Do not take from him if you've never taken Calculus before, you will get very lost. I am doing well in this class only because my TA is amazing.

Sean Paul assumes everyone has already taken and mastered calculus. His lectures are useless, I don't think I understood one thing he said, but he manages to tell you all the time how "easy" everything is. So unless you already have mastered calculus, do not take Sean Paul

Sean Paul is awful. He will not answer questions or emails. He goes off in lecture about things you don't need to know. His tests are completely random and almost impossible to study for. Only take his class if you've had calc before and have a great TA!

He does not teach normal calculus. The test questions are random and weird, unlike anything i have seen before. I have taken calc before and i was good at but i got a b in the class because his final was ridiculous. The problems he gives on tests are nothing like the homework or book problems making it impossible to study for.

After a ridiculously easy first midterm, Prof. Paul decided to make up for it by posing impossible questions on both the second midterm and the final. The homework was pointless because nothing on the exams was based off the homework, but instead from his intelligible lectures.

Dont take him. Lect was 100% pointless..He gives HW, then tests on stuff that we didnt have HW on after he said everything on the HW will be what we are tested on. The first test was super easy, he didnt like that so many ppl got A's and then the last two tests were just SICK! He knows his calc but cant teach it well at all! :(

DONT TAKE PAUL!!!!

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS unless you have previously taken calculus. In fact, I would recommend not taking this class at all. Exams are impossible and he gets lost in his own thoughts and assumes everyone knows what he is talking about.

I may despise this man more than anyone on earth. Your grade may reflect your knowledge...or it may not. I didn't get a single letter grade on anything in the entire course. I had no idea where I stood until I got my final grade. Avoid at all costs. I really hope he gets fired.

Awful class, awful professor. Took problems off test because he couldn't do them. Lectures don't teach you anything because you can't understand him- he's in his own world. Homework is easy, but he tests are absolutely impossible. There are much better professors out there. What ever you do, do not take his class.

Avoid having this professor if at all possible. He is very smart but is just horrible at teaching. I walk out of lecture having no idea what I just learned. He talks wayyyyyy tooo fast, writing isn't always clear, and is just frankly confusing, and often makes things more complicated than they need to be. Hope you have a good TA if you have him.

He should be given the Fields Medal for his ability to find ways around every easy way to do anything involving mathematics.

He does not explain anything in lecture, goes way to fast and you dont know what he is talking about, you learn everything from your TAs.

Wow...just wow.

WORST PROFESSOR EVER. Do NOT take this class with him. He does not explain anything and makes me feel like a TOTAL IDIOT after I leave the class. He is way too smart for his own good. Thank you, Sean Paul, for ruining my first GPA in college

He's like a hurricane= Unpredictable

Went to lecture the first couple weeks, couldn't understand a word he was saying. Self taught myself and understood mostly, should have gone to t.a. office hours more. Would randomly attend his lectures to see if I could understand better, although I knew what was going on in the book, I still could not understand what he was saying.

worst professor ever among all math courses I have taken. Math teachers are supposed to be logically strict about every definition, thm and steps of proof. He is maybe the only math teacher who skips all accuracy

cannot understand what he is talking about, messy notes on blackboard, too much unnecessary proof, learn from TA and learn by self from the book.

He definitely knows and enjoys what he's talking about, but he has difficulty to clearly explain it. Speaks very fast so it's almost impossible to follow unless you are super familiar with the content. When you can't follow, the blackboard notes won't do much help because they were terribly handwritten and therefore very difficult to recognize.

Sean Paul is too smart to be teaching such low level math and he expects all of his freshmen students to be experts in calculus before taking the course. We have a textbook but we do not use it at all as Sean Paul writes his own homework problems that even tutors can not understand or help with.

He goes through a lot of proofs that don't really mean anything to the tests. First test is the easiest thing you'll take, but then the next two are tougher than the AP tests to get into the class. Very hard and unclear

He is very arrogant and his lectures are extremely boring. I would not recommend this professor.

I stopped going to lecture when I realized he never teaches anything important, only proofs of simple things that are overly complicated. Get a good TA to explain things to you or you won't do well.

Professor Sean Paul is one of the worst lecturers that I have ever had. I do not see any point of even attending his lectures since he only talks long and obscure theorems that don't even show up on the test. I highly recommend not taking his class.

Not much homework. Confusing lectures. Terrible at relaying information. Nice guy. Too many proofs during lecture. Difficult grading. Tests are either really easy or really hard. Can skip lecture and find how to do hw online. Quiz once a week. Uses odd math notation. Makes things more complicated than needed. Don't take unless taken Calc previously

You don't know what he teaches in class and he gives tons of of homework over the things that you can't find in your notes or in the packet.

For 234, avoid this professor at ALL costs. His lectures are obnoxiously fast and extremely tough to understand if you do not have a strong background in Linear Algebra. Topics include things not available in the textbook, in the reference book or even online. Beware the horrors of 234 with him.

Seriously I always get good grades and people say I'm smart and I HIGHLY recommend taking 234 with a different professor. He has the funniest laugh but his lectures make no sense. Your TA will teach you most of what you need to know so go to Discussion. Your notes from lecture will be useless because you won't be able to interpret them later.

Sean Paul's lectures are confusing at best; he goes off on tangents and will use notation that even some tutors don't understand. He will often contradict himself, confusing everyone. The class is manageable, but the workload is at times excessive and the homework is very difficult. The tests are easier than the homework. I would avoid if possible.

WORST PROFESSOR EVER! Use the weirdest math notation that no one else even know. Always managed to interpret some easy & straightforward concepts into the most confusing thing in the world. I have a very good math background but his lecture just made me want to shred my notes and throw out cursing words. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

Do not take his lecture, I REPEAT, do not take his lecture. Some topics are not from the book neither from the notes. Sometimes topics are not even on the internet.

Take this class from another professor if possible. Lectures are both confusing and irrelevant regarding the material on his tests. He speeds too quickly through complex topics and spends most of his time writing immensely difficult proofs in a way that doesn't make sense. You'll rely more on Youtube tutorials than the lectures to learn material

He has extremely discrete proofs that you struggle like heck to try to understand, and the TA is much better at teaching. He's a brilliant man, but I don't think he fits in a lecture hall. Choose another professor for this class.

He does not even talks about things in in the textbook. This made me don't even know where to look at when I want to review. In his test there are few problems, so it is common that you suddenly lose ten points when you did one problem wrong. I don't know if he has curve in this class. And if he doesn't, I should probably be thinking of withdrawing

Sean Paul does not follow the 234 course notes that you purchase at the beginning of the year. He also makes you buy Schaum's Outline of Advanced calculus. The book has many errors, which makes it hard to use. 75% of your grade is based off of three midterms. Lectures are very hard to follow. Overall, I don't suggest having him as a professor.

When your professor says you are supposed to get stuck in one of the questions of a MIDTERM and you lose 20 points because you are "supposed to". You know something wrong. Many people told me you will lose nothing in attending lecture, well, I both lost time and self confidence after each of his lecture. 0/10, would not recommend

Attending Sean Paul's lectures are a waste of time. Avoid this professor at all costs. In all fairness his first test was not too bad, however, it is ridiculous that thereafter he designed problems that students will not be able to solve. Your success in this class will be entirely determined by a quality TA as Sean does not follow the course notes

His course is inconsistent. He frequently goes off topic. His notes are not legible nor will you be able to understand what you write down. First midterm as acceptable, second one was really conceptual and the homework did not help whatsoever. Average grade for the 2nd midterm was 58/100. This professor should not continue teaching. Waste of time.

Sean Paul is a brilliant man. He understands much of 234 and all the idiosyncrasies of the class. Unfortunately, he does not understand the normal brain enough to connect. There is no linear path in his class. There is no one textbook. The syllabus will be changed. There are no education resources (Mathlab, Tutors, ect) that will confidently help.

Never take a class with Sean Paul. Ever.

My experience with Sean Paul has been poor. He is inconsistent with homeworking, giving a lot one week and giving none the next. His lectures are practically incomprehensible. Be prepared to learn the concpets yourself. Homework did not help at all with the second test. Avoid if possible.

Sean T. Paul is the worst professor I've ever had so far during my time at UW Madison. His lectures are awful. He speaks faster than anyone I've ever met, and his writing on the board is almost completely illegible. This makes learning Calculus extremely difficult, because you learn nothing in his lectures. Good luck if you ever have Sean T. Paul.

Khan Academy is your friend. Sean Paul is not. This man doesn't deserve any credit for the multivariable calculus that I have learned this semester.

Only talks about concepts and theories during class. Even then things are not clearly explained. Doesn't do any concrete examples to demonstrate his teaching. His board notes are extremely hard to follow since he doesn't put any notation on what materials he's talking about. Speaks fast and mumbles a lot.

Sean Paul is a very great math phd students. Unfortunately, he doesn't get the right job after he graduated. He adds his own opinions on math but it doesn't work on most students. He gives exams on concepts related to his self-define symbols but not appear in any textbooks. His exams can't reflect the true ability of students in math. Bad professor

Avoid Mr. Paul. Went to all lectures and couldn't understand a thing he is talking about. He expects everyone to be experts in maths, when he asked the class to work out a "simple" problem in 10 seconds, even the best students wasn't able to answer in a few minutes. Didn't follow textbooks. If you happen to be his student, wish you a good luck.

He is really smart, and he thinks that everyone is as smart as he is. He has been studying math for so many years, so his understanding of math is very deep, and he expects everyone to understand the materials as deeply as he does. He does not understand that I am a beginner knowing nothing about the materials and trying to learn new stuff!

Avoid at all costs. Lectures are almost impossible to interpret for a vast majority of students. The tests are extremely heavily weighted and use notation not taught in class.

Paul assigned hours and hours more homework than the other Math 234 professors (one assignment even took 10+ hours long). He has a good personality, can be pretty funny, and seems to enjoy teaching his students, but he challenges his students too much and made the class a lot harder than it should have been. Also, lectures were kind of confusing.

Sean Paul made math 234 incredibly difficult for no reason. You can completely understand and receive perfect scores on your homework, and still bomb the midterms. Also, Sean Paul does not follow the textbook, and there are often ZERO resources for the material. If you need to take this course, take it with a different professor!!!

I loved math until I took 234. Sean Paul is clearly a genius but should not be a teacher because he cannot articulate ideas clearly to students. He also has a horrible ego and is brutal to students learning the material for the first time. This class was not at all enjoyable and just left me frustrated and upset. Avoid if at all possible!!

Do not take this lecture. I signed up for this professor despite the low ratings because he had the WES section. While my TA was excellent, the lectures left much of the curriculum for the students to learn. Instead, Paul would spend entire lectures on tangents (kill me) about topics like Maxwell's equations (we weren't tested on those).

Sean Paul is a great guy who obviously knows his math, BUT He has a really hard time translating this into any form of coherent lecturing. For most of his lecture days he gets through half the topics he intends to cover and the rest are up to you to learn yourself, and those he does cover are confusing and jumbled. Pray you get a good TA

The most scatterbrained professor I have ever met. Possessed the handwriting of a 4 year-old, board organization skills were awful, lectures moved either incredibly fast or painfully slow. The only redeeming quality about him was that he laughed really funnily, but towards the end of the semester, that didn't make up for his lack of teaching skills

Sean Paul is clearly very good at math and if you go into his office hours for help, he really tries to make the content of the class accessible to you. HOWEVER, he makes easy concepts seem impossible and is horrible at explaining things. He talks a lot about things that you won't be tested on and his lectures are theoretical. Barely any examples.

If you are thinking of taking a 234 class with this professor, then I would say try to avoid him at all costs. I got a B in his class, but it was really the worst professor I ever had. I don't know what is worse, his arrogance and lack of manners or his complete inability to teach. I would definitely avoid him.

Super difficult and confusing would not recommend taking his course

Only teaches in proofs.

I was so good at math until I met him. He completely ruins my plan for my schedule. He always talk about stuff that is not gonna be on the test like Linear Algebra even though we are not taking that.

The only interesting part of Sean Paul's lecture is his attempt at making a joke, that only he laughs at. Loved every math class until this one, has made me rethink my entire major. Sean Paul does not help you understand the material at all, and makes the easiest problems seem impossible.

All his lectures are proofs. Very abstract and difficult to apply to the problems he gives out. I enjoyed math a lot before I had him. For our final, the class average was 50%. The only thing that will save you in this class is a curve. I would only recommend him if you hate your life and/or you're a mathematical god that can learn anything

Lectures are boring and hard to follow. He's very disorganized and often presents material that is not relevant to the exams. Very unresponsive to emails (got a response 2 weeks after I emailed him only bc my TA told him). I was good at/enjoyed math before meeting this dude. I'm retaking 234 next semester with a dif prof.

Sean Paul makes easy questions become complex and convoluted. He fails to adequately explain topics because he is incoherent and unprepared. He assigns too many math problems at the end of the week, and requires students to purchase a textbook (other professors sold notes). You'll do well if you teach yourself instead of listening to him.

Sean Paul's lectures are confusing, super long-run on examples without any concrete solutions. You also have to buy a separate textbook that other classes don't--it's only used for half of the homework problems. The other half of problems are written in lesser known notation that on-campus tutors couldn't even solve. Tests are strangely easy though

Sean Paul moves excruciatingly slow through the material while somehow not actually teaching you how to understand or solve any problems. Homework is ridiculously long. He seems more interested in finding the Michael Faradays of the class than actually teaching. The only reason I got an A is because he basically recycles tests from previous years.

Sean Paul's so bad at lecturing and known to be such an awful teacher that multiple times when I have told a tutor at drop in or an advisor that I have him as a professor, they literally laugh and say, "I'm sorry". This man is late 50% of the time, granted usually it is only by a minute or two but it's still unacceptable for it to occur that often.

Pros: Recommends good textbook. Tests are straightforward Cons: Doesnt reply to email. Skips office hours. Doesnt explain concepts well. Condesending, rude, and generally unapproachable. Randomly changes due dates and creates assignments. Doesnt give meaningful feedback. Uses non-standard terminology and notation

Sean Paul is the worst professor at UW. A good grade isn't too difficult because his exams are straightforward. However, you won't learn anything from him. The textbook is extremely useful resource so read it and do all the practice examples. Make sure you go to class though because he announces random changes only in lecture. Doesn't answer emails

Lectures are basically nonsense, be prepared to learn everything from other sources. Luckily, the material isn't too bad. If you're decent at math it will be frustrating but fine, if not do not take Sean Paul or it will go badly. His weekly homework sets are long but not that bad either.

Sean Pauls makes even the most simplest things way too complex. He made topics that I already knew confusing. I thought I was good at math until I met Sean Paul. His handwriting is illegible, he is mean and berates students and makes them feel dumb. He often goes off topic and his lectures are incredibly disorganized.

It is very difficult to teach multi variable calc poorly, yet Sean Paul somehow manages to do so. Calc 3 is not a terribly difficult class, and I had taken it prior to attending UW Madison and had a good grasp of the concepts, however nothing I learned helped me understand what he talks about in lecture. Its like its a completely different class.

He expects totally different things from you. Seems like he assumes you know the topic well already when he's teaching. He also used different textbooks than other professors. His lectures are boring. AVOID AT ALL COST.

I got nothing out of lecture

Extremely rude, and doesn't explain concepts well at all. Definitely avoid

He's a nice guy, but you learn very little by going to lecture. I've gone to all of the lectures and I go in confused, and leave even more confused. Take a different professor if at all possible. He makes the content seem harder than it really is when he teaches it, and explains it too much to the point where you don't understand.

Sean Paul is the worst professor I have ever had. You get more out of 10 minute online videos than going to actual lecture. He will tell you "this is not a proofs based course", but then proceed to prove everything. He never shows you concrete examples on how to do anything. He is condescending and arrogant in lectures. I would NOT take his class.

In order to get the most out of lectures, it is essential to read ahead otherwise you will be completely lost. Almost all exams were very fairly prepared directly from homework content. My best advise is to find the best TA in your lecture and go to their office hours as much as possible. Always complete homework assignments! (25% of total grade)

Prof. Paul randomly missed the first two weeks of lectures, and only let us know days beforehand that he was going to be gone. He is constantly condescending to students instead of helpful, and it is impossible to learn from his teaching style. Avoid if possible but if you're stuck with him, watch Khan Academy and hope for the best.

Rants on and on about things that you will NEVER need to know, and neglects to teach real examples of things that you DO need to know.

Awful. Condescending. Rude. Somehow found time to spend a month on vectors (the most simplistic part of calc 3), but crammed the most important/challenging topics into last three weeks, and did not even get to cover other topics. Terrible lectures, I mostly learned from my TA. Luckily, the tests are straightforward, so it is not difficult to do wel

Lectures-Unnecessarily complex and deviated from actual 234 material Homework-Long but worth doing b/c worth 25% of grade. One grad flow assignment was super hard but a TA posted solutions the day before it was due Demeanor-Condescending Discussions>Lectures if you really want to learn I'm pretty good at math but Sean really made me work for my A

Absolutely terrible. Only taught proofs in lecture that we didn't need to know. Didn't respond to a single one of my emails. Condescending to students. Only grades were 3 tests and weekly homework so if you bombed a test, you're pretty much screwed.

Sean Paul gives great lectures, however they are beyond the scope of the class for those taking it the first time. If you have taken calc 3 before you may find them interesting. If you have not you might not understand anything at all.

Textbook is good. Homework is ok. Lectures are useless and he can be rude and condescending... spent half a lecture defending his poor rating on this site... Just read the textbook and do all the practice problems. Hope to get a good TA or attend multiple discussions and figure out which one is best for you then go to that TA discussion and office

Ridiculously difficult. Is overly aggressive and accusatory in class. Straight up mean. Does not teach. Lectures are essential to maybe on a good day glean a tiny but of useful knowledge to help you on the brutal homework. Definitely seek outside help, but good luck because many tutors will turn you away due his work being too difficult for them.

He is the worst. He would make up his own formulas and notations and expect you to understand what he was talking about. For the final, he had us solve a packet of 82 questions in advance and then he picked 6 or so to be on the test itself, which was ridiculous. The TAs were great though and explained everything a lot more clearly.

Sean Paul is very enthusiastic about math, but just a little too enthusiastic. He spends too much time explaining proofs over taking the time for examples. His style of teaching is made for much higher theoretical math, not Calc 3

Please don't take his classes. I worked so hard and I don't know if I will pass or not. This guy is too tough and to into math. Just don't take it!

Sean Paul is not a good instructor. He always goes beyond what is necessary to teach and even skips the necessary things. If you read the textbook's examples and do his homework, the exams will be easy, as they are pretty straight forward.

He's notorious for his bad teaching in Math 234, but I thought he would do a better job at a higher level. However, I change my thought after taking his class. Even though he's very enthusiastic, his lecture is the most unorganized lecture I've ever seen, and there is no lecture note. But his exams are pretty easy. Literally learn nothing from him.

I REALLY DO NOT LIKE this professor. His lecture is so unorganized. I am really confusing what he says. The worst thing is that the homework does not match the things he talks about in the class. You cannot do more practice beyond his class. It seems like he requires you to understand things immediately and then do them in the exam without practice

I was getting As on all math courses, but having met this professor, I had to retake math 234 (got C and A). His lecture is hard to follow and worst thing is that he teaches many things that are not even on the textbook so it is almost impossible to get aids from TAs or internet. Now, i see that he only teaches summer courses. My tuition...

Whatever happens, dont take a Calc class taught by Sean Paul. I wish I had postponed taking the class when more professors would be available to select from.

He makes his exams super hard and nothing like his lectures. He wont actually show you how to do the problems, he will just write down the definition and if you dont get it then too bad. He is passive aggressive and makes you feel like its your fault for not doing well. Doesnt respond to emails. Beware he is mean and doesnt like students.

Why Sean Paul is still allowed to teach lower-level math courses is absolutely beyond me. I'm sure he'd be an interesting prof for math majors in higher courses, but holy cow this guy does not understand how to teach an introductory course. So glad I wasted tuition and my summer sitting through Sean Paul's obsfuscations only to see my GPA violated

Nothing feels worse than working through all of the assignments, readings, and lectures in addition to outside material (Khan, Paul's calculus 3) and STILL being demolished by an exam. Sean Paul's course exceeds the official course curriculum and he really shouldn't teach intro classes. Online exams were poorly administered. He's casually rude.

JUST DONT TAKE IT if you wanna get A!

Math 234 with Sean Paul was extremely hard, not because of the difficulty of the material, but due to the complete lack of resources to learn from. There was no homework, no discussion practice problems, no piazza, and no practice tests. A lot of what he teaches and tests are not found in the textbook or online. Very rude and impossible to contact.

One of the worst professors I've ever had. He is knowledgable but teaches like he is teaching to other professors not students. Only does proofs and never does examples. Absolutely horrible lectures. Also yells at students for asking questions he deems as stupid.

A funny teacher but the class is made insanely difficult. He teaches as if all the students have a PhD in mathematics. He even admitted that he was not allowed to teach certain material to our class but he did anyway because "we're all smart to be able to do it." Take at your own risk!

It is my pleasure to recommend Prof. Paul to you Math Ph.D. students. I have to admit that I am not qualified for such nice and academic lectures, because I am just a really bad student who got both "A" and high grades in the previous calculus courses. After this course, some of the students will get a"Math Nobel prize" while the others will get C.

Taking MATH 234 is scary to begin with, and taking it with this Professor was definitely not the best decision. Like other reviews have said, he teaches and treats us as if we are going for a PHD in Mathematics. Never gives actual example problems , so you don't know the format of test questions. All his lectures are very dry and not helpful.

Sean Paul is by far the worst professor I have had in my four years of going to UW. His lectures were the driest I've ever had, never did any practice problems and only did hour to two hour long proofs usually about concepts that didn't matter. I'm sure he would be great for PHD math students, but this is calc 3, a course he teaches regularly.

What is he talking about in each lecture? It is impossible for you to learn anything with his scribbled handwriting and scarce examples!

On the surface this dude seems nice and well-mannered, in reality he is also extremely intelligent and holds a deep love for mathematics. But I only have two questions: will he have one moment of sincerity? Does he really care about teaching an average student how to do proper math?

This class was totally fine up until the last week where he decided to cram a month's worth of graduate level math into just a few lectures and didn't have much time for examples. We were then given a final on this exam right after and everybody did very bad (average was a 40%) and he didn't curve it. Grade went from 97 to 89.

If you have this professor, it is best if you skip the lecture and focus on the online textbook and the problems it gives. The textbook is much easier to understand when compared to Sean Paul. The main reason for this is because he goes into the details such as proofs for a formula. Due to this, there aren't many examples shown.

The first couple of lectures seemed innocent and not too bad. I couldn't have been led on more. Sean Paul is absolutely terrible when it comes to teaching Math 234. His constant need to provide proofs and his lack of example problems prevent students from passing his class. His lecture topics are nonexistent on exams and extremely hard to follow.

Professor Paul teaches straight out of the textbook. He tries to explain what the definitions of certain equations mean by drawing a picture in 3D, but it only confuses students more. There are absolutely no examples given during lecture of plugging in values or solving equations. Many of his students go to a different professors lectures instead.

Sean Paul sent out 90 double integral problems in an email with the message, "Have fun!" The poor TA's weren't even aware of this and when people inquired with questions, they had no answers. He also wrote one exam question on our midterm and essentially everyone I know got around 0-2 points out of 10 possible. Take this information as you will.

Really good at getting behind after the first couple lectures. Enjoys talking about higher level math that has nothing to do with the content we need to learn. Provides little to no examples in lecture, so prepare to learn on your own!

Doesn't explain content or give any examples, just does irrelevant proofs the entire lecture that don't relate to quizzes or exams. Makes content way harder to understand than it should be. I and many others stopped going to his lectures because they were not helpful what so ever. Find a way to not have him as your professor or you will regret.

Too smart to actually teach normal people. Also incredibly arrogant

His lecture is awful and disorganized, and no one attends after the first week. I had to resort to watching another professors' lectures on my own time, and hers are beautifully annotated and downloadable before her class time. He doesn't plan out his lectures, doesn't record, and should not be allowed to teach math234 anymore.

Sean Paul is by far the worst teacher/ professor I have ever interacted with. He is unorganized, unprepared, and has some of the worst handwriting I have seen. He fails to cover necessary class content every lecture and rambles on and on covering topics completely unrelated to what we do not need to know. Avoid calc 3 with sean paul at all costs.

Do not take Sean Paul. Does not cover any material during class. Almost never provides examples and simply says "read the book in advance because we can't cover it in class". Go to any of the lecture if possible instead

Sean Paul does not effectively explain concepts we're supposed to learn in class. Melissa Lindsey is an awesome professor, and I learned more information from attending her lecture in one week than I did in Paul's lecture for two months.

Poses very few questions to the class, and does not solve them when asked. Skips over key topics. I've had nightmares about him.

Sean Paul is the worst professor I have ever come in contact with. He is disorganized, refuses to actually teach calc during class or help students with questions, and forces the TAs to teach us the actual math concepts. I taught myself MVC, with absolutely no help from him. Save your sanity - do not take 234 with Sean Paul.

This is the worst professor ever. On the first day he talked about us being on a floating rock and blackholes, nothing related to the current curriculum. Sitting in a cheap desk, taking this cheap test. Get ready to be a reader, lectures are useless. Understanding was like trying to learn math with a blindfold on, I am a student, not satoru gojo!

Worst professor I've ever had. Knows nothing about how to teach: rushes through important topics, doesn't have enough time for some so entirely skips them, and gives a single exercise in class but waits for the students work on it for 25 minutes effectively wasting a third of the lecture. I had to learn everything from online sources and TAs. Awful

His lectures felt repetitive but not in a good way. If you have him for 234 get ready to watch the online videos and attend other lectures if you want to do well in the course! He also said his test questions keep the strong and drop the weak. INTIMIDATING!

The worst lectures I have ever experienced. I enter the class and leave more confused than I was when I went in every time. Get ready to teach yourself all of the material because Sean Paul is not helping. He did write "Temperature," though.

Sean Paul is a nice guy, but just a terrible teacher. After a month of suffering through his lectures, I attended a different professors lectures and immediately the class got so much easier for me. His lectures almost never have any example problems that you could see on a test and they are so unorganized that you have no idea what is going on.

Spent class time expressing his passion for math rather than teaching the required content...

I would not recommend Sean Paul. He spent nearly all of the lectures talking about the theories behind calculus, instead of calculus itself. He put extremely difficult, nearly unanswerable questions on the exams that at one point averaged a 1/10. Go to any other professors lecture. It will be night and day compared to Sean Paul.

Sean is a good professor in many ways. He is good at answering questions in office hours and his lectures are typically disorganized but informative. However, he is severely lacking in empathy. He routinely treated me and others with disrespect. He is cold and aloof in his interactions with students to the point of dogma.

Terrible professor, cant teach. Definitely don't take his class!

lectures are really really bad

I know calc 3 is hard but sean paul did not make it any easier. His passion for the subject is evident and he seems like a cool guy, but his lectures lack structure and are hard to follow. He uses no digital aids and would wave his arms around in the air to try and explain what a graph/equation looked like which was really... not helpful.

Genuinely the worst professor I've had here. Wastes his lectures on proofs that aren't useful and don't show up ever again, put questions on the midterm that we'd never seen and hadn't been taught how to solve, and wrote in small, messy handwriting in class. I started going to the other professor's 7:45 AM lectures because Dr. Paul made it worth it

If you take his class you have to learn most of the material on your own. He does not teach material we need to know for exams, and spends most of the time going on about very difficult and unnecessary concepts. If you are taking this class to complete a requirement, I would not take it with him

Lecture Summary: (note we are 3 weeks behind) Prof gives (through hand movements) a question about something we never talked about, discuss with someone next to you Prof walks around and no matter your answer, you're wrong oopsies, 75 min class is over, no answer for you! and he made a (literally) impossible question on an exam :)

One of the worst professors I've had at UW-Madison. Tends to ramble on about irrelevant topics in lecture. Disorganized. Showed up more than 5 minutes late a few times. Hard to see him use his fingers to explain concepts. Once, he glossed over a topic in the last 30 seconds of lecture because he would "get in trouble without saying it."

other reviews speak on how well he is respected

Irresponsible, no syllabus or grading criteria, and unorganized lectures. You will know nothing about Jacobi fields, the index lemma, or comparison... Instead, he repeatedly talked about his three ways to define connections and his spin group construction from Clifford algebra. It's like taking dental advice from your eye doctor.

Anyone who has taken his class knows his lectures are a waste of time. At the same time he doesn't have a clear criteria for giving points. So he ends up giving a grade based more on whether or not you have satisfied his vanity in the class rather than your true level.

Great guy, but man... those lectures were basically useless. Extremely hard to follow and not at all focused on topics that were tested. Realized halfway through the course that my time was better spent going to discussion and studying by myself or getting an extra hour of sleep instead of going to lecture.