2.0
Quality4.2
Difficulty18%
Would Retake184
Reviews18%
Would Retake
184
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
184 total ratings5
19
4
20
3
14
2
27
1
104
What Students Say
“Thanks to all and go bears”
MATH1A - 5.0 rating“An awful professor, DO NOT TAKE”
MATH1A - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
8%
Textbook Required
43%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.36 avg changeRatings by Course
MATH240
5.0
(1)MATH10A
3.2
(22)MATH 10A
2.0
(1)MATH140
2.0
(1)MATH1A
1.9
(142)Difficulty by Course
16A
4.3
MATH1A
4.3
MATH16A
4.2
MATH 10A
4.0
MATH140
4.0
Reviews (180)
Professor Bamler gives excellent, clear examples, but is not very good at explaining theorems and over-arching concepts. He tends to ramble, and doesn't always explain what he is doing. There are very easy weekly quizzes in discussions. Your GSI is your best hope. If you took AP calculus in high school, you are all set for the course.
Doesn't explain what he is writing on the board. He is clearly very good at math, but he isn't the best at teaching it to students. It would be very difficult to pass the class without previously having taken calculus. Doesn't require a textbook though!
Professor Bamler is a brilliant guy. However, he is a horrible teacher. His lectures are highly theoretical and don't help with any of the homework. The course moves way too fast and the 3 hour long homeworks force you to go to the SLC. You have to teach yourself everything in this course. He goes through the entirety of calculus in 8 weeks.
Professor Bamler gives theoretical lectures but includes many examples. His tests are very hard (averages in the 50s and 60s) but he gives a very generous curve to compensate (curves average to B). Overall, good professor and if you've taken calculus before this class shouldn't be that bad, although it is very stats heavy so ap stats helps a lot.
First of all, you must know that Math 10A is a very terribly organized mathematics course. It jumps from Calc 1 to Calc 2 to Statistics. Bamler is a really nice guy, he is just extremely theoretical in lecture, which means he doesn't explain things in terms of numbers. He is sure to help in office hours though, and his tests are curved quite high.
This class literally crushed my soul. I will forever cringe whenever this class is mentioned to me in the future. He puts pictures of Thomas the tank engine to make the tests seem fun, but they're not fun they make students want to become a humanities major. There goes my hope for pre-med. Curse you Bamler! though he does get a pepper.
Look, I know a lot of people say that Bamler's class was tough and his lectures weren't that great, but the thing is, you'd get the same thing out of any Math 10A professor. Bamler is a great professor and he's incredibly nice in person. His lectures make more sense if you read the notes beforehand. It's a hard class, but it pushes you.
He seems like a really nice guy, but he just can't teach. I took two years of calculus before math 10A and without that I wouldn't have passed. RIP everyone that didn't learn the first 2/3 of the class in high school.
Lectures were confusing for the first half of the semester but got better towards the end. Going to office hours often is what saved me. He is willing to explain even the simplest concepts to you very patiently. Exams were difficult but the curve was very generous. Only had to score about one std above the average to get an A. Homework was long.
Bamler for the first half of the semester was confusing as he was a new professor, but got better. He doesn't care much for the stats part or he didn't have enough time. He emphasizes the conceptual, theoretical over computation so understanding is key. His greatest strength is he holds 3 hours of office hours and is really accessible and nice.
I personally thought Bamler was disorganized in his thoughts and not very clear in lecture. He seems to know the information but doesn't relay it to students very well. He's very theoretical so it took me a lot of time to understand concepts but I learned more from reading on my own and not from his lectures. Overall, wouldn't recommend.
Although Bamler was a bit disorganized at first, I actually really enjoyed his later lectures. He is both enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable about math.
Going to lecture made things more confusing. Best to find material and learn on your own. GSI's also said he did not communicate with them well. Professor often strayed away from the PDF notes that were given through bCourses. These notes are your only text since there is no textbook for the class. Depend on the curve heavily when you take tests
He makes an effort to make the content understandable. I really like the grade scope system. The grade scope system tells you what you missed specifically.
His lectures are decently clear for a math professor. He does his best to explain things and sometimes goes into the realm of over explaining. In section there is a test every week and a group homework due every other week. If you took AP Calc in high school you will be fine.
I found his class to be what I expected of a college level math class. The 10 series is still under development, but I found that Bamler made an effort to connect the concepts for bio majors. There are quizzes every week, and the level of difficulty depends on your GSI. His exams were challenging, but doable
Great teacher. Lectures are boring (i used coursecapture), but clear and straightforward. You know what's going to be on the exam because you just have to do the homework and understand the material. he's ridiculously smart too. Recommended!!
If you took AP Calc AB, BC, and AP Stats in high school, you should be fine. Lectures could be a bit confusing at times, as he likes to focus on proving concepts instead of how to do more routine computations. Exams were challenging but doable.
One of the best professors I've had. He explains all the topics really well and his notes are thorough; I never even read the textbook for the homework and exams. It would help to have a Calc background, since most of Calc BC is covered in the first half of the semester. Go to lectures and discussions and do the homework and you'll do fine.
Bamler is a fantastic prof. Not only is he fascinatingly intelligent, he is well-prepared for lectures and incredibly nice in person. (Go to OH! He doesn't bite!) Having taken BC Calc and AP Stats in high school, this class was an easy A and pretty well-organized for a course still in development. Course is webcast, but GO TO CLASS for the jokes.
This was my first time taking Calc, so Math 1A was definitely a challenge for me. The textbook isn't mandatory, but it definitely helped a lot. His lectures were ok, but honestly the GSI's were what got me through the class and solidified my understanding. Weekly quizzes in section and homework due 3 times a week online.
I never took calculus so this class was hard for me. But this professor didnt help a lot, he honestly sucks as a teacher. He is unclear in lectures so your honestly on your own, also his curve sucks. I would never take him again! Better going off with another professor. Again if you took calc in high school you would probably be fine.
I took calc in high school, but this class was a good review/deepened my understanding of many concepts. Bamler had very good lectures and made sure to take questions and the exams were very fair. He also would add some cheesy jokes now and then which I really enjoyed. I definitely think he is a good lecturer.
This class really helped me understand ricci flow, specifically the existence of smooth manifolds and euclidean metrics D in the 4th dimension riemannian curvature tensors at time t as t approaches a singular time space. Thanks to all and go bears.
To succeed in Bamler's class really do homework. It is a solid grade booster and also prepares you quite well for the exams. For a *math* professor he is quite good at lecturing. Definitely read the textbook on your own and attempt extra problems. If you put in the effort to actually understand the concepts. The exams are curved heavily thankfully!
His use of projecting his iPad on the screen, rather than writing on the board, made it very easy to see each lecture. He also posts all of the notes and video recordings of each lecture online, which was very helpful. This was my 2nd time taking Math 1A, and he was by far better at teaching than any other math professor I have had previously.
Dr. Bamler truly helped me appreciate the subject of chemistry, b/c the class was much easier than his. I actually had to do thinking for this class so don't take it if you wanna do any homework
If you like math, you'll prob find it easy. But for someone like me who hates math but still need it for major, I do poorly. No matter how hard I study for this, the grade is just never satisfying. I did adjunct class in SLC to help me with math but it was useless. He made it seem so easy in lecture but THEY AREN'T! ALL TESTS ARE HARD more than HW!
Prof Bamler was really funny but his class focused more on explaining math theory than teaching how to do practical problems. Problems gone over in lecture were way easier than those on homework and tests. Tests were very hard. The way he chose to grade things made it hard to improve your grade at the end of the semester -- do well the whole time.
He's super clear when it comes to lecturing. Exam questions are super easy, most of which seen in hw and only one that's marked as "harder" but is still pretty doable. Really enjoyed his class!
Lectures were the most difficult to engage with/listen to out of all my classes. This may be different when taught in person, but he was unable to take questions, relate the material, and therefore made it difficult to grasp the concepts. He was extremely poor with technology/computers.
Bamler explains material clearly and concisely, and his tests and quizzes closely reflect material in homework and lectures. Even in times of COVID, he is a great professor, and obviously a nice and caring guy.
His lectures are fun but hard to understand. Although I have taken AP Calculus and get 5, this course is still hard cuz his homework, weekly quizzes, and midterms are too hard. His homework mentions a lot of concepts that he didn't talk about in class. Weekly quizzes are fine, but midterms are much harder and pretty tricky.
i have already tested out of both calculus, passing both calc ab and bc. nonetheless, i chose to take this class to begin to fulfill premed requirements. complete mess. long lectures that aren't very helpful through zoom. difficult, time consuming homework. harsh grading through webwork with little partial credit for correct work. frustrating.
Lectures were recorded and participation wasn't mandatory in main lectures or discussion sections. Very caring professor, especially during this pandemic! Grading scale was made extremely! generous (80+ was an A) and 8 lowest HW and 2 lowest Quizzes were dropped. Given options to skip midterms! Amazing for incoming freshmen!
Lectures were hard to follow and often did not help me learn at all. The exams were significantly more difficult than the quizzes and hw. Some of the exam questions were conceptual and proof based which we had no practice with. Generous grade bins, 2 out of 10 quiz scores dropped. No policy to let your score on the final replace score on midterms.
Generous grading scale. Unlimited attempts on HW, with solutions released after the due date. Tests were very similar to HW/quizzes, 1 question per test that was more conceptual/difficult (but you could skip these and still get an A in the class). Did not go to Prof. Bamler's office hours, but GSIs' discussions and OH were extremely helpful.
Professor Bamler is not only a great instructor, but an inspirational mentor. He gives very clear lecture notes, homework, and grading criteria. When I had questions, I visited his OH, and he gave me guidance in depth. I benefited a lot by talking to Professor Bamler, a top-notch mathematician.
Overall he was a solid professor. Lectures weren't spectacular but they were clear and easy to understand in my opinion. I took AP Calculus before so this class wasn't too difficult and I didn't watch most lectures, but whenever I was confused and actually used the lecture videos they were helpful. He's very fair and cares about his students.
Generous grading but lectures are long, confusing, and difficult to follow.
Ok class. Lectures aren't great or absolutely necessary. Don't bother purchasing the textbook since it can be found online and we didn't use it at all. I found that GSIs explained concepts better than professor Bamler. No extra credit but the curve is generous. Not as lenient as other Math 1A teachers.
Bamler made math 1A enjoyable. He was very accomodating during COVID and was easy to reach. Tests and assignments were administered through Webwork and plenty of time was given for both.
Quizzes and Homework require much deeper understanding of the subject than the lectures teach. Lectures are often unclear and hard to follow (Math 16A)
I did not have a good experience in Math 16A. It may have been because it was online, but Professor Bamler did not do much for the students that were having a hard time. I expressed my struggle in the class and I was not given much help. Lectures were pre-recorded and not great to learn from.
I have learned nothing in this class and it has been extremely difficult even with 100% online tests. The lectures, CYUs, and discussion sections are not related to the tests leaving most students to either use Chegg or other websites each problem. We are fortunate to have 5 questions/1 hr for each test and can drop the lowest 4 scores at least!
No midterms but weekly quizzes are worth 60% of entire grade. Each quiz has 5 questions that are extremely hard and don't relate to homework assigned, textbook, or lectures. Lectures prerecorded by another prof.
This class was fr the worst. First of all, the lectures were pre-recorded by another professor. Let that sink in. The problems given in discussion weren't related to HW/Quizzes. The Prof REFUSED to answer any questions about HW during his "Office hours" which he frequently canceled anyways. The only good thing was that the drop policy was good.
Lectures are pre-recorded, have nothing to do with quiz and homework content. Quizzes are incredibly difficult and make up 60% of our grade. There's a lot of similar negative sentiment among all of the students in this class. Take with Scanlon if possible.
He made calc unnecessarily difficult/anxiety-inducing. Encouraged office hours, yet made students feel less than when asked questions about homework/concepts. Made torturous quizzes every Friday that made 60% of our grade. If you made the tiniest error, you'd still get docked off points. He didn't even record the lectures. Do not take this class!!!
Lectures posted but are very confusing and do not go over the content on the homework and quizzes. Weekly quizzes made my Fridays nightmares but Im grateful it wasnt midterms. Quiz drops and YouTube math lectures saved me. Very disappointed with this course/prof
I took AP Calc in HS and still struggled. Lecture videos weren't taught by him which made things very challenging because homework and quizzes weren't correlated to what we learned. Had to go to almost every GSI office hours offered. Weekly quizzes had 5 questions but they were very hard. Very little leniency when it comes to adjusting grades.
I had this course online and it was to my surprise asynchronous. He was not even the lecturer in the videos (which were extremely difficult to understand). Did not respond to emails. Overall uninspiring and uninvolved in the students' learning experience.
math 16a is suppose to be the "easiest" math track and this prof made this class super difficult. there are quizzes every Friday and they are worth 60% of your grade, so my Friday's were filled with so much anxiety because they were super hard and one question wrong, is already a B-. this class was also asynchronous with prerecorded lectures.
I hated this class. I took it asynchronously fall 2021, and Prof Bamler would just use Prof Scanlon pre recorded videos. No effort on his side, would not even bother responding to numerous emails I sent him with questions. Not accommodating at all. Never heard the sound of his voice or know what he looks like. Doesn't recommend at all!!!
He has good intuition for the material and often communicates it in lecture. However, he tends to spend a huge amount of time on minute details in the proofs with little motivation, making it easy to get lost. Homework was mostly computational, but the tests were mostly non-computational proofs.
Tests were decently hard but nothing too bad if you've taken AP Calculus. Would still brush up on calculus concepts and study the homework problems as much as possible.
Goes more in-depth than AP Calc, but that led to bad use of time in my opinion during lectures. He glazed over many concepts and wasted a silly amount of effort in others. GSIs really help in evening out understanding. Many say his p-sets and exams are very difficult, but they are relatively light if you have a solid understanding.
Man added "labs" which are basically just excel spreadsheets. Learned more about accounting than actual math. Very theory based and the only practice is the homework. The exams also seem to be a bit more about theory. Be careful of the amount of busy work. Took calculus beforehand and still found it hard to understand how he explained it.
Bromler is very theory savvy. Over obsesses over proofs. Rarely finishes lectures. Doesn't go back & fill in unfinished/skipped examples/concepts. If your GSI isn't as overachieving like others(we love u C.R.
His lectures are super unhelpful. He never finishes the lectures and always leaves me more confused than when I started. The quizzes are pretty easy if you do the HW. The midterm is not reflective of the HW or the quizzes-- the midterm is insanely hard. He also forces you to do labs which are really ineffective and more busy work than helpful.
There is way too much busy work that does not prepare us for the midterms. The weekly quizzes are light if you do the homework properly and understand the concepts, but the midterms are a jump from 1 to 100. Also, he never finishes his lectures, which leads to him getting backed up and having to finish them in his next lectures.
His lectures have little to no correlation to quiz and midterm material- both of which individually account for 30% of your grade. Very hard grader. He seems like he genuinely cares about the subject and is passionate about math but is just not a good teacher. Do not take at all.
Does not finish lectures, has varying levels of difficulty for quizzes for each discussion section, midterms and quizzes are each worth 30%, midterms are extremely difficult and only graded on the final answer and no partial credit, and homework and class examples are way easier than the midterm problems.
Prof Bamler has no idea what he is doing, he is honestly horrible at teaching, dude is a flat out bum with all due respect. I'm sure he's great at geometry or whatever his PhD is in, but he can't teach calculus to save his life. If you wanna succeed, study urself before taking the class, a squirrel could easily be a better teacher than this dude.
Horrible class, the way bamler teaches makes no sense and its very easy to lose concentration and very hard to understand what hes doing. Rarely finishes lectures. I have to watch YouTube videos in order to somewhat understand the lesson. The midterm average was 29/63 which shows that bamlers way of teaching is not good.
Extremely difficult class. Midterms are extremely difficult. lectures are unhelpful
Please keep in mind you will have to commit so much time to this class.
Lectures with a few examples, assigns homework with questions not applicable to the exam, and gets surprised when half the class fails the first midterm.
The way Bamler teaches is not satisfiable at all since he overcomplicates the topic and talks minutes on a single exercise during lecture which wastes time and can't get through the next chapter. He even rushes through the topic last minute before the end of the lecture and can't really comprehend what he's saying. Don't take him at any cost.
labs not helpful or useful. I feel like im in a CS class trying to program a math lab on google sheets. Like what bro????? midterms are actually awful. many of my friends who got 5's on BOTH the calc ab and bc ap test are FAILING this class. my mental health is going down
Extremely difficult class.
Terrible lecturer. The tests are a curveball in comparison to the practice midterms, and the class averages on exams are literally failing. Shameful.
Richard spit in my face and told me that I don't mathematical intuition to make it in the real world.
Hardest class I have ever taken
I spend more time trying to teach myself because of his inability to explain things concisely. The quizzes are weighted heavily and the midterms do not properly correlate with the material that we practice. One of his many teaching flaws is that he rushes the last 5 minutes to teach another topic and then tries to quiz us the following week.
A lot of material has to be self-learned or is thankfully taught by my GSI (shout out to Alexis). Midterm practices are not equivalent midterms at all. The midterms also have irrelevant edge-cases to hurt averages. I average a 9.5 on the quizzes and got 100% on 2nd midterm but I self-study. Also lot of questions that are never introduced in class.
He's not the best lecturer in terms of teaching but he is very thoughtful when it comes to grades. He took the time to provide adjustments to the quizzes and midterms which have helped a lot of students out considering math isn't easy for everyone and majority are only taking it for credit/prerequisites.
This class is HARD (way harder than AP Calculus BC). Professor Bamler often runs out of time in his lectures. It also often isn't clear what is going to be on the quizzes. Attendance isn't mandatory, and there are recordings and a livestream. Despite everyone doing poorly on the tests, the grading was changed which gave everyone a boost.
The midterms did not reflect what we learned in lectures. I spent so much time trying to teach myself the material because he rushes in lectures.
Despite the fact that I had taken AP Calc, I initially struggled with Professor Bamler's fast,proof-heavy style. However, in the grind, I feel I have developed deeper mathematical intuition and problem-solving skills. His teaching style, though challenging, made me think creatively, and his generous grading was much appreciated for my grades.
Very test heavy with midterms consisting of conceptual problems that do not reflect what we learned in lecture or homework. Despite this, he gives no partial credit at all on the exams. Terrible lecturer and often rushes through the slides when he does not finish. He does give generous curves and drops 2 of your lowest homework and labs however.
Professor Bamler was an outstanding professor. Although his lectures could be a little confusing at times, he was always involved in the subject and displayed a lot of excitement and good energy. I would take his class again in a heartbeat.
Pro - Does cardio in lecture. CONS - Class structure, QUIZZES ARE 30% -Final answer grading was personally sent from hell to torture me. Bamler wants standardized grading so credit is not up to interpretation but some GSI's grift your grade with faux guidelines for partial credit. Pick a lane, easier tests with no partial, or tests with partial.
Honestly I feel like hes just very used to teaching upper-division mathematics. It's clear that he expects you to know how to do the intermediate steps during algebra, which is reflected in the slightly uncomfortable speed he has during lecture, regardless of the difficulty of the material. Overall not terrible for a class covering so much content.
He is boring throughout the lecture. Has terrible GSI's, while exams and quizzes are extremely difficult. A little bit funny, loves to show his bicycle helmet.
The midterms are nothing like what is practiced in homework assignments, quizzes, or in-class examples. Midterm averages are extremely low even without ample studying and review of all resources. Bamler does not know how to teach relevant coursework/topics on the midterms.
it was awful!!
I feel like this professor does not know how to teach a beginning calc class. My peers who have rated him higher feel grateful towards him since he curved the midterms after the average was a 29/63. If Bamler was a better teacher, this curve would not have had to be made in my opinion. I feel like there is a false sense of gratitude. DO NOT take.
This class is HARD (way harder than AP Calculus BC). Professor Bamler often runs out of time in his lectures. Attendance isn't mandatory, and there are recordings and a livestream. Despite everyone doing poorly on the tests, the grading was changed which gave everyone a boost.
His lectures are confusing and inefficient. He's usually behind schedule on lectures and his labs are not very helpful with contents we are learning. Quizzes, homework, exams are all different from each other. The materials he gave to study for exams was from five years ago, super outdated and irrelevant to lectures. Class exam averages were 40%
Although the reviews say otherwise, I believe the Prof is nice and generous. Concepts are hard to grasp in lecture but with extra time learning from others(YT) it is possible. He is generous with curves and listens to the students feedback. Visiting after class / OH is helpful. Some of the low ratings reflect the aftermath of a rough first midterm.
Lectures are extremely proof-heavy, and always go over time, resulting in Prof. Bamler cutting each lecture short. Despite having calculus experience from high school, Bamler's lectures left me with more questions than answers. At least there's a good homework drop policy. Labs are very unhelpful, and the midterm averages were horrendous.
In his lectures, he focuses too much on proofs instead of the actual concepts. All problems on exams, quizzes, HW problems, etc., feel unnecessarily complicated. He also has labs, which are just using Google Sheets and following directions--not helpful or interesting. I think he had decent ideas for running the class, but horrendously executed.
I feel like Professor Bamler gets a lot of undeserved hate. Sure, his lectures get a little boring and theoretical (but they are not terrible), and labs are pointless. But he insanely curved everyone's grades which at the very least shows that he cares about students.
if you enroll in this class, load up the g1ock
This class is made unnecessarily difficult. Test heavy. Hard exams. Practice exams are outdated. Average is an F. Stay away!
Made basic calculus SO confusing for even students who had prior knowledge of the course. Cannot imagine how difficult this class would be for students who had no prior knowledge. Exam averages were always ridiculously low but curved up on behest of GSIs because literally everyone failed. Not approachable/helpful in lecture.
hard.hard.hard.
man makes dem tests thinking we mathematics majors. mandem don't know how to teach yeah who made this man a professor. bombaclaaaat
If you have the AP credit, avoid this class! (1B will be fine.) How it's possible to fail at teaching basic calculus concepts is beyond me. Lectures were boring, grading was heavily focused on quizzes (30%), midterms (30%), and finals (20%) all of which were extremely difficult (avg 45%, curved to 65%).
Difficulty is not designed for someone just starting out in calculus. Lectures help minimally.
Professor Bamler is probably a good person in general and seems really nice one-on-one but when it comes to teaching along with having us know what to expect isn't proved simple. I've had several mental breakdowns recorded so far in this class and at this point, if you think is an easy A- it really isn't, I just wish I knew that earlier.
I wish I'd realized sooner the concepts aren't that hard, just explained poorly. Even when I understand the concepts it feels impossible to pass the exams. They're designed so if you don't do every step of the problem perfectly, you get no points. He can be generous with the curve, but needing so much of a curve shouldn't be necessary...
I wish I'd realized sooner that the concepts aren't that hard, just explained poorly. Even when I understand the concept, it feels impossible to pass the exams because of no partial credit. Mess up on one step and it's over. He's generous with the curve which I appreciate, but needing such a high curve really shouldn't be necessary... Self study!!
If I hadn't taken calculus before this class, I would have an F. Professor Bamler's lectures and teaching style made concepts unnecessarily difficult and the homework problems were always much harder than what he taught in lecture. He also ran out of time and we didn't even get to finish all the units he had planned. Take him at your own risk fr
HORRID. LITERALLY NO. THIS CLASS IS TAKING OVER MY LIFE.
bad very bad
First time taking calculus and he made concepts so hard to understand. Tests were extremely difficult and class average was a 44%! Don't take.
Prof Bamler is very funny. He runs in class and likes to show off his bike. On some days he likes to dance. He seems very sweet and innocent and I didn't want to give him a bad rating (class hard asf tho)
easy class, had fun, nice professor.
horrible, ruined my gpa and made things harder and more complicated than necessary
Horrible
Lectures were proof-heavy and not similar to homework/test questions. Midterms and final were hard and often tested higher-level thinking outside of the scope of the class. Not to mention that the tests were graded on solely on the final solution (no partial credit). Even after taking AP Calculus BC and doing well, this class tested my "limits".
Have never taken calc before. The lectures were good. I found re-watching them helped me fully comprehend the info. Quizzes and exams are HEAVILY curved. It is not difficult to score above a 100%. My friends found the textbook helpful though I never touched it. Practice tests were helpful. Do/understand the HW, especially the tricky problems.
avoid this class at all costs. extremely unfair quizzes and tests that are worth so many points, but without partial credit and no discussed curves. horrible teacher with an ATTITUDE!!!
Do not take the class; Bamler cannot lecture properly, goes into unnecessary metaphors and proofs instead of cutting to the chase of the actual concept.
He is very accommodating regarding grades and curved all the midterms, finals, and quizzes. In the end almost half the class got some sort of A. This professor doesn't deserve the bad reviews. I can say that during my time at Cal, Professor Bamler has been one of the most caring and accommodating professors I've had.
An awful professor, DO NOT TAKE. He plans to have 2 lessons taught in a 1 1/2 hour class and will take an hour or more to do half of one lesson and speed through the rest of the content in the last 10-30 minutes. I never understood any of the concepts from the lectures. His tests are incredibly difficult and he does not allow people to show work.
Even though I took calculus in high school, I had a lot of difficulty understanding the way Professor Bamler explained the material. The midterms and final were very difficult, forcing the class grades to be inflated by more than 40%. In the end, I do not think this class builds a good foundation for people who are taking higher math courses.
Bamler had a bad rep this year because of his initial impression of the students this semester, but I think he changed for the better throughout. He now acknowledges when to curve our grades and he curves insanely well (a 30-40% increase in grade). He's a poor lecturer. 46% of the class received an A while 26% failed which is just plain stupid.
Why man- just don't at this point. I literally had several mental breakdowns and couldn't digest this material- yet did calculus in high school. The pain I had to endure, he is a good person but as a teacher I don't know anymore. I just wish I never did this class- totally wrecked my gpa.
He does not explain concepts clearly and makes the homework , quizzes, and midterms ridicuously difficult. His class is especially overwhelming if you did not take any AP Calc classes like me. Very highly reccomend you do not take him.
The fact that people are only giving good reviews just because they got a B or an A. Whatever helps you everyone sleep at night getting these grades and writing reviews because of that isn't helpful since this class was poorly executed. The tests, quizzes, and everything was curved but more than 26% scored bad. I'm not sure what to say anymore...
I took calculus in high school, but even that could not have prepared me for this class. The exams were difficult compared to the quizzes and homework. He'd sometimes take shortcuts or gloss over something in lecture and tell us to just look at the textbook. Unless you thoroughly know the content beforehand, avoid this class at all costs.
Assigns labs, which r absolutely no help whatsoever. Practice tests r completely outdated and don't help at all. Tests and homework were unnecessarily hard and tedious. Changed his policy to curving test as damage control because everyone was failing. Constantly made mistakes and errors during lecture. 70% of the GSIs were also useless and slow.
Lectures are incredibly boring and concepts are not explained well. Didn't help that my GSI wasn't good either but I had to teach myself a lot of the material. At least most of it isn't very difficult to comprehend but it would've been nice to have a competent professor. Stopped showing up to lectures after a month and a half of class. It's doable.
I have to agree with the other person that mentioned about people giving only good reviews because they got an A or a B because as someone that did AP Calc before, it was sad that the GSIs couldn't give us support to the situation- curving everything where some people benefitted... Don't take this class, it will make you wish you never did it.
Take him
He made us do online labs in google sheets which were absolutely useless, and on top of that the exams questions didn't really resemble the quiz or homework or lecture questions. It was a pretty demotivating class to take during my first semester at Berkeley. He's a nice person and I do think he cares about teaching, but I wouldn't take it again.
as a second year at Berkeley, I've had my fair shares of not great professors. Bamler seemed sweet and genuine, however, our grade was made up by quizzes, midterms and the final. Homework took up a lot of my time, so did the labs- to not be worth much. Exam questions were supposed to be answered with "intuition," graded off correct answer only.
Prof. Bamler isn't the worst professor, but as a Freshman he's not what I expected. His lectures were too cramped and sped up. Useless work was given like online Labs. Grades were curved, yet majority of the class still received a grade of D+ or lower. No calculators. Exams were graded based on final answers only & our working out wasn't looked at.
i worked so hard just to fail. super hard class.
Bamler, while not the best teacher, is also not the worst. He explores concepts, derives theorems, and provides examples. However, his in-depth explanations are confusing, he, fails to complete lectures, and doesn't grade work. Despite challenging tests, a generous curve compensates, with a 63 curving to 100. Answer the familiar questions = excel
as someone who received a good grade in this class, it was only because i took AP Calc in high school and was blessed with a good GSI. the tests were like the complicated examples he gave us during lectures but it was not explained well enough. the class is hard and the test scores are humbling #streaksdonthmuonlytherealonesknow. pls save urself
Homework are too much, some help for quiz and exams others are not. Labs are useless and first midterm and the final were incredibly hard. To me what I was learned only a surface but the exam question dive so much in depth that I only able to understand the concept and simple version of it but not the actual exam question.
You NEED to be blessed by gracious GSI actually to succeed in class. I had a GSI that barely prepared a class for weekly quizzes. The professor himself barely went into crucial steps on how to solve complex problems, homework consisted of never-seen-in-class topics, VERY proof heavy(says to prepare the class for upper math courses). Trust in GSIs.
I had to self teach myself this whole class and relied heavily on my peers, TA, and youtube videos. Lectures did little to no help. Midterm and final was an absolute disaster because the questions were so difficult.
Such a horrible professor. He goes on long unnecessary tangents and overcomplicates the concepts. He assigns lots of homework, quizzes, and labs. Please do yourself a favor and listen to the reviews. Do not take his course! You would be surprised to see how many of his students bonded over how horrible his Math 1A course was.
Created labs that were just google sheets but time consuming and unnecessary. He wouldn't finish lectures but assigned the homework that's for that lecture. We had a quiz every week. If you have a good GSI you will succeed but if you don't then good luck. He curved quizzes and tests that was the least he could do or everyone was going to fail.
The worst class experience I have ever had.
Nice man but not a good prof, especially for an introductory math course. I had previously taken calc ab in high school which is the main reason I was able to survive. Introduces many new concepts with little backing, spends too much time on proofs, and most of the class was perpetually behind. Only saving grace was his massive exam + quiz curves
Balmer seems like a good guy, very nice if you ask questions, but as a teacher, not great. His exams were extremely difficult, he chose questions that used very unfamiliar methods where the GSIs would spend a long time trying to explain after the test. None of his previous exams reflected what our exams ended up looking like. Quizzes were unfair.
Professor Balmer alone RUINED my first semester. This class will drain every bit of academic confidence you had in yourself. You could be giving it your all and still be performing horribly. At least you get to trauma bond with your peers!!
Worst experience of my life. After each midterm and the final, I saw at least 10 people in TEARS. These people including myself studied for weeks and weeks, using every material released to prepare. The previous year's released exams were significantly easier than our exams this year, hence our class averages being the worst in Math 1A history.
Prof Bamler liked to emphasize having the "intuition" to do a problem, so he would put unfamiliar problems on tests with little opportunity to get partial credit. Many of the resources provided didn't actually help prepare for midterms. Most helpful resource was probably the homework. I still do not understand why we had "Labs"
This class honestly damaged and put me down mentally in indescribable ways throughout the semester. My friends and I have taken calc classes before but the way this class is taught and structured provides no support to help you succeed. Everyone was basically forced to self teach themselves . No basic calc class should ever be this hard.
Richard Bamler's proficiency in mathematics is so advanced that breaking down problems and explaining step-by-step how to solve an equation becomes a challenging task for him. During lecture, he overcomplicates the problems and focuses on theory (rushes lectures). If you want to pass this class, you better hope for a good RA.
Not sure why people thought it was so hard. Extremely easy quizzes though midterms/final was actually really hard. Gave the class an extreme curve to help everyone. Pretty sure most people who didn't do well just didn't have good proficiency in algebra/pre-calc stuff from covid high school lmao. Lectures were fine, covered what you needed to know.
As someone with previous calc experience, this class has showed me the depths of academic despair. Unfair quizzes and very little support from course staff. The labs were so unnecessary and lectures barely helped. Pain
Bamler is a bad lecturer, teaches like a math genius instead of a teacher teaching math. Seriously ridiculous. His lectures wouldn't teach me anything either (everyone I know agrees on this). Also, his tests are only graded by answer, and the exams are really where your grade is impacted, so I had to study for multiple days for his tests.
Curved the class a lot so I must give some credit, but the lectures were terribly hard to understand.
Relied on curves to save his job.
A big portion of why I succeeded is my previous knowledge of Calc 1 and I had an amazing GSI. Professor Bamler lectures you and tests you as if you were a math student studying an upper-division mathematics course and expects a lot from the students. He gave a generous curve, but I believe it's more important to teach properly than grade well.
dude had crazy curves but 1/3 of the class still failed. could not teach to save his life
Avoid the class if possible. Weekly quizzes that are very difficult and not related to homework sometimes. Also very heavy on homework with random deadlines. The homework is on an online platform and the AI doesn't detect signs correctly so it would take a long time to get the way the AI wants it. No partial credit for exam questions
This class is extremely difficult and stressful. It can ruin your GPA and make you hate math. I 100% would not recommend this class to anybody.
weekly hoemwork sometimes 50 questions long. weekly quizzes that sometimes don't relate to the topics at hand. Lectures felt very disorganized and super fast paced. Went into topics that covered Math 1B. If you're stuck with this class then focus heavily on trigonometry
very hard and unfair
Very hard class and unfair grading system
please avoid taking this class. after retaking it with a different teacher I realized this class was truly made for students to fail. I worked extremely hard and yet this class felt impossible. The class was so hard that It was the only class I was able to focus on. very stressful times I get sad thinking about this class.
This class made me hate math, as a math major.
Worst class ever, lectures were hard to understand, quizzes were hard, homework were sometime 25-50 questions, exams had average of 30% and does not give partial credit, had lab assigned as hw, came into it wanting to drop out. Don't take this class.
I personally felt that this class was meant to just stress me and not teach me. This class was my worst experience in school.
Took calc in high school, even then prof. Bamler's tests and policies were ridiculous. over 20% of students at the number 1 public university failing an intro calculus class is not anyone else's fault but his own overly convoluted teaching methods that confuse students more than teaching them.
DO NOT TAKE MATH1A WITH BALMER. DO NOT DO IT. this is the worst class i have ever taken at berkeley. this class STRESSED ME OUT rather than teaching me something. there is way too much busy work and way too much homework. there are LABS for math and only he does this. AVOID it.
bad, doesn't help out students. terrible teacher never take him
Do NOT take this course. This professor does not know how to teach. Yes, he is respected in the math department with insane research, but some researchers should stay in research. This is one of the classes where if you can avoid it, then AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS. In lecture he crams too many modules, so he starts rushing at the end.
Richard Bamler is probably the worst professor I have had and will ever have. His exams were entirely unreasonable as he did not offer any partial credit. His lectures were also pointless and did not prepare you for the course material. I would not recommend him as a professor if you have not already taken AP Calc before.
they can never make me hate you richard
This class gave me so much trauma
Avoid this class at all costs. Professor Bamler's teaching is a mess - he rushes through material, assigns excessive homework, and gives exams that most students fail. Thankfully, tools like Unstuck ai helped me study efficiently and pass the course.
Please this man is my biggest opp. The trauma he caused is irreversible.
I actually did like him. He curves EXTREMELY generously.
WRONG WAY! Take math 1a with another prof or @ community college. NEVER subject yourself to this class. Worst professor I've had. Bamler is a great researcher, but can NOT teach this intro class. I never took calc in hs, and this class was hell. Bamler traumatized me so heavily it's a wonder I don't sue for emotional damage.
He's okay. The main thing I didn't like about him is that his lectures are important for the class, but also really scattered. He almost never finished lectures on time and we ended up being behind for the entire course. His exams are difficult, and as far as the raw grade goes most people don't pass but he gives a huge curve so you pass anyway.
A little overhated. Yes he gives a ton of homework, yes his lecturing style is roundabout and too long overall. Yes he explains things to almost too much detail, to the point where you forget the broader point. But I learned a lot, if you pay attention, he does give you a deep, thorough understanding of calculus, and his grading is fair imo.
I sacrificed my GPA so you don't have to. Do NOT take any course with Professor Bamler. He does not know how to teach and tests are unfair. Around 30% of students taking this course will fail and only around 25% will get an A. This class put my mental health in the gutter.
Assigns too much work and grades too hard. A final that is 60% of your grade is also too much. I would not recommend taking him at all for any subject. You're better off with Paulin or taking Calc 1 at CC.
Never forget Richard Bamler said that the current generation of students have "issues with basic executive functions." Who put him in charge as the vice chair of undergraduate affairs?
Pretty good lecturer, very good intuition given when he diverged from the text.
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