Very ineffective prof. Only derives useless proofs in class that can be found in the book. Practice tests and hw solutions are from other teachers. Does very little to make sure students are comprehending material, hands down worse math teacher i've ever had.

The worst math teacher I've ever had! Screws up constantly in lectures which makes it really hard to learn how to do a problem right. Put problems on the midterms that you would only know how to do if you went to office hours. Don't take him...seriously. I used to love math, and now I never want to take another math class.

I don't know why the hell I went to lectures because I never really learned anything. I had to read the book almost the entire course because he couldn't teach. Offered some pop-quizzes last few weeks to try and salvage the grades of most students since we were doing so poorly. The average Joe doesn't stand a chance to get higher than a C.

the prof is a bad teacher, he goes off points, talks about other stuff. his lectures were not that helpful

worst teacher I've had in my life. can't teach, can't collect homework effectively, and he thinks the sliding chalkboard is complicated. His tests are on theories, but he assigns homework on doing the actual math. Also, he takes up a lot of classtime ranting about how we need to get good grades. In short, don't take him.

Horrible professor, cant teach at all. He doesnt curve at all even though half the class got 50% on 2nd midterm. Must avoid

1. He is afraid to send out the homework solutions. 2. He explains the concept worse than the explanation in the textbook. 3. Worst math professor I have ever seen because he doesn't care about how much students really learn from the class.

Puckett was the worst math professor I've ever had. He literally photocopies the textbook and highlights the parts that he's going to copy onto the board for us as the lecture. Even though he says word for word what he highlighted, he makes no sense at all. He always seems like he has no clue what's going on. But he really loves Strang.

This professor is the absolute worst one. Massive curveball on the final. Gets angry over simple questions. Not a clear speaker at all. Had an A- prior to the final. Is completely absorbed into Strang rather than his own teaching method. If you want a clear understanding of linear algebra, don't take this guy, you'll forget instantly.

Terrible teacher, just terrible. Everyone is right. Don't take him.

I don't often complain about teachers, but Puckett is quite honestly the worst I've ever had at Davis. He's a horrific teacher and he essentially reiterates the book and his idol Strang who he even references in his tests. He's also unorganized as all heck and releases the answer to practice midterms the night before due to laziness. Avoid!

Terrible professor. Doesnt care if you understand the material or not, tells you to memorize everything. Focuses entirely on notation. Seating charts for tests. Lectures cannot be understood. I learned everything from MIT open course and Khan academy.

this professor is absolutely the worst professor i have ever had so far...everything is so unclear. Made mistakes frequently, unorganized chalkboard notes. he is a nice person, but honestly, not a good professor.

One of the worst math professors I've ever had at Davis. I would advise against taking him. His finals are significantly more difficult than the practice exams and he even tried to make a seating chart for a 250+ person room. It was ridiculous since it made us start the exam late and he gave us no extra time. Stay away if you can.

Puckett isn't a horrible teacher, but his teaching is not effective. All he writes are definitions on the board and no concepts. Tests may be very similar to the practice ones, but even if you put down exactly what you memorized you never get all the points. Avoid him if you can, but if there's no other option, just endure through

Horrible professor. I have nothing to add to what has already been said below, but I can confirm that it is all true.

overall horrible teacher. i would only recommend the class to someone who didnt care about learning the material and instead preferred memorizing. not a hard class if you memorize his practice exams and get As on all the webwork. but be warned you will be unbelievably frustrated with this guy.

He is hands down the worst professor I have ever had. His lectures are poorly organized and only works through examples half way. It is an easy class to pass if you teach yourself the material and memorize the practice tests, but if you are looking to actually learn the material, find a different professor. He has an obsession with Prof. Strang.

This professor tries to help student. However, he is very obscure in explaining and very disorganized while writing the lecture notes on the board. Also, it's easy to fall asleep in his lecture since his way of teaching is basically telling you to memorize a whole lot of notations and matrix operations, which I consider not practical.

Absolutely the worst professor ever! Syllabus came out at the fourth week. No solution given for the problem sets and review problems. Midterm was decent, but final is REALLY out of the ordinary. Lecture is messy and often of the topics and no curve at all. Avoid him at ALL cost.

I thought he was good at first but then I realized it was just the math that was easy. When the math got more difficult to understand, it's another story. This guy can't keep a single train of thought running for more than 5 seconds at a time. Obsessed with the text's author and I'm pretty sure he didn't curve at all at the end

Regret taking his classes. Very unclear instruction and lots of mistakes during lecture. He tells many jokes / irrelevant materials in class yet not very useful. His TA is good and his graders are tough. Please think again if you decide to take your class with him.

The textbook is your best friend because he is not good at presenting the material clearly. Puckett sweats through the whole lecture and makes frequent mistakes, and writes on the blackboard without erasing what he wrote before. He was helpful in OH though- I think he gets nervous while teaching. First midterm was SO easy, second and final hard.

His lectures are impossible to understand. On top of that, he's always 5-10 minutes late to class. Tells a lot of jokes (waste a lot of time) during class.

I have no clue what he is talking about during lectures. He constantly goes off topic and his lectures are disorganized and all over the place. Even the guest lecturer taught me more in one hour than this teacher in two weeks. There's not even a syllabus uploaded and it's the third week of class. You have to seek outside resources to pass.

Professor Puckett isnt a good professor. He goes off topic a lot during lectures and talks about Math 167 and computer systems a lot even though they arent directly related to the class. Makes the course seem harder than necessary and requires mandatory attendence which is 4% of your grade.

Just save yourself the stress and take someone else unless you HAVE TO take this class right away to graduate or something.

Keep calm and self-study.

This guy literally cannot stay on topic. He likes to go on tangents about computers, algorithms, and his oh so precious math 167. He also says that we must do the work his way, yet he never finishes describing how to do it his way. Moreover, he also once claimed that most of his colleagues cannot teach this class.

just don't take his class at all cost. terrible professor at all.

i WoUlD dEFinItElY tAKe MaT167 wItH HIm agAIn! hE tEaChES mE A LoT. i dONT HaVe tO sElF sTudY aT aLl!

Turrible

100% would not recommend, goes off topic way too much!!!

Honestly, the university should be ashamed of itself for hiring a professor like Puckett. The man is probably the most mentally immature person I have ever met in my life. In lecture he talks about pretty much everything but what he should be covering. Jumps from one unrelated topic to the next, much like a rambling toddler. Grow up and do your job

This guy is terrible. Doesn't teach anything. Talks about math 167 the whole class and how "great" it is and how we need to be prepared for it and in reality less than 5% of the class is taking that class and the ones who are going to are definitely not getting prepared.

I didn't listen to rate my professor. Please, please, please, please listen to all these compltains - they're all 100% accurate and not exaggerations. He's awful. Also, don't game the attendance system. He gave us a pop quiz without ever mentioning once in the class that pop quizzes could happen.

This guy can literally apply for a Genies record of the worst professor in the world. For this guy, even an 1/5 is an overrate. Its okay to suck at teaching, but plz at least give us an option to not attend classes. And Im sick of his obnoxiously demeaning attitude on Piazza. For the sake of ur own academic and mental well-being, avoid him plz!

Professor Puckett is the worst. His lectures are all over the place and are not particularly helpful. He goes off on a tangent about MAT167 and computers. He disses his colleagues for not teaching properly. We must do things his way, but he uses inconsistent notation and fails to explain many things. I would recommend watching Strang's lectures.

Just do yourself a favor and take 22A with another professor or wait another quarter to take it. This man goes off-topic every few minutes. He can't teach. You'll hear Mat 167 coming outta his mouth every single lecture and it gets annoying. The only reason why I attend lectures is for attendance, otherwise I would skip.

Avoid Puckett like the plague. He will talk about MAT167 more than he actually teaches. Homework was super easy, but he couldn't even administrate that properly. Midterms were somewhat different from the WebWork. Lectures take attendance, but the effort of getting to class is not worth the time wasted listening to him barely teach.

Honestly, at this point, words can't describe how bad this professor at teaching. Puckett doesn't deserve to be called a teacher b/c he doesn't respect the time of his students. The irony is he talks about his valuable time and he wastes the time of his students by forcing them to attend his meaningless lectures. Save time, watch Strang's videos.

There's a reason there is only ONE "good" review for this professor per year (literally, go look - only 1 person said he was good in 2019, and only one person said it in 2018)

awful

Incredibly terrible

MAT 22A is supposed to be/ known to be the easiest lower division math class. The average for midterm 2 in spring 2019 was a 48%. Not because the material is hard, but because Puckett doesn't teach. He just walks back and forth talking about MAT 167 or topics that have nothing to do with 22A

I understand if a math exam had a couple word problems. This man's ENTIRE exam are word problems, from 97% defining terms and theories to 3% computational where he throws definitions into play as well. You basically have to heavily memorize the first 6 chapters of the textbook in order to pass his class. Good luck and have fun in MAT 167

This was the worst class I have taken at UC Davis. It's supposed to be the easiest math for engineers, but was the hardest, even more so than Upper Div. Had no clue what was expected of me the whole quarter bc we talked so much about stuff not related to the material at hand. Lectures were VERY messy. Nice guy, but I'm paying 30K a year to learn.

I'm glad I took his class. Because now I fully understand how low the standard is for being a teacher at our school and I know exactly what kind of person I don't wanna be when I get old. Win-win.

Bad. He goes off topic way too much, and says that our final was graded last Thursday and yet its not posted on canvas now and it is already Wednesday! So many of us are worried about our final grade, and he couldnt have posted the grades on canvas at least before he took a trip. Ridiculous do not take!

Constantly off topic and talking about 167. Exams are definition heavy. Attendance required but you won't learn in lecture, self study. Can be patronizing on Piazza. Didn't know grade until it was posted on Oasis. Avoid as best as you can. If you can't, 100% the WebWorks, read the textbook, and watch Strang's lectures on YouTube.

I am sure that Professor Puckett is a nice person and he is often misunderstood. However, the way that he conducts lecture and examination is unacceptable. Avoid if you can.

There isn't much more to be said than what others have already said. Just read the previous reviews and avoid wasting your time with the professor if you can.

Hes a nice person, but for the sake of your grade RUN if you see his name!!!

Please don't take his class unless you wanna self study by watching Strang's lectures.

He needs to make some sense out of his lectures.

ALL YOU READ NEGATIVE ABOUT HIM IS TRUE. Good class if you want to test your self -studying ability.

Read all the various complaints below. They are all true

Very confusing professor. He expects students to solve all the questions online and during the "after class" office hour. And he doesn't reply to emails frequently.

DO NOT TAKE HIS COURSE!! He uses other professor's lecture notes which himself can barely prove them in his lectures. Only wen through half of the lecture material until the end of the quarter. The average course grade of the whole class is around D or D+. Even though he's a nice person but he's never a good teacher!

It is week 2 of class. We do not have a syllabus. I have not learned anything from this man. COVID 19 put a wrench in a lot of people's plans but my oh my this is just unacceptable. I cannot believe he is allowed to teach and I am disappointed that this is what my tuition is paying for.

The lecture is a disaster. Definity waste your time!!!

Could you imagine a math instructor who doesn't use a tablet or blackboard to teach? We have daily quizzes that test what we just covered in the class. And, he expects us to know the materials before he starts the lecture. So, what is the point to take the class if we already figure out the problems? His lecture is often unorganized, btw.

Hardest class with Puckett, especially with COVID 19 going on. Insane quizzes

This class can be summed up in two words: peril and uncertainty!

Awful prof

He is literally the worst lecturer and is extremely unorganized with assignments, when they are due, and the grading scale. He is extremely rude and condescending, barely teaches, and blatantly ignores students and their questions. MAT22A is supposed to be easy according to the counselors, but he made this class difficult and miserable.

Very confusing lectures. It seems that he does not know how to teach. He borrows other professors' lecture slides and homework problems. AVOID.

Definitely avoid him. Worst professor ever. He doesn't know how to teach and never prepare his lecture notes.

assigning three projects in less than four weeks. I don't know why this guy can be a professor. Use others' PPT and homework and never explain the materials related to this assignment. He assumes that you've gained a Doctor Degree for Maths before attending his class.

Puckett's MAT 167 is and will continue haunt me as the worst nightmare of my life. I used LaTex before, but he had 6 BIG assignment all in Latex and Matlab, and a final project, along with midterm and final. His class has been a complete waste of my energy. He made this class hard for no reason. Thank you for destroying my passion for math.

He gives an unrealistic amount of work, with very confusing notes and source material. It is a borderline Computer Science course. Don’t waste your time, the rewards don’t outweigh the benefits.

He's a nice guy but hands down the worst professor I've ever had. He pretty much just scribbles random stuff on the board, smudges it, then writes over it. Rinse repeat every lecture.

Well the real issue is Final is 60% and with almost no curve, u will have a hard time following him during lectures and end up just teaching yourself.

One of the worst math professors I have ever had. Lectures are incoherent to the point where even Puckett gets himself confused, and are overall unhelpful. I honestly learned more from my TA's discussion sections than Puckett's lectures. If you have to take Puckett, I'd advise skipping lecture and just self-studying from the textbook.

He doesn't keep his promise. He claimed that he would apply two algorithms to each student to calculate their grades, send an email to address the final grade, and a curve would be given. However, he did not do any of them. I published my opinions about his misconduct on Piazza twice. Both of them got deleted and I was kicked out of the class. 1984

Independent study necessary- Watch professor leonard on yt!!

do NOT take his class. he is passive aggressive and does not teach the concepts well. be ready to self study because he either starts going off about MAT 167 or does not explain thoroughly. only thing he does well is respond quickly on piazza.

Not a very good lecturer. Also he grades exams very strangely, because there were many instances in which I got the right answer, but got 5+ points docked off for not having it in the right format (and similar trivial reasons). He is very good at responding to piazza, and he is open to extending deadlines for webworks, though.

His lectures frequently used material from other professors, and it's clear that he didn't know how to teach. He was rude to students asking for extra material to study for exams and frequently gave out information for the class last-minute. It was more helpful to watch lectures from the creator of the textbook than it was to go to lecture.

He is one of the worst professors I have ever had and this is coming from a math major. The grading criteria was 20%webwork, 20%midterm1, 20%midterm2 and 40 %final.The grading was so tough and he is not ready to curve even if the class performs bad. He did not give any answer keys for the practice midterms which made it so tough to figure out.

Horrible professor

Lectures are boring as hell, no one even goes. Buddy rambles on in circles like a dog chasing its tail and in the end wastes 50 mins of my life 3 times a week. His grading is the toughest I've encountered by a math professor. Doesn't curve the class although his exam averages are low. Doesn't provide answers to practice material. Just avoid him.

By far the worst professor I've ever had. The way he grades the tests drives me crazy. Even if you've written the correct answer, he won't give you credit if it's not written in the way he wants. Don't believe any of the positive reviews here. Take my advice and run.

It's a full self-teach up in here. Lectures are off-topic and just hard to follow. Hardly even covers all of the material. Can get snappy at students. Would've been an interesting subject if not made horribly boring. Good curve, mostly fair tests. Usually helpful practice tests though he won't post an answer key and is vague about correct answers.

Prof. Puckett's 22A was an exercise in misery. He spends far too much time on useless topics and fails to even mention basic important things like eigenvalues. He uses mysterious nonstandard notation and will grade you down for not using it on tests. He does not care about students. Avoid at all costs.

Professor was terrible. He taught through the textbook, his midterm covered more than the scope of the homework and lectures, and was boring overall. His practice tests sucked and his teaching style is garbage. Avoid taking if possible.

In my experience Elbridge Puckett is completely ineffective at teaching this class through lecture. Every lecture was riddled with non-standard notation, errors, random computer science tangents, and technical difficulties. Linear algebra is an interesting topic with fairly easy methods, but Puckett makes it really difficult. Avoid if possible.

Very strict with his own notation and will mark you down if you don't use it on his exams. Lectures are hard to follow; he goes on random tangents. Avoid if possible.

Useless lectures. Goes on random tangents. Strict with using his own special notations. Avoid if possible.

Doomsday Imminent. Prepare for the downfall of your life. 3 unit class that actually ends your life its over

So I'm basically straight As for so many years and this class gave me the 1st C ever. I felt actually relieved when I got my final grade cuz it was literally 4 hours b4 the deadline of submitting grade to oasis. This professor ruined my whole quarter with his condescending but useless teaching. Take his class only when you can self-teach.

He needs to retire. CAN'T TEACH AT ALL. Terrible wording on tests, relies on another professor from MIT to teach through a youtube playlist. He is the least tech savvy person that WORKS WITH COMPUTERS I have ever seen in my life. One time he couldn't log into the wifi on his tablet because he didn't realize there was no password inputted.

This man makes it a point to dock off points if you don't follow his particular notation to a T. It genuinely boggles my mind how he still has a job in general. The only reliant resources are the TAs, Strang's YouTube videos, and the textbook. Puckett's lectures only demonstrate his ineptitude and inability to express any ounce of empathy.

Wowza. Ummmmm, I'll just say that I took his class for the credit. After the first midterm, I didn't attend lectures 99% of the time. Linear Algebra isn't a hard class if you have the right resources to learn from (aka Khan Academy, Strang's YouTube vids, random lecture notes from other universities). Puckett just isn't one of them. Avoid...

My advice for anyone who has to take this class is to do what I did: watch the MIT OpenCourse Strang lectures, read the textbook afterwards, and spend real time and energy doing the homework. His tests are very similar to his practice exams, so doing those is very worthwhile. He's not a great professor, but doing well in the class is possible.

never wore a seatbelt on the way to his lecture because i hoped i'd die before making it to his class

Professor Puckett shows up late to lecture completely unprepared. His lectures ramble on on tangents and the majority of his class is useless tangents. Makes you write up your homework in latex which turns it into a huge pain. He cares more about document naming and formatting than actually doing math problems. Try to get literally any other prof.

his lecture is literally incoherent, there are an ABSURD amount of homeworks and everything has to be formatted in latex. This sounds harsh but unfortunately he is one of if not the worse professor that I've had through out my 4 years of college as a statistics and econ major.

Great if you've ever wondered what it would be like if Joe Biden taught linear algebra.

Everything they say is true. Terrible lectures and pedantic grader who cares more about notation than the actual concepts he's attempting to teach.

I don't know why the final exam take hafl percentage. The lecture is kind of messy. The professor should retire.