2.4
Quality4.3
Difficulty26%
Would Retake278
Reviews26%
Would Retake
278
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
39
4
43
3
41
2
58
1
97
What Students Say
“Koblitz has no idea how to teach intro calculus”
MATH124 - 1.0 rating“If you aren't a veritable savant in the math department, just avoid his class”
MATH124 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
56%
Textbook Required
62%
Grade Predictor
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Predicted Grade
B
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MATHB
5.0
(1)MATHA
5.0
(1)MATAG
5.0
(1)MATHAA
5.0
(1)MATH124125
5.0
(3)Difficulty by Course
125
5.0
301
5.0
124125
5.0
MATH354
5.0
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5.0
Reviews (278)
Horrible, horrible man! He is without a doubt the worst teacher that I have ever had.
Test material vastly different from class material. Not a good teacher.
You may be thinking he can't be THAT bad. He is. I took his class back in 1996... some things never change. Avoid him like the plague!
Yep, most likely worst prof i have had, ended up dropping the class in 5th week.
Horrid professor. Had an average of about 30/100 on a test for the class, didn't go over the material again but kept testing on that one section for about half the total. Most students in the course were in engineering, we're not dumb people.
Dr. K expects a lot. He does not give 4.0's basically ever. But you can get a lot of knowledge from his class - especially grammar.
Doesn't really "teach". If you learn anything in this class it is through reading the book and doing homework. The class started with 25 students and by the end all but 10-12 had dropped the class. If you are a glutton for punishment take his class.
Over 25 started in this class, and only 7 received passing grades. Of them, the average was very low, below 2.5. Neal Koblitz obviously knows this stuff, and has a steadfast opinion on how it should be taught; however, he shows little interest in whether or not his students learned anything.
Dam!! I'm registered to take Paul Smith for Math 402 this autumn. Everyone said that he's bad, but all of you said that Koblitz is the worse prof ever! I'm hella afraid now....my best bet is to stick with Smith and hope for the best!! *crosses fingers*
I chose the UW because Neal Koblitz teaches there, but now I regret taking his course. It is the only course in which I have not received a 4.0 (got a 3.6). His exams are very difficult and his lectures are so-so. Even if you know the material, completing his exams is a challenge. You may or may not learn, but you will be disheartened.
Very difficult examinations. Expect to receive a much lower mark in his class than you are used to receiving. His lectures are not the most elucidating nor the most entertaining. Neal is a very smart and nice man, though.
IF YOU CAN AVOID IT...NEVER TAKE A CLASS BY HIM...WORST PROF I'VE EVER HAD
My grandmother died and he refused to consider the funeral as an "excused absence." I still have the email thread to prove it.
A lot of writing in this class. Got a score in the low 2.0s on the first draft and asked English whiz roommate to edit paper for 3 hrs; many revisions. Final draft improved by 0.1 gradepoints. He only accepts papers in HIS writing style. Not friendly or compassionate toward students. Take this class if you like to feel depressed about your writing.
WORST PROF EVER!! TERRIBLE CLASS!! Extremely harsh grading all based on very hard quizzes and exams, and the quizzes were typically about 45 min. He doesn't really teach anything, he just talks and does his examples halfway. Most of the class dropped, and we were mostly engr/cs students. I got a 2.3 from him and a 4.0 from math 307 at the same time
I learned nothing from this professor in two quarters. Avoid taking these classes if you can. If you can't, then get use to writting in his style as fast as you can. He is very particular.
Admittedly, he is an incredibly tough prof, but when I approached him with concerns, he was extremely encouraging and helpful.
I graduated 11 years ago, and I am still suffering from these classes. He harshly judges students' writing, yet the calculus texts we used in '95 were written (badly) by him. Avoid him at all costs
Marks me down for correct answers and unique but correct methods. I also tried to take a quiz early..I waited over an hour for him and he never showed...He has the most boring monotone voice I've ever heard. AVOID.
Not only is this man the most terrible teacher I have ever had, he is a straight-up bad person. Seriously, the most depressed I've ever been in college was because of him. I got a 1.7 on the first paper, and the lowest grade I've ever gotten in an English writing class is 3.8... Think that fact speaks for itself...
Not good, very confusing.
Everyone seems to do bad on the quizzes but he doesn't make any notice of changing the questions. No one has a clue about their current grade in the course. Also, the TA wasn't helpful.
Horrible teacher. His quizes are all word problems that are very hard to understand and His tests are the same way. Avoid if possible.
Prof. Koblitz brilliance does not translate in the classroom.
You can tell that Koblitz is a brilliant guy...I agree...it doesn't translate. Lectures were okay. Quizzes were ridiculous. Expect to be completely dumbfounded on some questions. Tests were pretty difficult as well. It's a passable class and you will learn a lot but expect to work hard and be frusturated. The TA was really bad...good luck
He cares a lot about the students learning the material. Hes pretty good at teaching and his office hours are also helpful. The quiz's and tests are difficult but he prepares you well for the final. The worst part is that he doesn't grade on a curve but I'd be more worried about the difficulty of the class, not the teacher.
Don't take him if you want above a 3.0. Weekly quizzes were rediculous. The quizzes were mostly word problems, and often you'd need to know things to solve them that he never taught. I wanted to learn, but I couldn't teach myself when I had no idea how to do anything. He didn't seem to care when the class average on one quiz was 14 out of 30.
he is a joy to take. his festive christmas do much to lighten the mood. no man on earth can better pull off the comb forward. he is seriously a helpful and kind gentleman. and does his very best to memorize all his students names. the class is fairly hard so make sure you have a smart calc friend for help. he loves math and he will love you
never take this guy! didn't tell anyone he WILL NOT CURVE till it was to late to drop the class. never gave out a syllabus. wouldn't give out office# because he didn't want to be interrupted from research. there were 25 of us starting out and 7 lasted to the end. most of the people that dropped out lost all there money from the class.
Teaches using word or story problems. Very rigorous. If you work hard in this class you will be well prepared for engineering classes. I got 4.0 in 124 and 125. His homeworks and sample exams prepare you well for tests.
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Don't take him unless you have to. Made things more complicated than they were in his explanations, and his reviews and lectures were often not very helpful. Quizzes were frequent and hard. Expect to put a lot of your own work in.
His grading is evil, he doesn't curve, and writes quizzes where the class average is 50%. However, he's not bad at teaching the subject. He speaks english, and is less boring than average math prof. I liked the class, but the 20 or so ppl that dropped it would probably disagreee
I took 301 in '97. I was comp sci so I am not stupid but he did his best to make everyone in class feel like they were dumb. I think it helps his pathetic ego. I liked his books for the calculus series but in person he is crazy. He gave the same test over and over because no one passed. After 1 wk, 5 of 20 students of were left, I left after 2wks.
Not the most exciting guy ever, but it's math. How entertaining can a math lecture get? I like that he doesn't assign all the problems from the math 124 homework sheets, whereas other professers assign more/all of those worksheet problems (the nasty problems). Good prof for math 124. If you suck at calc, you will probably not like this class...
Definately one of the top two hardest calculus profs at UW. He's a brilliant man (google him and see all the crazy stuff he's done) but he seems to expect his students to be of the same mental capacity. The quizes and tests were incredibly hard, and oh by the way HE DOESN'T GRADE ON A CURVE.
he is a very smart and nice person.
Koblitz is HARD. If your trying to just get through the class, AVOID AT ALL COSTS! If however, you are trying to make math a major I would highly recommend him. He is easily one of, if not the most difficult calc professor here. If you can ace his class, math will not be a problem. By the way, this is coming from somebody who BARELY passed.
He grades fairly but doesn't curve the class. His lectures usually have good examples and explanations
He is really nice. His lectures are helpful; lots of examples but not too exciting. Quizzes and tests are REALLY hard! Even if the material in class makes sense and the homework isn't too hard, study up; the test questions are much more involved.
Good at brief explanations
He is by far the WORST teacher I have had! His quizzes are worth way too many points. His tests are filled with tricks to confuse you. His lectures are useless because it's hard to even understand what he's talking about 99% of the time. DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS.
Boring. Hard. Expected everyone to "Master" the concepts. The tests weren't anything like what we practiced. Too much hw.
I took his Math 124 and 125 classes. Most people here are saying his class is hard. True. But, I think they didn't put much effort. He is really kind, and everyone will agree that he knows what he is teaching! Those who will take his class in the future,,, You must put much effort and time. Ask him questions. Be prepared for difficult quizes.
This guy is brilliant. Seriously, look him up! Lectures a little dull, but he provides clear explanations. Quizzes are very difficult and weighted too heavily, but I felt very prepared for both exams and the final. He cuts down homework, so you know what you're doing is important. May seem intimidating at first, but he's a really nice guy.
I have to him justice. Koblitz is a wonderful teacher. He cuts down homework so you have more time to study, and the quizzes are helpful. Explanation in classes is very clear so don't miss them. Tests are fair, in fact easier than many other teachers'. Also he's a genius if you didn't know that. Don't hate him just because he doesn't joke.
By far THE worst professor I have ever had. I don't do these type of critiques online but I figure it will be useful for future students. DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR!! His lectures are irrelevant to what you need to know on the tests. Basically, I learned everything from the books. Terrible professor who doesn't know how to teach. If you want t
Clear and explains things well but very boring...
By far THE worst teacher I've ever had. Everything he says he feels that we have to know the proof or reason why it is what it is. He goes on FOREVER talking about useless proofs that won't help with more difficult problems. He may be a very intelligent teacher but his teaching style sucks. You basically have to teach yourself everything.
He was a great professor. Sometimes his explainations were a bit confusing, but he tries his best and is overall very nice. He is much more clear if you go into office hours too and get your questions answered directly. Seems like a smart guy. Just do the hw and make sure you understand everything. If youre not a complete slacker, the class is fine
Dunno what the people who complained about 124 are talking about. Could be because I've already taken the class @ comm college. But, I don't think the class is bad at all. Quizzes every week, lectures are pretty helpful when he uses examples. Quizzes aren't bad, most contain word problems. Lectures are dry and boring. Fair exams, not too hard.
I didn't think he was too great until I went to his office hours with questions. He's really nice if you're willing to go meet with him. In the end, I thought he was very clear and taught what we needed to know.
If you ask him a question in class he will talk down to you as if you're stupid. His handwriting sucks and he jumps around too much. The text book is your friend. You can study all you want but you'll maybe get 50% on any of his tests. Good luck if you take him.
I don't understand why people hate him so much. Lectures were dry but very clear and really helped me understand the material. I would definitely recommend him as long as you are willing to put in the effort to pay attention and let him teach you.
Very long winded about non important stuff. Very smart guy, expects a lot out of his students. Covered how to read slope for 40 mins straight for some reason though...
His lecture examples come out of the book, and his explanations are unclear and boring. You're better off just reading. Go to section-there are quizzes every week. He mumbles a lot and doesn't answer questions very clearly. He's smart, but not very good at teaching.
This guy?man, what to say? You can learn an awful lot from him: he's one of the few teachers who can explain the "bigger picture" (relevance and applicability) really well. But he will try to trick you on his exams with some problems you've never seen before. The difficulty of the exams does make the (department-wide) final a piece of cake, though.
Going into this class, I was pretty scared because of Koblitz's awful reviews here. I found him to be a brilliant man and a skilled professor who is passionate and kind and genuinely cares that his students learn. While he expects more than many profs because of his frequent quizzes, this class is interesting, well-taught, and entirely doable.
The best math teacher so far that really cares what the students are learning. Highly recommended for students who want to learn calculus. Not recommended for students doing the class for the department requirement.
Awesome professor... he has pretty interesting examples in lecture and explains clearly. Doing extra problems is a must. Weekly quizzes are easy as long as you practice first, and it's nice to have something to buffer midterm/final grades. Office hours are really helpful; he's willing to discuss anything you need help with.
He is a very smart teacher, but his tests are ridiculously hard. Most of students are almost failing the class. He violated our hopes and dreams. Unless you are thinking about math major, do your best to avoid him...
no class curve..average grade on last midterm was 46...told us he was going to drop our lowest quiz grade but decided not to right before the final.gives weekly quizzes that are very hard
He's smart, and knows math. Really good at teaching in lectures, good usage of examples and I was able to learn fairly easy from him. Quizzes every week, good practice, but hard. He's good, but tough. If you can last him, any other math 124,5,6 clss will be easy!
Took this course with a complementary workshop class that corresponded to this course. We had some very smart people in the workshop & the teacher was great. Even though we all knew everything very well, the average for our workshop was a 2.0. I got a 2.6 & did well above avg on every test. Not a fair teacher or grader, very boring lecturer.
He's clearly interested in what he's teaching, but seriously. He's probably the most unreasonable math teacher that has existed, ever. No curve and *** no partial credit for problems if you make ONE error, i.e. he'll give you a 0. *** The average for the last midterm was a 1.7, and he got mad at the TAs for grading too leniently.
If you?re looking for an easy class, don?t take his class. If you?re interested in learning the material, then take his class. He?s definitely hard and gives no curve, but if you study you can do really well. On the midterms I got 92% on the first one and 74% on the second. He really prepares you for the final too, it was simple. His class requires
Basically, if you sign up for calc and end up getting Koblitz, switch out and take it a different quarter! Super hard class, no curve or partial credit (in a MATH class!) He spends too much time proving equations from the book and not enough actually covering what the homework was about or what would be on tests. I learned most from the homework.
If you're bad at math or normally need to have things explained twice to understand them, avoid Koblitz. If you're a quick learner, then definitely take his classes. He's nice, his explanations are good and he's very helpful in office hours. But he's not big on slowing down or repeating things if you can't understand the first time around.
I took his class and I got partial credit on my answers. He's a really great teacher, and is more interested in teaching students math than teaching them to do well on tests.
he's lectures are extremmely good although he gives really hard tests, but I like him
Worst professor ever. Spends too much time proving things, notes don't help with HW and quizzes. 40% of the class received a 0 on first quiz. Has a very boring, monotone voice, and speaks quietly. Gives terrible notes that are all over the place.
Pretty great instructor!
Hard to hear in the back of a lecture class but overall a good educator. Went to office hours and his explanations were helpful but complicated. Quizzes are far too difficult for the subject material. Koblitz is a natural genius and he expects the best. The entire quarter will be a struggle if you take his class. Don't expect a decent grade.
For all people who are looking at this because they got him as a professor in winter quarter: DROP HIM. People warned me to drop him and I did not listen and now I hate myself for it. He feeds on young adults misery. Koblitz is a genius that cannot dumb himself down to introductory calculus level. Should be banned from teaching 100 series classes.
He is a pretty nice guy,his tests are easier than the quizzes we do in class! Sometimes his lectures go off topic and he talks about physics rather than pure math, but its also interesting. He is pretty quiet so sit closer to the front. Grading scale is nice though! But study for the quizzes haedcore and you'll do fine!
I had Koblitz a year ago and I was just curious to see what people thought of him.. He is an awful prof. I got a 3.4 in his class thanks to wolframalpha. The few times I went to class, Koblitz sped through examples. Wolframalpha is more beneficial and smarter than Koblitz.
He is hard, i took Calculus in high school but i still felt like this class was stressful. Expect to do poorly on quizzes and hope for the best on the midterms. If you put in the time you will do decent. Just expect to be frustrated and to hate Koblitz.
The lectures are okay but quizzes and tests killed me. I passed the class with a 2.0 but I suppose you can do better if you're actually good at calculus.
Tests and quizzes are pretty hard. The best way to pass the class is to go to all his lectures. He is good at explaining and if he does a hard example in lecture he will probably put it on a quiz to reward the people who show up for class.
if you happen to have him, i beg you to drop this class because even though he explains a lot in the lecture, his grading system is very bad, no curve, and no partial credit. This winter quarter he failed half of my class.
Koblitz is an extremely hard professor. There is no curve at all and tests and quizzes are very hard. If you survive math with him though, you will be well prepared for other math classes. He cares about his students and is interested in teaching students how to really understand math.
I have had Koblitz for two quarters now and didn't know what to expect. I thought he was very difficult but was an outstanding lecturer and knew his stuff. I studied the hardest I have ever studied for his final and got a 2.6 out of the class which I was extremley proud of. He is very difficult, but I feel like I am much much better at math
If you have the opportunity switch to a different professor. If not and you want to get above a 3.0 you'll have to work hard outside of homework. His midterms are very tough and his practice midterms aren't too much help. Neal and his TAs both have plenty of office hours so there is a lot of help available. Study your homework for quizzes!!!
You will struggle a hell of a lot. He is one of the hardest professors ever. I did horribly in his class but I will admit he is one hell of a good professor if you really want to learn Calculus. He really forces you to understand the subject. That's the best part about him but...you will struggle. I'd recommend switching unless you want a challenge
This guys tough, but he'll make you better. Pay attention and u'll learn tricks. I especially like his grading policy, no curve, because only you should be responsible for your grade. He gives everyone the chance for a 4.0, and then its the students chance to earn it.
Koblitz is hard, yes, but he is a wonderful lecturer. He is very smart and his examples in class are clear even though he speeds pretty fast. His quizzes are fine but his midterms are extremely hard, but they will be things you've seen off in HW, just slightly tweaked. I got a 3.5 because the final is easy compared to do what we've done normally.
Wow. I had him in 1987 and STILL remember how awful it was. I tried using TAs for help but not him, so maybe using his office hours would make a diff. I studied a ton and finally dropped it as I didn't want the bad grade. He's brilliant but I found him lacking in ability to reach those who weren't math people. Not much has changed apparently.
Incredibly intelligent and a nice guy, but not meant to teach undergrads. Hard to get a good grade.
Very smart man, not a very good teacher though. Explanations weren't always clear. Long weekly quizzes (40 minutes usually) that were pretty tough.
I refer to him as a mad man to my friends. One good thing about him is if you survive his class, you will be battle hardened enough to 4.0 other math classes, that is what happened to me.
From the moment you step into lecture, he is obviously a brilliant man. However, his examples are convoluted, theoretical, made up on the spot, and altogether unclear. He explains things in very complex ways. I was hardly able to scrape a B- in the class and I did very well in calculus in high school. He should not be teaching undergrads.
Obviously a genius. However, his examples aren't always clear, and I feel like his tests didn't compare to anything we were doing on Webassign. I feel like the only reason I got a 2.9 in his class was because I got a tutor and started going to all my TA's office hours and review sessions. Wouldn't recommend him, especially if math isn't for you.
He a helpful professor though the note is often out of topic. His test and quiz are tough but not too hard if you came to lecture. Recommend him for ones who loves Math
Not easy, but his quizzes weren't too bad, and tests were standardized. Classes were efficient, lots of examples and quick moving.
People hate him too much, he's a great guy and teaches amazing. His quizzes are a pain and his midterms are stressful. His class average is low because of his tough questions, but hes a great guy and helps a lot if you talk to him.
Avoid at all costs. Drop the class and take it next quarter with someone else. Expect ridiculously tough midterms, annoying quizzes, and learning material from khan academy.
Super helpful. Prepares students the best for the final. Definitely for math lovers.
If you are anything less than great at math, do not take this course with Koblitz. He's an okay guy in office hours, but his lecture examples can get off track easily and his tests/quizzes are RIDICULOUS for an 100-level math course. There are other professors that teach this course that are easier and/or better at teaching, so try to switch!
I don't know why people give him low rates. I think he is a nice guy and a good teacher. I like his class. I think he explains things clearly. I get good grades in his class. I think people don't get good grades in his class just because they are not math people not because of the professor.
Koblitz is a great professor, he care about students a lot. I took his class for both Math124-25 class. Tests is not too hard if you do homework and go to lecture. Quizzes every week are based almost on homework.
Great teacher. A really passionate mathematician. Very enthusiastic in teaching. His grading techniques are tough. But he has a good intent to make students more meticulous.
DO NOT TAKE HIM. He will literally screw you throughout the quarter and make your life hell. He has awful curving and a A+ student like me did crap. I warn you, dont take him.
He is actually a very intelligent man. The problem is just he is expecting everyone to be super smart too. His lecture are sometimes hard to understand, but you will find them helpful if you are prepared before class. Exams are pretty tough, but not that horrible if you understand all his lectures.
Where should I start? His exams are tough because his notes are confusing. His notes are confusing because he loves to ramble. I've had better help at the math center than a week's worth of lectures from him. Switch out unless you "love" to put more effort in a pre-req course than you should.
Do not take him unless you're a math genius, you will receive a significantly lower grade than you would with another professor.
He's horrible at explaining the math concepts clearly. The problem is just he is expecting everyone to be super smart too. Exams are pretty tough. Its impossible to understand all of his lectures sometimes because he jumped to many topics all over instead of in one place. I highly encourage you guys do not take a math class with him !!
He assigns too much homework than usual.The homework wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't drastically harder than anything he goes over in class. I spent at least 20-24 hours a week doing just his homework. He just makes everything harder than it needs to be.
Koblitz is a great prof. He's hard yes, but that is college. I went to all his classes, studied well, went to office hours and actually thought about the math and got a 3.8, then a 3.9 in his 124/5 course. I say take him if you want to learn how to look at problems. Great prof.
Worse prof ive had at UW. If you take him, don't expect him to teach you anything. You have been warned.
Not a very good professor. 50% to get a 2.0, but most students are not able to get that. Doesn't go over enough examples, and frequent quizzes. Expects you to absorb the material through his frequent tangents. I do not recommend him, unless you're very (and I mean VERY) good at math.
This professor has a habit of testing people without prior instruction (sometimes even without introducing the topic at all) and then explaining how to do the problems after grading them. I learned more from Wolfram Mathworld and Wikipedia than I did from him.
Words cannot express how awful this guy is. He does not teach. The only reason people went to class was because he docks points if you don't show. Everybody failed the daily quizzes over the dense math reading (upwards of 30 pages for each quiz).
Was rude to students. Ridiculous test questions like the exact diameter of the sun. Unnecessary reading requirements. Off topic presentations by his wife.
slow.
Not really helpful. Does not explain the concepts very well. His handwriting is so terrible. No one can read it. Regardless, I understand all of the concepts for Calculus series with the help from mathematics tutor at the Instructional Center & CLUE tho. Btw, he talk about off-topic stuff like his wife and other nonsense stuff too often lol.
He really needs to follow a syllabus. It seems like he's randomly going over some math problems.
Extremely confusing and difficult. Doesn't cover the problems on the homework. Wouldn't be able to do the homework at all without a tutor. Awful, awful, considering I took Calc in highschool.
Avoid koblitz like the plague.
He is actually nice but his lectures are not that good. Spending 50 minutes to go through two examples with 1.0 hardness and then gives hw on line with 4.0 hardness, and the exams are always between 2.0 to 3.5. Just read the books and you will know what he is talking about. Taking classes is not mandatory but he will use clickers during the lecture
Once again, the UW math department strikes again. Not only do i recommend you not take this class, but i also recommend you leave the UW. Koblitz is a perfect example of a professor who finds pleasure in failing kids. If you go to his office hours, he explicitly makes fun of you and lowers your grade just to amuse himself.
Arguably the hardest professor at the University of Washington. Koblitz is a genius, he has his own wiki page... He's actually a nice guy if you try and ask him a question but don't get that confused with him giving you a good grade. I'd say try to get another prof if you can but if not just take him. You will learn a lot!
You are just like me, trying to go through these comments to see if this Prof is any good. I will have to tell you that after taking his class I have ultimately determined that he is indeed a smart man, but can't teach to save his life. If you take this class I pity you and your grade. You will suffer tremendously and be disheartened.
Koblitz is by far the best teacher at UW, but he sucks at teaching. I learned so much from his class but didn't understand anything he taught. I would definitely recommend him for MATH 124 since he is such an easy teacher and about half the class fails every exam. Also, lectures are very useful and close to impossible to understand.
Koblitz is a very hard teacher. He is a very smart guy, however teaching is just not his thing. He is rude to students during office hours, isn't helpful and his tests/quizzes are frustrating. Because of this difficulty, I was thoroughly prepared for the final. Overall, not a good experience for me!
Very unorganized, terrible clicker questions. My understanding of calculus decreased. Happy I have new prof for 125.
Although he has a lot of wield clicker questions, his quizzes and midterms are very easy. He may be not the best teacher, but it definitely easy to get a good grade in his class.
Hated Koblitz for 80% of this class but ended up appreciating having him. A LOT of work and can end up extremely frustrating but opening up to his thought process will have you applying concepts. Learned a lot but avoid if you are not ready to WORK!
I thought he was great. Really makes you sit back and take a look at a problem to simplify it before solving it. Knows his stuff, and he will help you understand anything in office hours. Be ready to study all lecture examples and homework; if you do that, weekly quizzes and exams will not be a surprise.
I used to think I was good at math. Apparently, I am not as good as I thought I was. If I hadn't taken Calculus in high school I never would have passed this class and I don't see how anyone without experience in calculus could learn from Koblitz. He tries to teach, he simply couldn't teach to me or any of my equally average friends.
The phenomenon called 'learned helplessness' refers to the situation in which people experience failure at a task, often numerous times. As a result, they decide that the task cannot be done, at least not by them: they are helpless... If this feeling covers a group of tasks, the result can be severe difficulties coping with life.
Dont even bother with this teacher. He does a horrible job explaining things in class, his review sessions dont contribute anything to your ability to learn, and trying to follow along in class is a nightmare. Im retaking 125 just so I can get a better grade. Take another teacher, or wait a quarter to take math. Just dont bother with this teacher.
I have seen a lot of negative comments about this professor, but I don't really agree. I think he did try his best to clarify the concept (although it's hard to get through students' mind). If you want to get good grade on the test, remember to read books, do all hw, look through all lecture notes especially the one that he kinda highlighted.
Dont even bother taking this class with him. He's so unclear in class and expects you to already know the topic prior to class and makes the class way to hard. Midterms are just a nightmare, and no one goes to class because they know they will fail the class. Worst teacher ever! I have to retake this class for a better grade. Dont bother with him.
Great Prof. If you are a math person you'll definitely like him.
One of my favorite professors here at UW for math. His midterms test your understanding of the concepts rater than unnecessary computation. However, he is pretty strict with partial credit. He wont give you free points for simply putting down equations on paper. If you are decent at math, there is no excuse for not doing well in his class.
He's a very good lecturer actually. Never bored in class, except for the seldom amount of times he tried to explain certain concepts. Luckily I took calc beforehand so it was review for me, yet I still struggled anyways in class. TA helped out a lot tho, Jon Swenson is the best TA for this class. Do the hw, do as many practice exams, and u'll be ok
Koblitz is a very smart person and you can see this from his lectures and the questions he raised, however he's sometime inpatient. His tests are harder than the other professors' but it's a good way to testify your knowledge.
Koblitz's class is NOT boring. The clicker questions gave you incentive for paying close attention to his lectures. Also, since the clicker questions are a decent piece of your grade. You should try to go to most, if not all, classes. Koblitz also sets GPA's to certain percentages so how you do relative to everyone else doesnt matter too much.
I BAILED!
Okay, first of all if you like your GPA I do not recommend this class! There is no curve and it is hard to get above 70% on quizzes and tests. However, I really really liked him and this class. He is incredibly smart and really nice. If you go to his office hours he will help you a lot. The class was also super interesting!!!
Neal doesn't give free meal, goodbye to GPA amigo.
Professor Koblitz does not give out easy grades nor should he. Pay attention, do his clicker questions, and show up for class. Are tests hard? Sure but only if you didn't study the material or forgot a crucial step. Math is beyond numbers and symbols. Koblitz wants you to grasp that. Remember, you first must know how to derive before integrating.
If you wanna High GPA,then don"t take his class
Just no. Avoid him. His TAs are horrible too. They don't know how to solve the problems and they suggest you drop the class.
My TA himself said that Koblitz's section is THE most difficult of all the 124 classes, and told many of us we should seriously consider dropping. His tests are unreasonably hard compared to other teachers and gives not partial credit at all on tests he grades himself. AVOID NEAL KOBLITZ LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My first day of section, my TA warned the entire class that Koblitz was the hardest 124 professor out there, but sadly I ignored that warning and decided to stick through it.... BIG mistake. His tests are ridiculously hard, he doesn't give partial credit on midterms, and sometimes the material on the quizzes isn't related to the lectures.
Koblitz is great one-on-one but in lectures he only goes through example problems. This would be okay if the problems on quizzes and tests were similar to the ones done in class. Clicker questions are hard too, just make sure you click IDK if you don't have enough time.
I would have failed his class if I hadn't taken calculus in high school previously and if I hadn't had an extremely helpful TA.
JESUS CHRIST! WORST professor I have EVER had in my ENTIRE life. Doesn't give two shi*s whether his students learn or not and I swear, he enjoys giving out god awful tests where the average is around 40% without a curve. PLEASE. DO. NOT. TAKE. HIS. CLASS. I wish I had waited to take math 124 another quarter rather than have Koblitz.
Great Professor, I carried on with 125 just because of him. Definitely recommend taking his classes.
He is a really really great professor. He explains things clearly and his students who can follow him can learn a lot!
Just listening to him I could sleep. Mumbles and speaks unclearly. Just no. Not interesting or engaging at all. Makes me dislike math more. Reading a book teaches you more...
Great teacher.
Koblitz is a terrible teacher and you will more than likely fail his class. He does not give any partial credit on midterms so you will probably fail. Koblitz is a genius and often forgets that others are not geniuses and skips over important steps while solving a equation, because he forgets that others are not as smart as him.
Koblitz has no idea how to teach intro calculus. I have complete faith that he is extremely smart but I don't think he recognizes that not everybody created hyperelliptic curve cryptography like he did. Tests felt impossible and if I hadn't taken calculus in high school I would have done extremely poorly in his class. Avoid him!
He moves really fast in class and mumbles so it's sometimes hard to understand him. His tests are way harder than the other professors and he is just confusing. If i hadn't taken this class in high school then I probably wouldn't have had a clue what he was talking about the whole time. In conclusion, just stay away from him.
He is really smart so does the way he talks during lecture. But if you can follow him, you will be fine.
His teaching methods are terrible. He mumbles and rambles under his breath. He spends 20 minutes on clicker questions (so he can check attendance), which leave him like 30 minutes to actually teach, which he is seemingly unable to do. It is a terrible class. Class is not graded on a curve, which is really annoying.
Koblitz is a pretty good teacher. He gives lots of examples in lecture which helps me understand the concepts more. The clicker questions help a lot with your grade because if you get them right not only do you get participation credit, you also get extra credit on your quizzes and midterms which is definitely needed because he is a tough grader.
Tests: 1. No partial credit. The class average for midterms were around 50100... 2. Really tough. Koblitz likes to give A LOT of story problems. So if you're not a very conceptual person when it comes to math, avoid him. Clarity: 1. I found myself lost through his lectures, never knew what topic we were on & his explanations were unclear.
Hardest math class I've taken. He barely explains concepts in lecture & has a tendency to skip over steps when showing an example problem which makes it all the more confusing. Very unhelpful, doesn't seem to enjoy his job whatsoever. Hard tests, but passable. Be prepared to put in the effort and for a poor gpa if you're forced to take his class.
His lectures are definitely good and the tests are not that hard
STAY AWAY! I don't know how there are any positive ratings for this professor he is absolutely terrible.(Probably him or his TA's idk) I can not stress enough how BAD he is at teaching. Mumbles, goes off on tangents, and gives ridiculously hard test. If you get him either drop or get ready to work your ass off for a mediocre grade.
Neal was not clear during lectures, but his grading scale made up for it! Participation is greatly values. Quizzes happen once a week, you'll need a clicker (can earn extra credit amazing (math)). Anything over a 90% is a 4.0, and counts for extra credit toward your entire GPA.
If you are not a fan of math and need this class as a pre rec do NOT take this class with him. I heard if you love math then he can be an interesting professor. Basically his test are extremely difficult and the averages are around 40%. If you haven't taken calculus before this class don't expect his lectures to make any sort of sense.
Dr. Koblitz knows his stuff. But his lectures are boring. His use of clickers takes too much of class time. His tests are hard af, so study up.
Very poor teacher. If you haven't already taken calculus the explanations aren't clear. I spent a good deal of my time this quarter teaching my roommate calculus because he did a poor job in explanations and organizing his lectures. The content should have been clearer and spent way to much time on precalculus garbage in this class
Helpfulness: 1 I asked him his office hours and he wouldn't even tell me. He doesn't help answer questions you may have, instead he tells you that you're basically screwed Clarity: 1 His expectations are completely unclear. He lectures on certain topics (or at least I think that's what he's doing) his quiz sections are on completely different
Probably the worst professor I've had during the last three years. Lectures are consistently behind homework and quizzes. Seems like he makes everything as hard and unclear as possible. Midterm median hovered around 40-50% in our class. Lectures are very boring and do little to help understand topics you will be quizzed on.
Professor Koblitz is a genius, as far as I know. But it doesn't mean that he is a good teacher. I had studied calculus before and therefore I was able to handle this class. However, I would not recommend you to take his class especially if you haven't taken calculus before. He is really bad at explaining.
I went to office hours a lot and they were super helpful. Was a hard class but learned a lot about calculus and have a deep understanding. Tests were hard and didn't let you plug and chug, You needed to know the material
I managed to get a 3.7 in the class but had to put in a lot of work for this. Have to have an extremely strong pre-calc and algebra base to do well in this class. Tests are very difficult and there is a good chance you'll see things on there you've never seen before.
Managed to get a 4.0 in his class but my god was the class rough. He was often behind in lecture in teaching content that was on the homework and quizzes. During lectures he would skip a bunch of steps and assume the students were able to follow. I had taken AP Calc beforehand but this calculus was much harder than any calculus I've done before.
This teacher ruined my love of math. He was very unprofessional in office hours!! He made Calculus WAY harder than it actually was. Do not take Calc with this "professor" you will just end up with a headache. Take it another quarter with a better teacher who knows how to be a teacher
Took AP calculus previously in highschool and the way Koblitz's method of teaching is confusing and unclear. He skips steps in practice problems cause he's a genius from Harvard, but its confusing. Try hard to get the clicker problems, cause it counts as EC in quizzes and midterms!
If every UW Calculus teacher taught like Koblitz then Engineering and CS would no longer be competitive. Because of how many people fail under Koblitz there would be less engineering applicants in this scenario.
Koblitz is very nice. He is also smart. He can answer any math question you have. A great thing about him is that he tests on stuff he talks about, and previous midterms. If you take notes and try to learn the concepts you will be fine. Always ask questions if you are not so sure, he is very patient.
If youre taking Koblitz I'd recommend you to tell yourself to study hard because the class itself with him is H A R D. He knows his stuff but the way in which he explains math is ridiculous. He can be talk about derivatives and end up talking about daylight savings. If youre not in the starts program I would strongly recommend you to avoid him.
I did really poorly on the first midterm, almost got a perfect score on the second midterm, and bombed the final. He's not as bad as everyone says but I'd say his classes don't really prepare you for the common 124 final. I ended up getting a pretty bad grade but that was somewhat my fault. Be prepared to put in a lot of your own time.
Quizzes every single class period, over only the most obscure and random facts mentioned maybe once in the readings. The quizzes every lecture are exhausting, seemingly inconsequential, and based on how easily you can remember random name-drops over actual mathematical content. Seems to value memorizing one fact in 50 pages of reading over content.
His Early Fall Start course "Secret Codes and Online Security" was challenging and informative; homework-intensive for EFS, but a great course about modern crypto. Grades toughly, but rewards active participants. Math-intensive. If you don't know cryptography very well, previewing topics before the lectures is imperative.
He was an awesome teacher and I took his class because I like to challenge myself. He is very smart as well. His class should be for math or engineering majors, because of the difficulty. However I have previous calc experience and am good at math, so I aced the class.
I took this class and he doesn't really teach, he leaves it up to you to read the book and understand the material on your own. Absolutely an ineffective professor and announces at the beginning of class that he is not focused on teaching, but rather the research aspect of his job. We were obviously a side note.
Koblitz is stuck in the 20th century using two overhead projectors to do his lectures. His tests are 10x as hard as any homework or in class work. I sent some of his work to my high school calculus teacher, and she had a tough time grading them. It really just is not worth it. Even a genius would struggle in this class
Please stay away Koblitz gives confusing lectures and impossible tests. There seems to be no correlation between most homework and what Koblitz is trying to teach and if a worksheet seems hard get ready to try a test that's 10x harder.
Neal was great. You can tell he knows what he is doing. I did very well in his class (4.0), but many others failed his midterms and weekly quizzes. His midterms are very specific to his class, do not bother studying exams from other profs. He also had great fashion sense; watch out for his pi day t-shirt and snowflake sweater.
Get ready to work. I took AP Calc AB in high school, got a four on the exam, and struggled in this class. Just look at his old exams versus other professors' on the Math 124 website and you'll see the difference in difficulty. The averages for the midterms were 48 and 44 percent. It's just annoyingly hard. Go see your TA often.
Doesn't prepare you for what you need to know.. his quizzes and tests are unreasonably hard and aren't anything like what he teaches or the homework. He doesn't care about the students and mumbles through his lectures (which are already not very helpful).
If you aren't a veritable savant in the math department, just avoid his class. Run, actually. His tests are exponentially harder than other professors. The lectures aren't pertinent, and he expects you to essentially teach yourself the material.
I have had math professors difficult to learn from. I always found the lectures in Neal Koblitz classes to be very understandable. From the lectures and homework I didn't really need to study for tests. I was in the Computer Science department, so maybe his style is more geared towards engineering disciplines.
Koblitz is a very difficult professor who gives rather meaningless lectures that often aren't applicable to homework, as well as his quizzes and tests. His tests are also unreasonably difficult in comparison to what other professors give for tests. Do not take him unless you absolutely have to.
Yeah, the class is tough, but it's college calculus; what did you expect? Koblitz has high expectations, which means difficult quizzes and exams. The learning curve on homework assignments is often pretty steep. Avail yourself of his office hours; he is very helpful one-on-one, and in my experience, his availability is ample.
Koblitzs class is tough and youll have to work hard if you want a good grade, but youre not doomed if you get him for Math 12X. He goes through a lot of useless story and physics applications problems in lectures, and gives weekly quizzes while other professors dont. Be prepared to study quite a bit for anything above a 3.0.
Not a great teacher. Tough tests, and content taught does not always apply to them. Steer clear.
Monotone, doesn't show passion in his teaching, you will most likely fall asleep in his class, he just does the work and does say anything or explain why he does it, just talks
Doesn't give partial credit at all..... FOR A MATH CLASS
AVOID AT ALL COSTS, HE DOESNT KNOW HOW TO TEACH, None of the things we learned in class or on any of his reviews was on the tests, he just assumes everyone has a master's in mathematics so he makes easy problems 100 times more complicated than they should be, and shows no passion in his teachings
Never take his class. Never !
This Class was fire. Easisest 4.0 of my life. Just study hard on the practice midterms, finals, etc. Biggest tip: learn to parse scrubs and all classes are cake.
His teachings are as old as he is, AVOID this class, take loveless a way better professor and this dude Neal doesn't show any passion in his teachings
He is tough grader and he probably is the have weekly quiz. However he makes sense so it is worthy to go to lectures.
Best Math professor I ever had. Lecture is clear and give enough examples. Really nice during both office hour and lecture time. Quickly explain and solve problems student gave. A lot of quiz, but will not destroy your grade.
Professor Koblitz gives hard tests and quizzes, which are weekly. He is not very helpful after class, and seemed to help STAR students more than others. I do not recommend taking his class unless you are one of these students. He is inconsistent in grading tests in my opinion, and too smart to "dumb down" lectures for his freshman students.
I attended Professor Koblitz's office hours and it was really helpful. His review lectures are basically what he put in the exams. There are weekly quizzes and they have the big impact on your grades. He does not allow calculators for his exams except the final, which means you know you did your math wrong if you don't get nice, simplified answers.
He's actually a really great professor, I would take him again, everyone who complains just didn't try and are petty leaving mean comments, this is a math class you have to put in effort.
Literally some old bum that was on some other stuff literally just talked all the time, horrible explaining, not that much help, gave horrible quizzes and homework that many struggled with
Sometimes the content of the class goes irrelevant with the content that I intended to learn
He did not even make a website for his class. made students use the general math website for UW. steer clear.
Dr. Koblitz doesn't mess around, especially with humor or making lectures interesting. He is one of the more challenging 124 profs and you will receive quiz and midterm 1 scores that you are not fond of but the learning curve is high. He will answer any questions promptly with enough of a proof to clear things up. He knows what he is doing.
this class was 2ez
Brilliant guy. Doesn't know how to teach. Goes on long tangents during class. But when he is showing you something useful, he barely gives you enough time to write down what he's done. Also, his grading style is super harsh and inconsistent. Average for the first and second midterms was 65% and 48% respectively. Would not recommend
308 with Koblitz is the way to go. Two of my roommates took 308 at the same time as I, all with different teachers, and they really struggled with the proof-based tests. Koblitz just cares that you can solve it. If you go to lecture, it is very clear what Koblitz is excited about (what he will put on the tests), so the exams are predictable.
While the exams were actually okay once you got the hang of how he grabs topics for the exam, they made up a massive portion of your grade. Further, his lectures really tended to put me to sleep. His grading criteria is based on whether or not you get the correct answer throughout, i.e. if you missed a negative in part 1, you lost nearly all points
Gives T and F questions and all three exams. One wrong and you get -3, so basically with two questions wrong you get points off for the whole section
Don't take his class, switch or wait for another quarter.
He's awful. Didn't curve midterms that had an average of 48%. Gives negative points if you get something wrong on an exam. Just take it a different quarter, trust me.
Koblitz is a nice guy but the worst teacher. He doesn't teach anything, he only uses lecture time to do examples of problems without actually teaching you the basic concepts or methods. I used to be good at math but was confused everyday in the class. I wasn't sure where to get help outside of class and did poorly on exams. This class tanked my gpa
Really a nice teacher, you should not miss his class. Maybe hard, but it's really helpful and you can actually learn things. (Just go to lectures)
Learned more in 1 quarter of college than in 1 year of calc in high school.
HE GIVES NO PARTIAL CREDIT WHATSOEVER AVOID AT ALL COST I WILL HAVE TO RETAKE THIS CLASS NUT HOPEFULLY WITH A BETTER PROFESSOR STUDIED NON STOP SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE QUARTER JUST TO FAIL DROP IF POSSIBLE
No slides, writes all notes messily on paper and over complicates everything by stuffing as many math terms in your face as humanly possible. Nope nope NOPE
Terrible lecturer. Incredibly boring which makes it hard to pay attention and follow the content. Horrible handwriting. Doesn't post any notes or use technology to help students.
I personally find Professor Koblitz is a great lecturer for MATH308. He tends to go deep in the theories and make sure everyone understands it. His tests are hard, with a medium usually around 50% and these SAT-like questions where you get points off with wrong answer.
The main issue with this course is the pacing. It's such a compressed course and we're getting tests for almost every 2/3 classes. Don't recommend anyone with no prior knowledge taking it. He goes off on a tangent a lot, leaving little time to course-related material. Felt really frustrated in his class.
Dr. Koblitz is a great source of knowledge about mathematics as a field, and he is always willing to spend extra time explaining the ideas presented in the readings and in class. That said, the quizzes are incredibly difficult, and he has a habit of interrupting presenters during their presentations. He's a nice guy, but this class is a bit much.
Very unclear lecture, always repeating himself on contents that he mentioned two weeks ago. Not recommenced , if you gotta take the course, take it next quarter. He also grades very harshly. On the other hand, his tests are relatively easy but definitely not completable if you only focus on his lecture. Reading the textbook is a MUST!!!
A terrible professor that lectures on the bare minimum and expects students to just figure everything out on their own. The tests are incredibly difficult versions of class subjects, often barely relating to the material actually covered. He makes the math as uninteresting as possible and criticizes the class when we collectively fail his tests.
DO NOT IGNORE THE BAD REVIEWS! If you have Koblitz for 308 switch to anybody else. I genuinely liked the content, but he made this class unnecessarily difficult. One midterm we had a median of a 34%, so he lowered the median GPA for the class since we did poorly, despite the fact that it was just a very poor exam. I REALLY regret not switching out.
I have never come so close to failing a math class. His lectures we're incredibly hard to follow. He doesn't curve and his exams are hard. Wishing I had checked here before failing the first two midterms and hiring a tutor to get me a passing score on the final. DON'T TAKE 308 with Koblitz!!!
Koblitz doesnt have a great reputation but dont let that bother you. If you attend class you will do well. All of his exam questions are closely modeled after practice problems done in class. In my opinion he explains concepts pretty well in class. However, you will probably benefit from asking the TA questions or readings from the textbook.
This man's lectures are long, winding, and aimless. He talks in confusing loops and never cuts to the chase. Homework is often due before the topics have been fully explained in class. Then the cherry on top is how heavily weighted tests are, and how there are very little good resources provided to students to study. If Koblitz is your prof, drop.
Koblitz lectures by putting a paragraph of text on the screen and reading through it. I went to every one of his lectures before the first midterm and did poorly on the test. To prepare for the second midterm, I skipped class for 5 weeks learning straight out of the textbook and scored much higher.
Doesn't curve tests and had a super old-school lecture style, honestly just put text on a projector and talked about taurus shapes every lecture.
Probably the most knowledgable math prof at UW but he has no structure in his lectures. He gives no mercy to students trying to adapt to the imperfect online testing platform during pandemic especially in terms of formatting and partial points. Also as a professor, he is rather unapproachable and a bit egocentric.
My favorite math class to date. Both theory and lots of applications, including algorithms, complexity, and cryptography in which he is a true expert. Tests were 1 on 1 zoom interviews, hard but Koblitz was helpful in detecting minor errors which helped. The midterm average was 3.1, not sure about the average final grade. HW was not graded.
If you are registered for Math 308 and you see that you've got Koblitz, drop it or switch to a different section. He doesn't explain things in an organized way, he uses a document camera with terrible quality, his hand is always in the way so you can't see what he's writing, and his quiz questions are all-or-nothing credit.
Please do not take his class. Does not care about his students at all, and is AWFUL at explaining things. Avoid at all costs!
Koblitz is such a harsh grader. He used Canvas as testing taking a platform and give no partial credits what so ever. 3 questions (1 easy, 1 medium, 1 hard) for 20-22 minutes is impossible to finish. He refused to change about that even though many students have complained. He genuinely DOES NOT care about students' success. Poor lecture quality.
His lectures are fine. You can learn something from 5-lectures each week. But the recording quality is the worst I've ever seen. Quiz is unreasonable. 22mins is not enough for thinking at all, not to mention under huge pressure of quiz. There's no partial credit for questions, which means small mistake on calculation, you might be below the mean.
Matrix Algebra is supposed to be easier than other math classes, but this is the worst class I've ever taken. Quizzes are 20 mins, with one sheet of notes, and no partial credit. All that matters is having the right answer at the end. Your grade is competitive with your classmates, so how they do will affect the curve and ultimately your own grade.
He is intelligent at math but he is tooo old for teaching! Worst lecture I ever had! The class structure is outrageous. Time for the quiz is not enough at all. Besides, his lecture does not match the textbook, so you have to watch the terrible lecture! You will not do well on quizzes if you only read the textbook.
One can be so great a mathematician but very insufferable a lecturer. Koblitz is chiefly unapproachable and in denial, in addition to using an unforgiving binary grading system. Negative feedback from students are so high til the point where he dares not to send out course evaluation to students.
Learning consisted of pre-recorded lectures. There were often typos in the lectures which the prof would later correct, which sometimes was difficult. He also talks slowly and covers the page with his hand, so it's hard to see. He's very clear and straightforward about grading. Ace the weekly quizzes and you'll do great, but mistakes will cost you
Classes being called ''free 4.0s'' means that ''premium, subscribers-only 4.0s'' exist, and this professor's classes are the best example. I had to put in 10 times as much work as I did in my other classes just to barely get a 2.5, and I really don't think he has ever given an A in his entire life due to how genuinely hard this class was.
I took Math 125 from Neal Koblitz and I can say with 100% hindsight that he was (and evidently still is) the worst professor at the UW. Im retired now and was a large donor to the UW but stopped once I found out he is STILL teaching. Not only is he an awful teacher, but his lifes work has turned out to be useless now that NSA has abandoned ECC.
I really enjoyed this class but if you are not into reading do not take it. Pro Koblitz is well known and very accomplished. The amount of experience and knowledge you can take from his class is worth it. In the oral exams a lot of questions come from his lectures. Dont skip them. Reading heavy class but work honestly and you will get a good grade
Currently taking koblitzs math class this quarter and I can totally see why hes the worst. No partial grading on tests and all exam questions are conceptual so you really have to nail it. If you want to do well on the test expect to put in a unhealthy number of hours. DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID. AVOID AT ALL COSTS
Lectures are hard to understand and feels like he's only teaching the albert Einsteins of the class and ignoring the rest. On top of that, tests are partial credit with not a lot but conceptual questions so one mistake can cost 30% on your exam per question. I think he genuinely enjoys watching his students fail and I'm not sure why he has a job
Koblitz has a extremely questionable grading system. 80% tests, 4% HW!!, 16% on a single presentation. I would not suggest taking him. Class is too test heavy. Maybe it is just me but I have never had a math class with no partial credit for tests. Feels impossible and is a ton of studying for only a 3 credit class. Doesn't care about his students.
Take his class unless you are a genius in math.
The lectures are what you would expect for a math lecture and as long as you listen to them you will understand the concepts. The test questions are not as difficult as other people say, but the way he grades them makes it difficult because he doesn't give any partial credit.
hands down worst professor at UW. watched youtube videos to understand concepts. homework was worth nothing. he was having different students instead of TAs presenting for 15% of their grade every quiz section based on accuracy for one long question while not completely covering the concepts for them. I found it shocking this is a 3 credit class.
Only reason why I didn't like the class was no partial credit. Like come on, one minor mistake can ruin all the work you spent on a question. Each question is worth like 33% of each exam with a final weighting of 80% on exams. Especially with limited time, I find his grading super unfair. wouldn't suggest Koblitz for this specific reason.
lol this class will tank your grade. Got 3.5+ in math 125,126, and 307. On track to get a 2.5 in his class while STUDYING MORE. Thanks Koblitz! just screw over your students with your grading! The whole class can complain and he still will not change it so Self-centered and egotistical.
I liked him, not sure why everyone gets surprised that hard classes are hard, but he was fine for me - no worse than any other professor I had. A lot of material on the tests came from the lecture, so pay attention there and you'll be fine.
His tests are very difficult and all conceptual.
Worst class I've ever taken. Horrible lecturer and the textbook will not help you at all. His lectures are so disjointed and unorganized. 3 exams make up 80% of your grade and are mostly based off what he does in lecture except he'll do 100 examples of 1 type of problem and it won't show up on the exam and 1 example of another and it'll be on it.
Never in my life have I had a professor who grades tests by deducting points and handing out 0s for small mistakes like a negative sign. Neal Koblitz is a horrendous professor and an all-around despicable human being. The TA talks badly about the professor because Koblitz views students and TAs as enemies. WARNING: Never take the make-up exam.
I took 308 with Koblitz and it was one of the most difficult classes I've ever taken. He was a good lecturer, and I always felt that I understood the material after class. However, there is a group project worth 16% of the grade. I was told I did really well, complimented, and then given a C-. It took my grade down a ton and only the curve saved me
What a nightmare of a professor. Unfair grading. Boring and hard to understand lectures. I don't have a single nice thing to say about him. Can confirm that he is in fact the worst professor and it is not even close. Just take the class another quarter if he's the only option and thank me later
What the other person below me said. Literal demon professor #firenealkoblitz
Please avoid this professor at all costs. His midterms and finals are no partial credit and he gives negative points. Also he chooses not to curve his classes and blames the students if the class average is low because "it is never his fault". He makes you do presentations with no rubric and tells the TA to provide a "range of grades" for them.
Trash lecturing and also trash human being. Worst professor ever. Theres nothing good to say about this class
This professor leaves a lot to be desired. You might fail if you're unlucky cause you to get no partial credit. You get something wrong, you loose points and then you also lose extra points for getting it wrong. If you fail everything then you will get a negative grade.
Great professor. Grades tough but show up to his lectures and you will understand how to do the exam problems.
Tests graded to remove points for getting a question wrong. Doesn't teach anything.
In no way ever should this be a 3 credit class especially with koblitz as the professor. So much studying required and teaching ability is subpar. Tests would be bearable if he didn’t take off a mass amount of points even for a small mistake. First class I just straight up gave up on after the 2nd midterm. Take anyone BUT him.
Good class bad teacher Professor Kovlitz is an expert in this field and expects tend to be the worst at teaching beginners. Lectures taught a lot of material and tended to be difficult without a prior math background. Very biased grading, beware using non-scholarly sources in your work.
Just don't.
I derived a matrix for a question worth 25% of the exam; all of my entries were correct but one was missing a negative sign. He gave me 0% for the entire question. He limited the number of A's that could be given out on presentations and provided no rubric/guidelines. He gave out negative points and punished the whole class for poor participation.
I took his class way way back in 1986, I know too late to give this rating, but back then there was no such rating on internet. He was a very tough professor, but if follow his material and class lecture, you will be fined. He lecture through his own notes and his material were application oriented.
There was no rubric for the presentation that was worth like 10-15% of your grade. You receive whatever grade he gives you with no criteria to go off of. Midterms are even worse. No partial credit. Have to get the exact answer with no room for error or else its a 0. Needs to be investigated honestly.
Lectures are hard to follow. For most of the quarter, he wouldn't teach the material until after the WebAssign for that section was due. He would take off extra points for getting T/F questions wrong and would not give partial credit. Was unhelpful and defensive when I tried to reach out for help.
As a transfer math-teacher prep major, I did not experience him in the calc classes. Even then, this was the worst class I took.
Math 208 -> Magic 208. He pulls out numbers outta thin air. Hard to follow even though I've done the reading and did notes.
Renowned for being one of the hardest professors in the math department. Lectures felt like I was just watching a math genius doing homework - he'd skip parts of the problem and expect students to know what he was doing. If you have to take him, just make sure to do the optional HW and do it in office hours or w others. Pro tip: Thomas Carr on yt.
History will remember his substantive contributions to cryptography and his mathematical expertise in number theory but I hope not so for his role as an educator. Expertise undercuts empathy and clarity in some sense, but creates sufficient and necessary conditions for learning, albeit in a tortuous and relentless way.
Lots of grind, the effort I put in and the grade I ended up with was proportional
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