna screw me over when I don't know the material in 6A and 6B.
He has a strong accent which is especially unfriendly for non-English speakers. But the grading is very easy.
Professor Labutin's 4A was easy to pass given the online tests and allowing of notes/calculators. If this policy changes, it could be quite difficult because his lectures are highly conceptual. If the current exam format remains then you will definitely be ok. If not, pay close attention and do some self studying you'll probably be ok.
Labutin's heavy accent was difficult to understand and his explanations are extremely convoluted. His slides are good, though, so I mainly studied on my own and wouldn't suggest taking his class unless you can too. The overall class wasn't that difficult, though. All tests were online and pretty simple if you know the material.
Heavy accent + slide heavy presentations in Campbell = unproductive lectures. Even basic concepts were confusing in his class. However, he is actually helpful in office hours and all exams are online. Class itself is very easy, but consider self-learning if you'll need a strong linear algebra foundation for your major.
Quite literally the worst prof at UCSB. The slides make no sense and his accent makes it so hard to understand what he's saying. Lectures leave you even more confused than before. So much pointless Webwork problems (with typos). Rely on ta if you can but you need to read the book and self study to pass. It's quite annoying bc hw is so hard/pointles
bad teaching
This is a professor who is perfect for me. Professor labutin assigns all of a semester's homework (meaning we can do it in advance) and doesn't check attendance. That means I can take his class in a week and I don't have to listen to his class. But his class is really hard to understand（not in academic）, so he loses one point
This is the worst professor I have ever had to far. I cant understand his lectures, heavy accent, doesn't explain things and skips over them. I do not recommend it. He uses a weird homework site for grading and it is an absolute pain to use. I really regret picking him. DO NOT CHOOSE THIS PROFESSOR YOU WILL REGRET IT SO MUCH
72% of the grade comes from 5 take home exams. From them, only the top 4 exams are counted. The homework sets are most definitely not too long, I just do a few problems a night and get by no problem. He does have a heavy accent, but sitting closer to the front of the lecture hall makes his speech more clear.
The goat of Math4A, giving incoherent lectures and still managing to give the whole class A's. Tests and grading scales are beyond generous and lectures occasionally will make sense. Class becomes much funnier once you realize that the lectures go in circles and you can talk through most of it.
Prof.Labutin is literally the best grader I've I ever met. If you are a human and have some basic logic, there is no doubt that you'll get an A. His lectures are sometimes confusing, but when the tests are coming, you'll thank him.
Good for credit, bad for learning.
EZ credit EZ exam even no attendance
Super easy. Terrible teacher. Take if you want an easy 4.0. Don't take if you want to actually learn.
Possibly the worst lecturer/ability to explain concepts, especially in a class like linear algebra that is so conceptual. Tests are all open note take home, but lectures are useless and make you even more confused. Just get a copy of the textbook from a friend and read the sections on your own but overall the class wasn't bad.
Take home tests that are easy if you even remotely keep up with the textbook. Everyone starts skipping lectures after week 1/2 because they're not very understandable. Class was based on just a weekly online HW and biweekly online tests.
Labutin does nothing but read off the slides that he already posts on canvas--the lectures are basically useless. I wouldn't recommend him to someone who isn't familiar with the topic of Linear Algebra already. If you're new, stay away You're graded on weekly homework assignments and biweekly 90-minute exams.
I only attended the first two weeks of lecture because I found I was able to teach it better myself and on my own time. Despite not being the best lecturer, you will get the grade you want. That being said, I really did not learn the material. If your goal is to get a good grade, he is the right teacher. If you want to learn, he isn't the one.
Attend office hours, get a group, do not worry it's great
Not great at lectures but makes it easy to get an A, tests are all online and take-home.
This man is a goat. He has an accent but it's pretty easy to understand. Unfortunately he's not very good at explaining linear algebra but at least his accent is funny. Skipped a lot of lectures but still did good because tests were all online and I had fun group of study buddies.
Professor Labutin teaches Math 4A extremely well, once you get past his heavy accent which usually happens after the second or third week of lecture, the class becomes super easy as 90% of the class is just repeated applications of the reduced-row echelon form which is introduced in the very first lecture. Overall, his class is was super enjoyable.
I took 4A and it was a super easy A. Professor has a super thick accent and his lectures are practically useless, but all tests are online and there is no midterm or final. Additionally, your lowest test score is dropped. I would recommend CLAS for this class if you can't understand the lectures.
All tests are take home and online so it's the freest A ever. Lectures are confusing and his accent is difficult to understand. You won't learn much.
Basically a terrible lecturer but so easy to pass the class. Don't go to lecture, do the homework problems, review the slides, and do the practice midterm problems. Midterms are super easy, no reason anyone shouldn't get an A in the class.
I never really attended his lectures. The combination of his fast-paced lectures and his heavy accent made them hard to follow along, so I self-taught the entire course. However, I will say that the exams themselves were very fair, easy even, (there were five throughout the quarter and he dropped the lowest score) and so I did well in the class.
I didn't go to any of the lectures this quarter but the online quizzes were easy. The professor was almost impossible to understand so you have to self-learn to do the homework but the grading is super easy so it's a trade off. I would do the homework little by little throughout the week because it gets a lot to wait until Saturday.
Prof. Labutin is nearly unintelligible in lectures and very disorganized. In a lecture of about 500 students, eventually less than 100 showed up. Despite this, the exams were super easy and the class average was in the high 90s. Homework is tedious but manageable.
Professor Labutin was a challenge, in that -though he seems to be a very caring and available teacher- he did very little explanation in his lectures. It was hard to follow what was being talked about, and more times than not I ended up having to teach myself. If you have him, make use of TAs, videos on youtube, and study groups for understanding.
Labutin's lectures are usually confusing and hard to keep up with. That being said, this class is a free A, all tests are online and at-home, open note.
Professor Labutin's lectures make no sense. Going to lecture just made me more confused. There are no midterms or final, just quizzes every other week that are take home, open note. Having a good TA and attending CLAS made the class manageable.
Class was very easy, 5 online, at home tests instead of a midterm/final. Not good at lecturing, talks too much about theory and not enough about how to actually solve problems, but my TA understood that and was how I did all of my learning for this class.
Just 5 online tests, and homeworks which are not that bad. But the class is poorly taught, mainly depends on the student to self study with youtube, CLAS, finding the textbook online, or hope they have a good TA.
5 online tests and homework which wasn't bad. However Prof was a terrible lecturer and you basically have to self-study using youtube, CLAS, or hope for a good TA.
Easiest class ever I didn't even try
His lectures are very theoretical and quite confusing. However, there are 5 online midterms and no final, and the homework is all webwork, so it's easy to get an A. The TA ended up being really helpful and all the section worksheets were just like the midterms. The only reason I understood the content is because I took linear algebra in hs.
Lectures weren't mandatory, there were no midterms or a final, the class was only graded by weekly homework and five online/asynchronous tests, and the lowest score is dropped. Labutin is the goat.
Labutin just reads off of lecture slides so I stopped attending class. All tests were online and made the class much easier. Although he's a terrible prof, the class was super easy.
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