Michael Woodbury

Weekly sizable homeworks, readings, 2 midterms and a final. There's usually also online practice that counts towards attendance.

I was very happy to ended up in professor Woodbury's class. Profesor Mike is your classical mathematician, you can feel his passion for the subject. He is endlessly patient with questions and will do all he can to help you understand the subject. He will also offer a chance to improve your midterm grades. Basically, a very friendly guy. The class is interesting but requires you to do the work. I'm not sure what else you'd expect, but if you're after a section with the easiest exams, you may want to keep looking. This being said - I very much recommend Calc with prof Woodbury.

Two midterms, with the first covering limits and basic derivatives and the second testing more advanced differentiation. Your higher midterm is weighted for 30% of your course grade and your lower for 20%. The final is cumulative but with more post-Midterm 2 material (30%). Homework is 10%. Very time-intensive but it's assigned straight from the textbook so you can check answers online. Grading is very fair (it's entirely possible to get full credit). Your lowest two are dropped. Participation is also 10%. It's graded based off of your online participation (answering Piazza quizzes about office hours, study groups, etc; asking/answering Piazza questions posted by classmates; and receiving at least 50% on each WebAssign assignment) and in-class quizzes. There was no real rhyme or reason (that I could tell) for when quizzes were administered, but you get full credit for merely putting your name on them. Two are dropped at the end of the semester.

I'm honestly mystified as to why Dr. Woodbury's reviews and course evaluations (accessible on Vergil) are so terrible. His section is by no means the easiest of all Calculus 1 sections, but it's also nowhere near the hardest, he's easy to understand, and he puts a lot of effort into improving the course. He gave us take-home midterm regrade opportunities for both midterms and extra-credit questions on the actual midterms. My understanding is that he usually teaches a few calculus sections each year but his main focus is mathematical pedagogy, and it definitely shows. He created a Piazza question partway through the semester to solicit anonymous feedback and gave very thoughtful responses to everything posted. I would definitely take more math courses with him and would recommend his Calculus 1 section to anyone looking for a reasonable but rigorous review of basic calculus.

2 written homework assignments a week, plus a ridiculously difficult and obnoxious web assign assignment every week.

He is easily one of the worst teachers I have had in any subject. He does not introduce new topics, or give lectures on new material. He barely gives out partial credit on exams, and his exams often send a couple people out of the room crying. In additions his exams do not reflect the homework at all, you will look at a problem and be wondering how it's related to anything you've covered so far.

This class also had two problem sets (around 10-12 problems per set) a week plus Webassign (around 15-20). I easily spent 10+ hours a week on this class.

Do not trust these earlier reviews!!! He was the worst teacher I have ever had. The reviews are all from three years ago before Woodbury's "transformative" trip to Germany. He now only uses a "special method" involving no lectures and spending all of class going over one or two homework problems. Class was not at all relevant to what would be on the tests since he would only focus on 1-2 problems from a 12 problem homework or talk about his research. It was incredibly boring, but if you didn't go you would miss the in class pop quizzes which can kill your grade. Each midterm was absolutely terrible. His midterms are never what you prepare for since he believes you should be "able to put the pieces together to show you understand." The homework took forever and was always not relevant to exams. All the other Calc 1 teachers are better than him. Don't do this class to yourself.

not bad but overall HARD . 10-15 hours/week 2 midterms + final

Michael "Mike" Woodbury is a really nice guy. And impossible teacher. His main teaching style is: do the homeworks/learn the material by yourself and "go over it" in class-- which is really just a waste of time. The homeworks (2 problem sets + 1 webassign/week) are generally not too challenging, but the harshness of the grading really varies. He expects you to know your stuff, and he will force you to think about math. If that sounds good to you, take the class. If you think that sounds good, but then realize you forgot everything you thought you knew about Calc and now want to cry after demolishing into a stress-fueled rage (what? me? never.) then DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. You are not as smart as you thought you were. Look out for your GPA and go take an easier class.