Dylan Thurston

Nam's a very smart, entertaining and eccentric guy. He's highly competent and super knowledgeable about the material that we're learning. As previous reviewers have indicated, yes, he peppers his lectures with corny jokes, analogies, and many, many anecdotes (that are relevant to calculus 50% of the time). I didn't find myself bored at any of his lectures. The minute you start to feel drowsy, odds are you'll hear Nam say something either very funny or totally wacky and the whole class starts laughing. He's also a very friendly and approachable (albeit, he's sort of "out there") guy who's usually willing to help his students. Do keep in mind that he frequently responds to questions by making up elaborate analogies on the spot, which, like his anecdotes, don't always make complete sense to others. But he's helpful...most of the time. I found Nam's Calculus III section to be a "math for non-math majors" type of class. He takes complicated and abstract concepts and presents them to the class in a extremely simple and straight-forward way. He's very clear about what's on his tests, which are usually fairly straight-forward and don't involve too much tedious computation. While Nam's section is probably the most straight-forward of the Calc III sections offered at Columbia, that's not to say that there aren't some very difficult problems (usually proofs) on his exams that may require…

Dylan Thurston can't be blamed for trying but this class was a major bust. He's a very shy, nervous guy and all the girls in the class seemed not to have known what discussing symmetry meant. He's a math prof. and so was very interested in starting off with those basic assumtions about symmetry. I guess most in the class thought that was belitting and gave up from there on out. Could have been interesting if people where willing to thing conceptually and Professor Thurston had a more forceful hand when it came to leading discussion.

I came into my freshman year of college considering a math major. Unfortunately, after this class, I have decided NOT to pursue that. I'm not sure if its the material or the teaching. First, let me say that he is a very nice guy. If you need help, he will be more than happy to help out by going over a problem or seeing you in office hours. However, both of these outlets are not of much help if you don't understand what the hell he is saying. He knows his math well, but we don't, and he is not very good at translating complex math into terms that are understandable to the people who are first learning it. He seems to assume that we know what he is talking about and he moves quickly through new material. He uses projector slides for his lessons, which are organized, but it makes the lesson go faster than it should be for it to be understood. Basically, in this class, you either get it or you don't. If you don't get it, it will be hard for you to understand his attempt at teaching it to you. I relied on the textbook the entire semester to understand what was going on, and when it came to the last 3 weeks where the material could not be found in the text book, I was pretty screwed. He really does try very very hard to make this class inspiring and understandable, but his effort falls short due to his mumbling, his easily distracted nature, and his niceness which is typically taken…

Another one of those smart-guy-horrible-teacher types. The way he explains concepts and proofs may be intuitive to him, but are usually inaccessible to most of the students in class (except for those who already know the material). On top of that, it is difficult to follow both his speech pattern and his boardwork. He stutters a lot; his boardwork is as broken as his speech. And even further on top of that, he doesn't hand out any of Gallagher's old lecture notes. The book roughly matches his own curriculum at best. This is a great course to take, but just not with him.

First off, Dylan Paul Thurston is a really nice guy. He is approachable, understanding, and open to suggestions. He caters to students' needs and will go out of his way to help students understand what he's teaching (by building models, changing the way he writes on the board, etc.). He teaches with a powerpoint and prints out the slides for note-taking. He gets an A+ for effort. However, he is not the world's greatest teacher. He really knows what he's talking about and seems to forget occasionally that his students may not. He's terrific at math, but he often breezes through challenging concepts and new material. He is also not the world's greatest public speaker. He stumbles over words and is easily flustered by the slightest distractions. He is inappropriately quiet at times, and his delivery is completely uninteresting. In addition, he seems to be slightly nervous around women. If you're looking for an exciting teacher with great delivery and clear explanations, Thurston is not the guy for you. However, if you're looking for a teacher who will put effort into you personally, he is. Just make sure to approach him with your concerns and a smile. Summary: smart, not a natural at teaching, mumbles, afraid of women, but a really nice guy. Overall: B-

I took this course 3 years ago and remember it as the primary reason I decided not to do a math major. I used to love math, but somehow this class sucked all the fun out of it. I don't know, maybe it was because it was my first big math lecture, maybe it was the fact that Prof. Thurston talked to the blackboard and was much more interested in topology than a few hapless freshmen and sophomores in calc 3, maybe it was because I never made a move on my study buddy, or maybe I just don't really like university-level math. In retrospect, it was fair enough. Midterm and final reasonable, unbearably tedious problem sets that were nevertheless straight out of the textbook, no complex proofs or anything inappropriate for the level. Just totally uninspiring. It was a while before I took linear algebra and started liking math again.

If you can stand a constant droning, go ahead and take his class. If you really want to learn and feel semi-engaged during class, choose another teacher. Thurston mumbles a lot and writes illegibly on the board. Most of what he teaches in class can be learned from the book and what isn't in the book will not be on the midterms or finals.

Awesome professor. A little boring, but he really knows his stuff. Problem sets were not too hard neither were the midterms. Best part is: he speaks english. You will certainly learn alot in his class.

The majority of this class is taken up with his nervous noises and words like "um" which he could easily say 20 times in once sentence. Dylan is very difficult to follow unless you're a major math mind. Sure he speaks english, but I'll agree with two of these other reviews, english does not make you understandable. If you speak with him, he is by no means mean, but if you ask for an extension on your problem sets, expect to get one, just don't expect to get full marks, he'll still take 5 off. His miderms aren't overly hard (they certainly are if you don't study like myself). I have yet to take his final but I'm sure it will be similar, just longer. There are mostly smart people in Calc 3 so be carefully if you expect a huge curve. The average on our midterms have been between 41-43. He said there will be "some kind of curve" but who knows what that means. Major points of this review, very tough to follow even with the easy subjects. He speaks english but doesn't actually explain anything he's writing down, he just reads what he's writing. Use the text, it's useful for this class and because the topics aren't too hard you can mostly teach it to yourself but it takes time. Only take this class if it's a must, just make sure you put the work in.

I disagree with "the most amazing teacher" ever. I'm pretty good at math, and did well in the previous calc sequence courses, but this guy blew me right out of the water. I couldn't understand this guy. I learned almost everything from the book. He also stutters a lot when he talks in class, and especially when he answers questions. So he is one of the few who does speak English. That does not mean he is understandable. If you wanna do well in this class, simply read the book. It worked for me. I have to admit, though, he's very friendly with office hours and adds more when he thinks people need it most. He is also a little flexible, and cares about what the class things somewhat in terms of when the midterms will be, when homework's due, etc. However, it is precisely this that is his weakness. Sometimes he is very disorganized, and you will find that his practice midterms aren't too insync with the actual final, and he won't even post the answers until the day before the midterms and final. The problem with this class was too many smart people. The average for our two midterms was a 40/50. So, warning, if you get stuck with a bunch of students who go to class and participate, it means they are either very hard workers or extremely smart, so make sure to do everything, and understand everything.