2.8
Quality3.3
Difficulty51%
Would Retake86
Reviews51%
Would Retake
86
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
18
4
17
3
11
2
14
1
26
What Students Say
“Trnkova is the best math professor I have ever taken at UC Davis”
MAT17B - 5.0 rating“Trnkova was a great professor that showed she cared about my learning”
MAT17B - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
11%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.18 avg changeRatings by Course
MAT125B
5.0
(1)MAT16C
5.0
(1)MAT016B
4.5
(2)MAT16B
4.0
(4)MAT114
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
MAT017A
4.0
MAT17A
3.5
17C
3.0
MAT016B
3.0
MAT114
3.0
Reviews (86)
She wasn't so good at lecturing and there were many times that she had to stop and think. Her weekly quiz was easy but helpful. Earning an A shouldn't be tough if you read the book and study on your own.
Thoughtful, kind professor. It's rare to have a professor who considers the students' learning experience as she does. While learning about history of mathematics, her passion for the subject shines through in her lectures. Her lecturing is not perfect (she had mentioned she is still learning English!), but her lectures are better than most profs.
Definitely would not recommend. Not very clear in her expectations or explanations. Makes many mistakes when proving or solving a problem. No clear guidelines for what will be on exams.
The expectations are clear, and the homework and the tests are fair. She won't give a curve, but getting an A is reasonable if you attend the lecture and do the homework.
She's a nice caring teacher who cares about her students. She is not the best lecturer and she has a heavy russian accent that you get used to pretty quickly. She gives a good amount of homework that is much more challenging than her tests. I would say her tests are very straightforward. as long as you do the practice midterm you'll be fine.
She has a heavy accent and at times her lectures aren't that clear/helpful, but she posts the lecture notes online and gives homework that really prepares you for the tests (and isn't too stressful). Tests are easy.
The practice exams aren't really like the actual exams. She throws curveballs so be sure to study more than the practice material. When asked a question, she does not really answer it. The homework is a lot, and does not really bring your grade up all that much at the end, but significantly drops if it is not turned in. Would lowkey not recommend.
Trnkova is easily one of the best professors I've ever had. If you've taken a calculus class before, then the material she provides should be relatively easy. She does give a lot of homework, often more difficult than her exams. Her exams involve more straightforward problems rather than application, making them really easy.
Trnkova is the best math professor I have ever taken at UC Davis. She truly cares about the subject she teaches and really wants you to succeed in her class. I would 100% recommend her to any other student. The exams are super straight forward as long as you do the homework and she gives great practice exams before each midterm/final.
Trnkova was a great professor that showed she cared about my learning. The midterms and final were only based on what was covered in lecture. The textbook wasn't required but helped. She provided practice midterms and a practice final that were very similar to the actual exams and the homework was a great studying tool for the final.
Wasn't a very good lecturer and has a pretty heavy accent. She cares about her students and has fair tests but she isn't the best at explaining things. I would try to find another professor but i wouldn't worry about failing if you had to take her. It could be worse
Final was at 1 A.M, I slept until 12 P.M, still aced the final. Easiest class in my entire life.
Maria Trnkova is one of my favorite mathematics professors at UC Davis. Though she is very soft spoken and sometimes allows irrelevant questions to derail her lectures, she has a clear passion for mathematics as well as teaching. She is always patient to explain complicated topics. Her homework was challenging but the exams were a breeze.
She is a really nice and caring professor. She posts the notes online and she explains topics decently. She does listen to suggestions and try to improve the class. Now a big issue is we had a lot of homework using MyMathLab which didn't reinforce my understanding and sometimes her exam questions are difficult but she's a generous grader.
She doesn't explain topics very well, but is very kind and tries her best to listen to suggestions. Her final exam is worth 50% of your grade which makes your grade in the class depend on one exam which is very frustrating. To add to this, the final was incredibly more difficult than the practice exam. However, she does give a lot of partial credit
Preoccupied by her application of grants, not prepared for classes, multiple obvious errors on the solution of final exam.
Great professor, and extremely kind, her midterm practice test really prepare you for her test and her homework does too, I had her with the coronavirus outbreak going on and she was so considerate. Also she records her lectures so you can always go back to review her material. Greeeeeaaaat professor 10/10 recommend.
I loved having Professor Trnkova for MAT17B! She is very nice and cares greatly about her students. I really appreciate her tests because they are straight-forward and allow students to truly show if they know the math concepts or not. There are no tricks like other math professors have on their tests. Take Professor Trnkova if you have the chance!
Professor Trnkova cares for her students and is always willing to listen to their input. Her class is not hard to pass with some self studying and discussion help. She is a good teacher but uses complicated methods to explain simple topics. Her homework really helps clear things up. It is hard to do bad on her tests (similar to practice test).
The course itself was not difficult, but professor trnkova simply did not know how to explain even the simplest concepts. I had to read the textbook to realize that she explained things in a very complicated manner. She also showed irritation when students asked questions in class and didn't do very well answering questions. Would not recommend.
i had her for math 17c during winter quarter, class was not that hard, went into final with c+ but thanks to corona she just made the midterm past homework(which we still had access to and all the solutions) all in all I got a 12/12 on the final and ended up with a B. Would take her again if I knew there was a pandemic coming
Terrible lectures, but I would still take this class because you can miss half the problems on the test and she would still find a way to give you an A.
While she can be very soft-spoken and hard to understand sometimes (has an accent), Trnkova is sweet and cares about her students. She's very approachable and her exams were a breeze. They were easy and predictable. The homework can take a while, but it's great review for the tests. I definitely recommend MAT17B with her over any other professor.
She is one of my favorite calc professors. I have seen people mention her accent but I had no issues understanding her, I think it depends on past experience . Her tests are incredibly fair, and there was no curve given the average grades in the class. Homework is super manageable and her TA's were well prepared and helpful!
Her class was all over the place. I honestly could not pay attention during lecture. The material is a bit confusing but I learned a lot from my TA. (Thank you Casey Duckwall!)The midterms were really easy but the final was really hard. She was helpful when answering questions but overall I wouldn't recommend her.
Not meant as an insult, but she has a very high voice with an accent which makes it hard to listen to her for a 50 minute lecture. Depended on the webassign HW (don't leave until the last minute to finish as it can take over 4 hours sometimes) and my TA to teach me most of the material. Good thing is the tests were very straight forward.
I took 17B with another professor in spring and didn't do too well, decided to retake in fall and so thankful I did!! She teaches the material in a very understandable way and the homework really helps!! Exams are super fair and reflect her expectations! I recommend 100% if you want an easy A
Her practice exams are like the the exams. She doesnt make her test hard. When Covid began she went online before anyone did and she helped us with the final exams. I would recommend this professor.
She's not the worst, but she's not the best. If you just watch her (recorded) lectures and follow along with the HW, you'll do fine. Lectures are really long though (can get up to 2 hours) :/ I mainly watched YouTube videos because her lectures can get a little confusing. Exams are proctored, 4 exams and no final.
Her accent takes a while to get used to but she's a pretty average teacher. Her hw is what really helps you study for the tests. Due to online classes, we had 5 midterms and no final. Each midterm was out of 50 points. She does change the grade cut-offs every midterm depending on the class average. Midterms are pretty similar to hw a little harder
I am NOT a math student. With that, she is a fantastic professor. Her lectures were to the point, practice exams basically told flat-out what would be on the real ones, and she really truly cares + enjoys teaching! Very accessible for an online course + my most organized and genuine prof by FAR. EC on all exams, curve is very fair, and super kind.
Lectures and notes get right to the point. Her practice exams are exactly how the midterms are and extra credit was offered on all tests. She does have an accent which can be hard to understand, but otherwise, watch all the 10 min. videos and do the hw/practice exams and you'll do fine.
Professor Trnkova is the sweetest most caring professor ever. She really goes above and beyond to make the class easier and convenient for students. Homeworks aren't graded but good practise for the tests. Office hours were really helpful and Professor would give her best to explain all the problem. Loved the class. Definitely recommended.
had her for math 21b in fall 2019 and the exams were only a few questions and they were so easy. trnkova is an ok lecturer, she made mistakes sometimes but it was alright overall.
Beware of biweekly homeworks that take hours to complete! Quizzes were a breeze, and the midterm and final were decent. Trnkova is very kind and a good lecturer, but the class is mostly based on the actual math they used in ancient times versus the history of math. So, the tests and homework require you to learn that ancient math and use it.
Had for 111 and 114. She is a great professor that really cares about her students and puts effort into her lectures. Her English holds her back a little, but she is patient and will walk you through topics you are confused on. Exams are relatively easy, and she gives a practice exam that is similar to the actual test. Would take again!
Took this class in summer so the pace was much faster than usual but Dr. Trnkova made sure she was flexible to everyone's schedule and accommodated to our needs. There was 2 homework assignments weekly, a couple group worksheets and writing assignments which was just one problem on the current topic. Overall the class was good just pay attention.
Honestly going into it I didn' have high hopes based off of her ratings but she is the most caring and clear lecturer for math. I am not the most mathematically inclined but her class came so easy for me. Her exams are super easy (easier than her lecture examples), she drops scores and if you do the practice exam you will be prepared to get an A .
A very caring professor, tries her best and constantly asks for feedback as to how to improve or better explain. Not the best lecturer, makes mistakes often & skips over steps, making it confusing as to how she got the solution. Class itself: 1 group worksheet, HW and writing assignment weekly, 3 midterms, 1 final. Holds extra OH if students needit
Professor Trnkova is AWESOME! textbook is optional and I didnt use it bc her lecture notes/recordings already explained everything well. Discussion worksheets and lecture problems are more complicated than tests, and she gives you practice materials. She also records office hours and hw explanation vids. 100% would take again.
She really is the sweetest and wants to be the best professor for her student but sometimes lectures can be heavy, long, and confusing. The class: weekly hw, weekly group worksheets, weekly writing assignments(except on midterm week), 3 midterms, and final. You have to put a lot of outside time to pass like going to tutoring or making study groups.
Professor Trnkova was a very caring professor. Her lectures aren't anything special but she explains stuff well enough and is open to answering questions during class or OH. Her exams were fair and her homework helped to prepare for the exams. I took Calculus in high school and her class was relatively easy to get a decent grade in.
A very caring professor and you can tell she wants the best for her students. Her tests are very straight forward and simple. There are a lot of homework assignments every week that can sometimes take hours to complete but help when studying for exams. Not the best lecturer and can be confusing but overall good professor.
Professor Trnkova is very caring. I am not the best in calc so I was able to have in-person and zoom office hours with her. She took time out of her day for extra OH. However, her lectures can be confusing as she skips some steps. She also allows a formula sheet for the midterms which was very helpful! Definitely would take her again!
Maria is the what sweetness would be as a person. She actively seeks feedback from the class on how to improve and loves to connect to the class as much as possible though funny demonstations and candy. That being said, she doesn't do a very good job lecturing due to her language barrier, but gets the main point across for you to self study
Professor Trnkova is really approachable and her class is very doable. She offers extra credit on midterms and most of the midterms are pretty reasonable.
Allowed us to use a formula sheet during exams and was very caring and kind towards the students. Such a sweetheart. Lectures were kind of confusing, but were recorded and posted online.
She is a super fair grader and is just so genuine and sweet! Love her, and if you just listen and do homework you should be good to go!
WOW. Loved this class. Such a sweet professor and so understanding. Let us have an entire paper front and back as a cheat sheet for every exam. Exams were very fair!!! Love her!
Trnkova is an approachable professor and cares about our success, but I found her lectures confusing, unengaging, and unhelpful. Her way of teaching concepts often involved working through difficult and tedious problems, sometimes making errors. The homework was difficult and took a bit of work. The exams were all right though. Textbook helps a lot
Although she clearly cares about her students, her lectures can be difficult to follow and the the homework is often too difficult. Makes up for it by offering extra credit on exams, allowing self-made formula sheets, and dropping the lowest midterm. Would only recommend if you have already taken some form of calculus course before.
Prof. Trnkova gives very good lectures and explains things clearly and slowly enough for everyone to understand. She is also the most caring and nicest prof, so don't hesitate to reach out to her. The exams were very doable as long as you understand the things from lecture and do the practice problems.
Explains concepts very ineffectively, notes are hard to follow, extremely disorganized notes. Diverts from the main topic which is ultimately very confusing and does not manage the time of lecture well. The homework is not part of the grade, so if you're not a good test-taker, you will fail this class. Overall, do not recommend
The class felt extremely disorganized, and her explanations often made the material more confusing instead of clearer. The workload and test style didn't match, so even after doing everything assigned, it was hard to feel prepared. Overall, her teaching approach made the course far more difficult than it needed to be.
Lectures are unclear, often makes many mistakes during lectures/midterms. Doesn't give extra credit, homework doesn't count towards the grade, doesn't give practice exams bc she says it lowers performance. Will tell you to give up on math if you do badly, and I honestly wish I could get hit by a car every time I had to bike to her class.
She is genuinely a caring professor but I always hope I get hit by the Unitrans every morning before coming to her lectures. HW does not match with the midterms.
Her explanations are vague and unclear, and she expects students to already know how to solve most problems. The class is unorganized, with confusing worksheet directions and frequent grading errors that students must point out. One worksheet from the second week is still ungraded due to unclear instructions. Midterms don't match anything she teach
Her lectures are very confusing and unorganized. She often makes mistakes and skips steps in lecture. She can be hard to understand at times but is a kind person. The class is extremely test heavy and homework was ungraded.
midterms does not match with homeworks and wont give practice exams. her review is basically all the materials so.
85% of your grade is based on tests. If you're not the best test taker then this isn't the class for you, find a different professor to take it with. Lectures are confusing and hard to understand, they make it hard to transition into the homework. Homework isn't graded so you don't have to do it but you will need to to understand the tests.
She seems like such a nice person, but when asked multiple times she still refused to give any practice exams, she says the exams are like the homeworks and textbook problems which isn't true. I wouldn't recommend taking it with her if you haven't taken calc before. Discussions are mandatory.
Is a kind person, but I left her lectures more confused than before; she would make mistakes or not finish problems. She's okay if you took calc is HS, but if not, take another prof. Midterms are easier than the HW & lecture (final was not). There r so many HW Qs its hard to guess what will appear on the exam. You will need to self-teach fs.
If you have never taken calc before choose a different professor she does not know how to manage lecture time and often makes mistakes. Especially if this is your first time in a calc class, first impressions matter and she will often confuse you when introducing topics that aren't super difficult. Class grade based on MTs, Final, and wksheets.
This was my first time taking calc and she did not help at all. During lectures it felt like she didn't know what she was doing either. She made simple topics more confusing honestly didn't know how to explain it anyway. She got lost/confused in lecture a lot. She often messed up or got things wrong during lecture. I would not recommend!!
My friend said that she is not that good but yeah
If you've never taken calc before, please do NOT take this class.
No. Just no
I had no calculus background before taking this class and I deeply deeply deeply regret taking it. I'm not the same person I was before taking this class.
She said she would curve but didn't. The final was extremely difficult, and unlike any practice material (which was none), we were only given homework. She did not know what was going on during lectures, and could not solve the problems herself. Final exam comments on Gradescope seemed generated by ChatGPT. DO NOT TAKE.
overcomplicated simple topics, midterms were reasonable, no curve.
AVOID AT ALL COSTS! She is an awful professor who does not know how to teach! Says she would likely curve the entire course. At the end, she states the final was "good enough" to not curve, when the mean was 64 percent! Keep in mind, the final is worth 40 percent of your grade, homeworks arent graded, and there is NO CURVE. Terrible professor!
I would try to not take this professor. Provides no curve with an extremely difficult exam (66 avg), lectures were confusing and she herself would get confused on her problems almost once a lecture. Gradescope regrade responds are almost definitely made by Chat GPT. Literally got the same exact response twice. Although she is nice and available.
No curve after the final even though she said she would. She would get lost during the lectures and that makes us even more confused.
deadlines kept getting pushed around, such as the writing project that was a W2 discussion af
Worst prof ever. Do not take at all.
pick any other professor.
Extremely hard class to follow, odd grading criteria. Previously taken Calc before, this class has no real instructional value. Students were not able to learn calculus through this course because the professor isn't able to communicate (slight accent & messy writing) and confuses herself during lectures. The TA's aren't helpful. Anyone but her.
DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR! Her course sets you up to fail. She doesnt know how to lecture, doesnt give you any points for the countless homework assignments, doesny prepare you at all, and doesnt curve the class. You cannot be a poor professor and not curve your class when a majority of people are failing.
Worst math teacher ever. The whole quarter she told everyone that there is gonna be a curve just for her to not curve the class. She doesn't know how to lecture so if its your first time taking calculus just say bye to your gpa.
3 midterms and a final that were pretty much exactly like the homework. She mentioned a curve but ended up not giving one after the final. Overall a very doable class if you practice a lot with the hw and textbook questions.
Let me tell you something, alright. Took AP Calc? Great! It won't help for the first two midterms at all. Trnkova is sweet, but her lectures are disorganized and barely useful, and the homework doesn't match the tests. NO CURVE. Your GPA will take a hit. It's not worth it. trust.
It wasn't that bad, to be honest. Trnkova is a super nice person and is really accessible outside of class. Lectures aren't extremely effective(She brushes over the basics of each topic), but if you study correctly, it'll be fine. Tests are similar to homework; there was one question that deviated from it on each midterm. Would take again!
She often messed up her own examples during lecture which made topics super confusing. I often had to self-study the material because her lectures felt very unproductive. The grading for discussions were delayed and poorly handled. Also said she was going to curve but did not after the class average for the final (40% of the grade) was a 66%.
Dr. Trnkova was very clear about every aspect of her class from the start. Homework had no weightage toward your grade and was practice, tests were exactly like, if not easier, than said homework, and she did everything in her power to support students and help them to learn the material needed.
Trnkova wasn't the worst professor, but it often felt like her lectures were made up as she went along or like she didn't actually write them. If you took AP Calc and remember it, you should be set for this class. Midterms were pretty straightforward and everything covered was on the homework. Discussion section grading was handled kinda poorly.
Not an effective lecturer. Lectures are unclear, overly complicated, and unrelated to the homework. This is the first time I've ever taken a calc class so beware if that is true for you too. 3 MTs, no curve, no extra credit so far, and no retakes. Replaces worst MT with final exam grade. You will have to self study everything. She's nice though.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
11%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.18 avg changeRatings by Course
MAT125B
5.0
(1)MAT16C
5.0
(1)MAT016B
4.5
(2)MAT16B
4.0
(4)MAT114
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
MAT017A
4.0
MAT17A
3.5
17C
3.0
MAT016B
3.0
MAT114
3.0