3.1
Quality3.1
Difficulty35%
Would Retake96
Reviews35%
Would Retake
96
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
96 total ratings5
24
4
21
3
15
2
17
1
19
What Students Say
“Midterm 1 avg score was 13/20, midterm 2 avg score was slightly less than 11/20”
MATH3B - 1.0 rating“It's really bad to have a professor who had few, easy homework and complicated exams”
MATH3B - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
24%
Textbook Required
38%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.22 avg changeRatings by Course
122AB
5.0
(1)NUMERICALANALY
5.0
(1)MATH122B
5.0
(2)MATH5C
5.0
(1)MATH5A
4.7
(9)Difficulty by Course
MATH104C
3.6
104B
3.5
MATH3B
3.3
MATH104A
3.2
NUMERICALANALY
3.0
Reviews (95)
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Cool prof. Very clear explanations. Rock on.
Very clear and easy to understand. A good teacher.
Great prof, writes a little small for people in the back, but nonetheless a clear and concise professor. Quite well spoken and understandable for a guy whose first language wasn't English. Really, better at speaking English than many American profs. Uncommon for a calculus prof. :)
AWESOME!
hes a good teacher, and lectures are actually helpful to attend. his midterm wasn't too bad either
Clear, gave lots of good examples, and gave tests that were reasonable.
Awesome teacher. Practice tests just like midterm/final.
Great professor. He is very good at explaining concepts and gives great examples. His tests are very much like the practice exams he posts online. Homework is worth a lot for a math class and he only grades one or two problems, so if you mess up on the hw it can really affect your grade. Overall I loved the class.
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go to review sessions they help
Very good.
tests are pretty fair. really good teacher, but not that helpful in office hours. homeworks are hard and are graded unfairly but if you can do them you are set for the tests.
class ok but quite possibly the most unhelpful prof i've ever had. Doesn't help in office hours and i don't know who grades the hw/exams but whoever it is must have some sort of learning disability. easy A for me in 104a but got a B in 104b even though i did much better on the hw/final. Yeah that makes a whole lot of sense...
Two weeks into the class and I have to give him an F--. He is completely unclear, and the book is awful to boot. He teaches math as if it's voodoo.
He's not bad at all. Despite the homework being easy it is all totally busy work though. This class takes time to understand everything fully so you can't try to do everything at the last minute.
WOW, WHAT AN AMAZING TEACHER. GOT AN A+ and I slept through class & barely did any homework. VERY CLEAR AND CONCISE GUY. HOT TOO! IMHO
To the reviewer below: you wouldn't know a good professor if he smacked you in the face with knowledge.
Class is somewhat difficult for people with no programming experience. Prof flys through material by providing proofs for methods rather making sure students intuitively understand material. No one seems to be very interested until he cracks a joke or two...not enough to make the class worthwhile.
Boring!!!!! and he had the nerve to question why i didnt come to class. midterms is like the practice. he goes through material too fast and he doesnt care if you know how to program or not.
simply the best. funny as hell and excellent at explaining things; his boadwork is great! Very approachable and he is hot too!
Probably the best Math prof. that I've had at this university (and I've almost had them all). His boardwork is perfect, he spends lots of time making sure you understand theory and his tests are very fair (do the practice ones!). He isn't exactly the type of prof. to just GIVE you the answer, but he'll point you in the right direction. A+!
Explains concepts well and goes through a lot of examples. Practice midterm was identical to the real midterm. Homework is hard, but not worth that much. CLAS is a good call.
He is great. He has a special talent to explain things and to connect to applications. He is really funny and approachable. Best prof I had at UCSB
His lectures were inspiring. I had no clue what I could do professionally until I took this class. He connects concepts to the real world. Great prof and sweet person too. This class with him is a must for all applied math majors.
Not the best teacher ever or anything, but i guess he gets the job done considering calculus is pretty boring. He is quite repetitive in class though.
AWFUL TEACHER!!! He cannot explain anything in comprehensible terms. He just talks directly to the board the entire hour. He never provides example problems, and just goes into a lengthy proof of the idea, which he later tells us we don't need to know. If I have to hear him say "exes squared" one more time....
A good professor, probably better for a harder class. He teaches simple things in complicated terms which can be confusing, but he is actually a good teacher. The homework is often way harder that the examples in class, but some of it your discussion section should help with.
He's a great professor. BUT spends the entire class time showing us how he got the formula rather than how to use it!!! Impossible Final Review, with no answers!!! :) and yeah, pretty much talks to the board!!! But hes funny when he wants to be. If that even matters when your going to fail the class lol....
He was hard to understand at first since he wrote extremely small but he stepped up his game for the rest of the quarter. If it weren't for CLAS though, I would've probably failed. I only used the textbook as a reference---you can get away with online help and tutoring to complete the homework. Review was indicative of final exam. Not bad. I passed
If you can avoid this professor. He is not only hard to understand but he also tries to cram in as many topics into one lecture as he can. I did not learn in his class, I learned more from my TA than I did him. He is also kind of boring. Final worth 50%of grade, so if you need to do very well in order to pass. Hard class, take another professor.
Decent teacher. Spends a lot of time on proofs in lecture but works along with the text book. His tests are fair and straight foward. If you do all the homework and read examples in the book you will do fine. He was hard to understand at first but you get used to it.
fairly easy, comes off a bit arrogant. Used homework problems on midterm and gave a practice final that helped immensely. Lectures were dry
Knowledgeable guy. If you can do the homework you'll do well in the class. Go to TA office hours if you need help. CLAS!
Pretty good professor. Answers questions well. Kinda funny. Would recommend.
Hector speaks with a bit of an accent, but you get used to it. His blackboard work is very clear and easy to follow. Much better than other math professors I've had.
Hands down the best prof I ever had. He is inspiring, caring, and a gifted mathematician. A must for any math major.
Hector is very helpful and made the class enjoyable. Homework was brief but challenging and the practice final exam proved similar to the final.
Funny, nice guy, he lectures really quick but he explains the material well.
Ceniceros lectures at the speed of light. He writes things down extremely fast and has explained it all before I can even look up from writing. It was hard to try to get all the notes down, which was a shame because I would miss his explanations. He gives practice problems for the exams... do every single problem; they'll be on the exam.
This is the worst 104A professor. Take it with anybody else.
Possibly the best math prof I've had at UCSB, he's able to communicate complicated material in a way that makes sense, homework assignments are challenging but helpful, and you get to learn how to use matlab in the process. grading is fair, prof is very available through OH
Hides behind a veneer of humor. Going to office hours is more painful than the dentist unless you enjoy being made feel like you're incompetent. Will assume that you understand the wall of complex summations he writes in lecture without clarification and answers questions superficially. 0/10 do not recommend
He lectures a bit faster than I'd like, but nothing too wild. His homework for the most part in this course was pretty reasonable. He does review days prior to his exams, and the exams themselves are very straightforward no tricks at all. You'll know what you need to know for the tests. Funny guy too! Though his humor can be pretty dry. 8.5/10
Nice guy with "lightheartedly cruel" lecture humor. Regurgitates the lecture notes which i'm pretty sure all the 104 profs use. Hw was hard but worth doing and understanding. Tests were T/F style--(W)TF, indeed. I don't think anyone expected him to double down on it for the final, but we should have known better. He may or may not pull this again..
His homework for 104A was challenging, but not impossible. Attendance isn't *really* mandatory but he randomly checks every few weeks. His lectures are clear for the most part, and he's pretty funny. The tests, however... dude gave us a T/F midterm AND final. They weren't very easy questions either .. top 10 anime betrayals smh.
It's really bad to have a professor who had few, easy homework and complicated exams.
Homework is a poor indicator of exam difficulty. Gives out little practice for exams. Claims to pick test material from lecture, however, tests on less emphasized, obscure material. His averages are alot lower than typical Math3B courses. Class average was a D+ for the first midterm, an F for the second. Seems to not like the idea of curving much.
Avoid at all costs. Midterm 1 avg score was 13/20, midterm 2 avg score was slightly less than 11/20. These scores represent his teaching quality: most ppl in this class are around these average scores. He has tenure (his lack of care is apparent) and, thus, is not obligated to curve. Told us we can't use a notecard only 2 days before our final exam
Unorganized. He assumes you're already familiar with many properties in order to solve math problems. He has tenure so he doesn't care if you understand his explanations in lectures. He's annoyed when you ask him questions. Going to sections & doing HW won't help you do well in exams. Taking prerequisite class not a guarantee you'd do well in class
Awful lecturer. Goes way too fast and writes formula after formula, without providing intuition or a big picture. Helpful in office hours at least. Provides study guides for midterm and final, which are very helpful and yielded a high average.
Best math prof I had. His lectures are inspiring and deep. He makes sure you understand the main concepts and results. But you have to work pretty hard in his course. He demands a high standard. He really knows his stuff.
Really chill dude. One midterm thats similar to the practice, no final but has a project. Homework are really helpful
Lectures are clear and he makes concepts pretty simple. Practice tests help you prepare for actual exams. Gives very little homework which is great but also prevents you from fully understanding stuff. I read the book to get a more intuitive understanding of stuff.
Midterm is easy because it is similar to the practice exam. My friends in other 2 professors' classes both have hard exams, so I feel so lucky.
His lectures are not understandable unless you already know the material. You are basically self studying if you take this course.
This professor is the best! I would retake him if he thought MATH4A. His exams are easy and right to the point. He's kind and reminds you when you have an exam coming up. He always welcomes you to the office hours for more questions on how to solve a math equation you couldn't get in the exam. I would recommend 100% for the online course. HMWexam
He's a nice guy, but lectures do not make sense. TAs did a better job of teaching than him, but his exams weren't that bad or homework. Plus he drops your lowest exam which is a huge plus. Most of the time I self-taught with the textbook and did practice problems.
Prof. Ceniceros can be unclear his lecture videos; the material is more glossed over and there doesn't feel like a lot of structure. I often was lost during lectures and had to review later. To be fair, his quizzes were very generous with a few questions and a large time window.
Since I took this online due to COVID, all his lectures were recorded and super unhelpful. The first week or two weren't bad since it was mostly review, but after that I had to stop listening to his lectures and watched organic chem tutor instead. 5 "tests" (5 questions) and you have a lot of time so they were not too hard. Just doesn't teach well.
No difference in listening to his recorded lecture from just reading his notes yourself, which are equally unclear. The recorded videos seem meaningless since he just transcribes his notes again and reads them verbatim. Not a good teacher.
He might be passionate about numerical analysis ... but he's not a good teacher. It's sad the lecture recordings were from over a year ago.
Not a good teacher. Not a good teacher. He rewrite the note on board and there is no practice for the exams.
Prof. Ceniceros knows his stuff about numerical analysis. I truly learned a lot from him and he is quite funny in class just to make lecture not boring. Numerical analysis is really hard b/c the content is huge, but he encourages students to go to his office hour and it is been very helpful.
Took this course in the summer. Checks attendance every now and then (~10% of grade)Hard material but his lectures were fun to attend for me, as long as you learned the concepts it was fine. HW does require coding knowledge, he doesn't teach you to code but is helpful in OH. 2 exams that were ~4-5 questions with T/F and curved a lot at the end.
Professor Ceniceros is a nice person, but I would NEVER take his class again. Lectures are awful, homework is hard with no explanations, and midterms were misleadingly easy in comparison to the final that seemed to be written by the devil himself. I would routinely leave the lecture hall basically shellshocked. Do what you will with this info.
Professor Ceniceros is genuinely a really nice guy - he gives very much uncle/grandpa vibes. However, he is completely inaccessible by email and will basically never respond. The class is weighted very unfairly and the final is worth 40% and our class average was below a 55%. Do not take if you are a bad test taker.
Professor was incredibly rude to students. He posts practice exams without keys, then refuses to help students with it during office hours, saying it isn't his responsibility. I asked a clarification question during the final and he announced to the room that if you have this question you must never attend class. I never missed a lecture though...
He does not explain well
bro wants to be a comedian so bad. sitting through his lectures is actually diabolical. never again
Much easier than my AP Calc AB teacher's content (it was hell on earth in that class where almost all bc was crammed in 3 weeks, right after the ap exam with no curves and grade average of D)
lecture so bad today im doing this mid class. his lectures are really confusing for topics that are not super hard. the tests are pretty easy but you have to self study. he tries really hard to be funny in class but is kinda mean to student
He's a nice person but a bad teacher. He likes to make jokes and lighten the mood, which is appreciated sometimes. However it's hard to understand him through his accent and he goes through things very fast without fully explaining. I left the class, especially the second half, very confused and had to teach myself and have the TA help explain.
He is not good at teaching. He is clearly a genius but he is so smart that he cannot comprehend how you do not understand. He skips complex steps because for him they are mental math. He is probably very good at math but he cannot teach. He does not like answering questions.
If I could give a 0 on everything I would. He's has funny dry humor but his lectures dont make sense, he never answers questions and his tests are stupid hard. Don't be fooled by the first two midterms, the final is so hard. Stupid hard. If you can not take him, don't.
His lectures are not chill. His explanation skills are subpar and you will find yourself doing all of your learning outside of class.
His lectures are difficult to understand because he goes so fast but once you read the notes after, it's pretty clear. His midterms were pretty easy but the final was more difficult. His final were similar to questions from other midterms, review, and homework. Also for the midterms, the grading criteria is pretty harsh.
Super silly and sweet guy, just not that great of a teacher. He's super smart so he breezes over certain topics that are crucial to understand and his lectures are really confusing because he only uses textbook notations that make no sense. Try to learn concepts before lecture so it's easier to digest. Midterms are really easy, final is brutal.
Doesn't go in depth with concepts in lecture, basically have to reteach yourself everything after. Easy midterms but very hard final.
He's nice and makes a lot of jokes (some are pretty funny) but not a great teacher because he moves super fast and doesn't explain concepts very well. He kinda seems to assume that all of his students are math geniuses. You'll mostly have to teach yourself, and while the midterms are easy the final is really hard.
Content was very easy although professor isn't good at teaching the content from what I've seen. Arc Length, Euler's method, Parametric Equations & Polar Coordinates, and vector-valued functions were not in his 3B curriculum with more emphasis on series & sequences and integration techniques. Midterms were easy final was of average difficulty.
Ceniceros is a decent person, but not the best professor. There just isn't enough time to learn all of calc 2 in 10 weeks. He also skips a lot of steps while lecturing. Both midterms (4 questions) were pretty easy, compared to the homework and practice problems. The final was a bit more difficult with 5 questions with 3 parts to each question.
He often skipped a lot of the material, expecting the students to know. The two midterms were EXTREMELY easy, but the final was a bit more difficult but not too bad. Homework was about 10 questions every week, which were medium-difficultly. It's fine to use AI because problems like those won't appear on the midterms.
Professor Ceniceros is funny and knows how to lighten the mood in class. I wouldn't recommend writing notes while he goes over them in class because he tends to go quickly at times. I received a 71% only because I didn't study, and on the next midterm, I received an 83%. The final was easy as well the only difficult part was the last two problems.
He tried to be funny in class and final wasnt that bad just had some stuff (2Qs) that were on rlly new stuff we just learned. Hw is literally ez bc you can try until its right and the midterms werent too bad just be sure to study and maybe study off the textbook😜gave lots of examples in lecture
midterm, homework very doable and easy. final not too bad, just a lot of studying outside of class since lecture tends to move really fast
The midterms were really easy and the final was more difficult. The homework isn't too bad. He goes through the examples really fast, so you won't have the chance to take notes or understand fully during lecture. Personally, I had to relearn everything outside of class because I couldn't understand the content fast enough during lecture.
Professor Ceniceros is a fun and smart guy but can't teach. His lectures are fast and he rarely takes questions. I learned about half of the material of my own. The easy midterms and mildly difficult final make getting an A in his class not that hard.
Ceniceros was a great teacher. Clearly very knowledgeable about the material. Lectures moved a bit quickly but it was never unmanageable. Midterms and final had simple questions and the class never got too challenging overall.
Class average on the final was a 50 something and was worth 40% of our grade. Terrible lecturer and the midterms were misleadingly easy compared to the evil evil final.
bad lecturer. a little bit of a language barrier as well. tries to be funny and draw really good graphs but it just wastes class time. not many resources to help you learn aside from a confusing textbook. he isn't rude or anything just a mid prof.
Honestly for calculus, I would recommend taking him. His midterms and finals are very simple integrals that you can solve. The final was a bit hard but does curve up the class which helps a lot. His lectures were sometimes confusing but honestly he is a very good professor. Just study hard and go to CLAS or your TA if you need help. His OH help too
I took Calc AB in high school, and understood the topics. The first half of the course was review, but I got confused even on topics I already knew because he skips steps. He obviously understands the material, but doesn't seem to understand that students may not. The first two midterms were much simpler in comparison to the final.
Lectures could be explained better but as a STEM student I was able to figure it out with not too much trouble. I had an unconvential experience with this course and Professor Ceniceros was flexible with me in accomodating after having to take a leave of absence with the university.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
24%
Textbook Required
38%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.22 avg changeRatings by Course
122AB
5.0
(1)NUMERICALANALY
5.0
(1)MATH122B
5.0
(2)MATH5C
5.0
(1)MATH5A
4.7
(9)Difficulty by Course
MATH104C
3.6
104B
3.5
MATH3B
3.3
MATH104A
3.2
NUMERICALANALY
3.0