Mathematics · Columbia University
Weekly textbook homework Two midterms One final
homework (all of them from the textbook), 2 midterm, 1 final (All reasonable)
His lecturing style takes some time to get used too. He doesn't explain everything outright - which I liked, because it always bored me half to death to have a teacher waste time on something that was obvious - and therefore always finishes class early. (We've even been let out after only 35 minutes - it was a short lecture.) Other times, his style can be confusing because he doesn't always explain what he's doing on the board, and if you can't hear him all you'll see are formulas scrawled on the board. He has good legible handwriting, though. Reading the book chapter beforehand, or reviewing your notes/asking him a question after lecture will help. I'd recommend him for students who are proficient to well-versed in math. If you constantly need a refresher before every lecture, then choose someone else, or get in the habit of reviewing lecture notes a little before class. He doesn't do WebAssign, which is a great bonus. WebAssign sucks. Instead, he just assigns a bunch of textbook problems. His midterms are the best part. If you're wishy washy about choosing a math professor, choose Zeitlin for his tests. No dumb True/False questions, no stupid multiple choice questions. He gives you just six problems, all short answer (three to four lines of math), and I've finished the whole thing in ten or twenty minutes before. Some problems are easy, but the latter problems do require a l…
He is a wonderful professor who can explain the fundamental and gives good examples to understand the concept. His exam is a bit tricky but manageable if you fully understand the basic concept and attend every course. If you work hard enough, you will get a chance to have A+ from his course. He always gives very good review showing which questions will appear in the exam and there is no "math olympic" style questions. He sometimes makes jokes (Not very funny though).
Very manageable. 1 problem set a week, none for midterm weeks. The problem sets the weeks before and after the midterms are generally shorter.
10% Homework (2) 25% midterms- He gives very similiar examples on his review 40% Final-Havent taken the final yet but should be similar to midterms
This was Professor Zeitlin's first time teaching Calculus III, and let's say that it "really showed". I'll trust the previous reviewers who raved about his Calc I course, but I found his Calc III lectures to be pretty unpleasant. There were some good things about the class, namely: 1) The homework was very preparatory for his tests, and 2) His tests were relatively easy -- both midterms averaged a B- uncurved. What about Zeitlin himself? Well, he doesn't seem like a nice person. I wouldn't ordinarily critique a professor based on his personality, yet it really shows. He gets frustrated whenever anyone asks a question as if he's annoyed that we don't get it. At the same time, he frequently asks for questions! It's confusing...I think that most people in the class became too afraid to ask questions. He generally makes question-askers feel dumb for not understanding something and always talks about how "easy" and "obvious" the answers are. When reviewing our second midterm, he was legitimately dumbfounded how so many people in the class messed up question 4. Does he expect midterm averages to be 100% or something? In general, I would say Zeitlin is dismissive about student concerns. His lectures are essentially carbon-copies of the textbook (including his examples), which can be good or bad depending on your perspective. A significant portion of the class didn't go to lecture kno…
I would highly recommend taking this class over the other Calc I courses. He doesn't have web assignments and his test questions are apparently alot easier than other teachers' exams. He believes "why give you a curve ball when we are just talking about the fundamentals?" He does expect you to know everything up to calculus (trig identities, etc) He is also always available to help you, just give him an email before and he will try to work around your schedule.