David Bayer

If you want to learn tricks to solve problems then take Linear Algebra with Bayer. If you want to learn actual Linear Algebra then do yourself a favor and suck it up and take this course with someone else. If you are taking this course as a pre-req. for another course, then don't make the same mistake that I did. Take it with someone because you will not know what you will need to know if you take it with Bayer.

Great experience all the way around. I know some people find Bayer to be a bit too disorganized, but I really enjoyed the class and his teaching style. He's extremely passionate about math and shows it in his teaching. He doesn't take himself too seriously and is very accessible and makes everyone in class feel comfortable. He explains the concepts very well and is good at presenting the same material in different ways so that everyone will understand it,. Combinatorics is a pretty interesting field of math -- I often felt that it had a puzzle-solving feeling to it.

Dave is one of the stranger teachers I've ever encountered. His enthusiasm is tangible due to his tendency, as he puts it, to wear his lectures (by the end of each class his clothes and face are invariably covered in chalk dust). His lectures are often hard to follow, which is my one real criticism. He tends to act like he's about to present a theorem, then feint away to an example. Examples are, in fact, his trademark. He believes that it is better to have a handle on a few small examples than to learn all of the abstract theory without knowing how to work with algebraic objects. Perhaps as a result of this, there is no homework. The first semester, he posted a few suggested problems for each topic, but the second semester was much more experimental. To prepare for each midterm, we were just given a selection of old exams and old practice exams. The key, however, was the problem sessions in the week before the exams. In these sessions (which will go until there are no questions remaining) he works through these practice questions, which are just like those on the test, and you will see exactly what he's expecting. The first semester had about 50 people. The second semester had less than half of that, so class got a lot more fun, and he would interact more with the class, posing questions directed at our intuition followed by the inevitable "Why?" to which a satisfactory respo…

This class was one of my favourites last semester. Contrary to what some other people have said, I felt that he explained the material very clearly and understandably. I enjoyed the precautions that he took to make sure that no one cheated (although I sure some people found a way). In office hours (I went once, before the final) he was also very helpful. A word of caution however: if you are not a visual thinker, do not take this class! Personally, I enjoyed the challenge that the material presented me (it's not longer an easy A, but the A is not un-reachable) and I hope to take Groups and Symmetry with him eventually. Awesome Prof., definitely deserves a gold star.

Dave is really great. This class was the easiest class I have taken at Columbia, but at the same time, I probably learned more than in any other math class I have taken. His lectures are really straight-forward and entertaining. He is always open to student questions, and different ways of thinking, and likely to give you extra points on an exam that you don't really deserve.

Bayer's great. His tests are fair and reasonable; they test the material you've learned, and if you do the homework, you'll do well on them. Don't be afraid to improvise -- you'll get credit for wacky ideas, as long as you write them down. His lectures are clear, coherent, andenjoyable, and he draws a LOT of pictures, which is really great in a Calc class. He's enthusiastic, friendly, and interested in his students. Take a course with him if you can -- it's definitely worth it.

Professor Bayer is clearly an extremely intelligent guy. However, this class is not for you if you're not willing to self study the material. Bayer jumps right into linear algebra and doesn't really explain the basic concepts very clearly in lecture. If you're smart, learn them beforehand. If not, cram them the night before the midterm. The midterms are very straightforward and the study guides Bayer puts together are very helpful. There are generally over fifty questions with worked out solutions that'll give you a pretty good hint as to what you'll see on the exam. Exam grades are usually very good and it's not hard to get an A--seeing as Bayer gives out as many as he possibly can (!!!). The midterms aren't cumulative, but the material builds on itself so it essentially is. In terms of homework there hardly is any. Bayer will assign roughly 10 or 20 questions due at each midterm and 4 or 5 due before the final. The questions come out of the book and usually don't look anything like what you'd see on an exam so it's pretty easy to do the day before it's due.

Best math professor at this school in my opinion. Quirky, but nice, and brilliant. Waited offsequence to take his class, loved it. It's clear that he really enjoys teaching. He works very hard at making sure you have an in depth understanding of a few key concepts rather than a general knowledge about a variety of concepts. He also makes the classes very interesting, and it's probably the only class I can honestly say I wasn't bored with at any point. It also helps that Modern Algebra is an awesome subject.

This was the dumbest class I have ever taken in the course of my academic career and Dave Bayer was easily the worst professor that I have ever had. Before you chalk this review up to the ramblings of a bitter student, I did very well in this class and so on that count, I have no reason to resent Bayer. This class was so boring, it was painful to sit through. If Bayer had spent half the time and energy he spends trying to trap his students on exams or catch them cheating on actually teaching the material in a clear way, this class might have been more bearable. Bayer seems to dislike his students intensely, and resents having to teach. His attitude basically was that we're all liars and cheaters until proven otherwise and treated us as adversaries. I've never been to his office hours, but the way he answered students' questions in class was rude. He wouldn't even listen to the question before launching into an explanation that had nothing to do with what the person was asking. My two "favorite" Bayer moments: 1. When he took off points on people's midterms because they hadn't drawn lines the way he wanted. He never told us how he wanted the lines drawn but he said that we should have picked up on his subtleties. 2. When he didn't post the answer key to a section of review questions for the final so that the people who didn't come to class would have a harder time figuring it o…

two midterms, final. all direcly covering what was taught in class. he posts all possible versions of the exam on his website before examination. so there really is no excuse people no to take this class.