<p>It has been a few years since I had any personal contact with it. How does the math department seem to be these days? Who teaches and how are they? Is there tutoring available in addition to recitation sections (do they even still have recitation sections?) Do they still rely so heavily on the final exam?</p>
<p>Son is taking calc 3 and he is not impressed with the professor or the TA. He says they have to self teach themselves as the professor is not doing a good job. The professor had a very bad rating on ratemyprofessor but he was teaching the only section that fit in his schedule. And the final still counts heavily!</p>
<p>Oh, bad news. I will have to check out that website. Daughter is possibly interested in math, but I was wary because of my earlier experience with the department. Why the heck can’t they have decent teachers?</p>
<p>math department tends to suck mostly. The teachers are either really good or really bad. For instance, last semester (fall) I had credit for calc 1 & 2 from my AP but they had so few calc 3 classes non fit in my schedule (a generic engineering schedule). I was very annoyed and they ended up making a new class of calc 3 a week before classes for all the students that needed it. Ended up getting taught by a senior grad student who was very good compared to other calc 3 teachers/profs which sucked for other students. This semester I am in aDiffEq class which is really hard. Homeworks are graded very harshly and his tests are absolutely ridiculous compared to other teachers. The class averages around 65% on the tests and the teacher doesnt tell us how he will curve, and does not teach the class well. I teach myself all the material.</p>
<p>Wow – not good for next semester when he has to tackle DiffEq class. Guess he should start to learn the stuff on his own during the summer :(</p>
<p>Are the professors on the rating website actually professors or are many of them grad students? </p>
<p>Also, is there no direction or consistancy from the department head?</p>
<p>I find Pitt’s math department kind of hit or miss. I’ve had three different Math teachers for 4 math classes so far at Pitt. Calc 1-3 and differential equations. I loved two of them, and one I thought was terrible. I’ve never found the T.A.s particularly helpful.
The finals for calculus are set up so that you can not acquire a final grade that is more then one letter grade higher or lower than the grade you receive on the final. For example, if you have a B in the class and get a D on the final the highest grade you can receive in the class is a C. However, if you have a B in the class already their is really no reason why you would get a D on the final.</p>
<p>@lkf:</p>
<p>very very little consistency. I agree with volt01 (they phrased my point much better). It’s mostly hit or miss. I had a hit first semester and a definite miss this semester. The finals also still have that ■■■■■■■■ thing where you cant get more than 1 letter grade higher than you score, which makes some sense, but is still silly.</p>
<p>Also I wouldn’t worry about the diffeq too much, unless they get my teacher (in which case they will be told by MANY people to switch if they can) most of the other ones aren’t <em>too</em> bad. My friend actually gets equation sheets for his tests (?!) and his questions are STILL easier than mine. The night class this semester has tests that take < 20 minutes (?!) my class can’t even finish ours in the 50 allotted to us.</p>
<p>Stuff like that makes me mad, because I know just as much information as anyone else but I will probably get a B or a B+ in the class.</p>
<p>My brother discovered (back in the day) that the night classes tend to have native speakers of english and tend to be better at teaching to their audience. Maybe that is still true today…</p>
<p>not really. My friends night class teacher is asian with a somewhat heavy accent, but it’s not bad.</p>
<p>Let me say that the Math Department is not bad, and there are plenty of great teachers. When most people say “math teachers”, they mean “Calculus teachers,” and more specifically, let’s be honest, business Calc and Engineering Calc teachers. Most complaints come from Engineers, who are notorious grade grubbers and who will whine when they actually have to use problem solving to answer a question, as opposed to applying formulas that they spend hours mindlessly memorizing. Math professors even make remarks about how happy they are to be teaching math majors after having taught Engineering students, who will roll their eyes, complain, or ask “will this be on the test?” whenever they attempt to prove something (mostly in differential equations or linear algebra classes). Maybe if these kids actually listened and TRIED to understand a proof, they would learn more from the teacher.</p>
<p>Panther124, I am an engineering student who can speak directly about the engineering calc teachers. </p>
<p>The problem is that the teachers don’t prepare us well enough for the final, so when we get there, the final completely destroys us. That’s the biggest problem - we learn all of this material and there are certain topics that our teacher BARELY touches on, and it’s a HUGE topic on the final! For example, with this last final there was a question on Newton’s Method of Heating and Cooling and sequences, two topics that our teacher never really said much about. Now, I guess you can say we’re supposed to know all the topics, but let’s be honest- are you going to study the material that the teacher put a huge emphasis on or the stuff that they barely taught?</p>
<p>The worst part is that the few kids who managed to get a calculus teacher who teaches the arts & sciences kids did extremely well, so we as engineers feel like we’re getting the shaft.</p>
<p>We don’t have a problem with proofs- proofs are fine to discuss and I agree that they do better your understanding of the material. The issue is that teachers teach the proofs before they teach the actual material. Proofs are great, but if you try to prove something before I understand it, the usefulness of it gets lost. And as far as problem solving… well, after taking engineering analysis, problem solving isn’t something we really complain about.</p>
<p>Sorry I went on a rant here, and I’m not trying to berate you or anything, but we engineering students are sick of these teachers!</p>
<p>I think they need to change that final policy.</p>
<p>Also, I know engineering kids who actually attended different math lecture sections because their own teachers were so bad. And these engineering students are almost all pretty great at math, so it must not be random complaining.</p>
<p>I guess the mindset of the Math teachers and Engineers is just too different to reconcile. You say that to prove the material before you understand the concept is useless. As math majors, in Real Analysis (to but it very simply, proving Calculus for the real numbers) we’re not even allowed to use an integral (even though we personally know what it means), or any concept, before we discuss it and prove that it is well-defined and has the properties we need. After working like that for the majority of their lives, you can’t blame Math professors for teaching proofs before using the material. Proofs are how mathematicians understand things; how can you say you “understand” something before you know without a doubt that it’s absolutely true?</p>
<p>Anyway, it’s not always about the teacher. With Math, as it is with everything, you’re always going to do some work for yourself. I can spend an hour reading a proof until I get it, which is why I’m always a few pages into my next class’s reading material before I go to the class where the professor proves the theorem. College is supposed to be about independence and responsibility - if you don’t like seeing the proofs until you’ve seen examples, then you can always look at some examples in the book before class. If you don’t get them, then maybe the proof is exactly what you need.</p>
<p>As for material not being on the final, there’s not much anyone can do about departmental exams. They suck; just be prepared for them anyway you can. If your teacher had covered Newton’s Law of Cooling more, chances are something else on that exam would have been mentioned in your last post in its place. </p>
<p>All I can say is that the philosophy of most mathematicians is that understanding the big picture illuminates all the details, and that given the important concepts math students should be able to solve related ones through ingenuity and creativity. I understand that a lot of Engineering is about learning specific skills through constant repetition (which is why our ODE course does not include Laplace transforms whereas yours do). But, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.</p>
<p>Either way Panther124, the whole proofs issue is my opinion. There may be some people who learn differently and agree with you- I can’t talk for all of them.</p>
<p>My whole point is that there are teachers who are simply not good. Yes, I agree that college is a lot of teaching yourself. I do it all the time. I watch internet videos, go to office hours, my peers, and tutoring. But I can’t understand calculus 2 all on my own. That’s where the teacher is supposed to come in - to at least clarify the concepts I’m not understanding. But when your teacher can’t even do that, what else is there to do? I felt like I exhausted all my options, and when you have other classes to worry about, only so much time can be put towards a single class.</p>
<p>And yes, I guess math and engineers see things differently, but my complaint is just with the quality of teachers, thats all. But I have a different calc teacher next semester, and I hear he’s very good so hopefully it will all work out.</p>
<p>If you are taking Calc 3, I hope you don’t have the professor my son had, he was AWFUL!</p>
<p>Well when you have questions, you shouldn’t be afraid to ask the teacher. My experience is that math professors will spend three times as much time answering your question than you would have expected. In fact, it can almost be embarrassing that you had so much effect on the focus of the class. </p>
<p>If that doesn’t work, go to the MAC. A lot of the grad and undergrad students are really helpful. If that doesn’t work, I don’t know what to say. It may just be a mental block you have to get over personally, or else you’re not destined to learn the concept. At some point we have to stop blaming other people and realize our own shortcomings. I’m not going to walk into an organic chemistry class and expect the professor to write something on the board that drills the material straight into my head.</p>
<p>I understand what you’re saying panther124, but I guess you really can’t see what I’m talking about until you experience this teacher for yourself.</p>
<p>Emi:</p>
<p>you wouldn’t be talking about Constantine would you? 
I’ve heard horror stories about him.</p>
<p>panther: i think the point was more there is a HUGE difference in teachers in a general topic (for instance with my past semester, DiffEq) which makes it unfair to students. My teacher (not a professor) completely shafted most of my class on grades, he CURVES DOWN, which I have never, ever, heard of. Our tests were super hard compared to other classes, and other classes were allowed formula sheets (which for diffeq is a blessing) that we weren’t. I know my friend was getting lower than average on all his exams while I got above average, we did about the same on the final and yet we both got Bs. Where is the fairness in that? That difference happens with the teacher, not the students lack of knowledge.</p>
<p>I don’t think that was the point at all. Grades are a different issue, you should take that up with your professor. When it comes down to you not liking a professor compared to others, you can always switch into a different section (I know Engineers get tons reserved solely for them, and in the Math department “closed” means nothing but “go around the system”). Anticipating a response that you’re not sure how he’ll grade after one week, it should be on the syllabus. And if it’s not, you can ask him. And if you don’t ask him, then clearly grades aren’t as important to you as your B would make it sound.</p>