Mathematics · Columbia University
Worse teacher in the Math Department by far. I am a math major and I've seen a bunch of professors in the Math Department. This lady is the worse by far. Use itunes U; look up the MIT lectures if you really want to learn the material (at least that's what my friends and I did) since her lectures are a waste of time. There were 42 kids in the class. Less than 10 showed up to the lectures. Mirela will waste all of class on a single proof that she will not even finish. She does not draw any maps of subspaces nor any proper graphs in 3-D space of the vectors she discusses. It is crucial to have an answer manual to the textbook. This will teach you how to do the homework problems. There was never an occasion when she did any problems remotely similar to the homework in class.
Mirela is a very nice lady. Sometimes this is hard to tell by just attending her class, which is why I would suggest going to her office hours. She tries really hard to explain things to you in person. Unfortunately, however, the same does not apply to her lectures. She teaches straight from the book, and doesn't explain what she teaches very well. I took calc in high school, and found her way of explaining things very confusing, especially to someone who has never taken calc before. As for her exams, they are not too difficult. Much easier than the HW. Yet, the grading of the exams is harsh. Even if you get the correct answer but forget to show one step, she'll take off 3 out of 4 points. Good Luck!
Mirela is neither a good teacher nor a particularly nice teacher. She refuses to move a midterm if you have a family emergency-- instead, she is "willing" to shift your grade to another midterm. That doesnt reall help. Teaches too long on the easy stuff and is forced to go really fast through all the easy things, often not teaching the stuff in class that is on the homework. The book is absolutely terrible so good luck learning anything from that either. While the first midterm may be easy, dont be fooled. The class gets hard and she just gets worse and worse. She is very hard grader and refuses to curve until the end of the class. I would suggest finding a different professor if you can.
Mirela is great- I recommended her to all my friends. If you are interested in higher mathematics or challenging yourself, this may not be the class for you, but if you want to do well congratulations because you just hit the jackpot! Her accent is cute, she does not move too fast, and she genuinely wants to help. Her tests are straitforward ( a little underchallenging actually) and she assigns a normal load of homework. This class will not stress you out and will not take an obscene amount of time. All in all a pleasant experience.
Prof. Ciperiani doesn't know how to teach. People won't show up to class just because it's so useless. If you spend 3 hours a week studying on your own and teaching yourself, it would be better than attending a class that would put you to sleep. The tests are easy. Just do the Homework problems and you will be fine. As for the problem sets, take them serious and attend the TA sessions, you won't be able to do well otherwise.
Dr. Ciperiani is a lovely woman. Truly a lovely woman. Above all, you have the sense that she very much wants you to do well and to succeed in her course. She wants you to understand the material. She sticks to the book. I think this is nice. None of her lectures are covered as material on the exam. Pay very close attention to what it is that she says will be on the exam. Because when she says this is what will be on the exam, that is exactly it and only it that will be on the exam. The final was fiendishly difficult, unfortunately, but she rewarded us all with a very generous curve. I think it's important to go to the help-room. A lot of times, you have intricate questions about the material and this is the best way to have them thoroughly answered.
Mirela is obsessed with cheating. She thought people were stealing homeworks from her box, so she made them due a day earlier. People got points taken off their homeworks for plagiarizing. She made up two different versions of the tests and handed a different one to every other person. And she even warned people during the final that she saw someone looking at another person's paper. The class itself was good at the beginning and bad by the end. I never really got a good complete picture of what we were trying to do. I still don't understand what an orthogonal projection is and what inner products have to do with linear algebra. And I went to class and did well in the course. Note: this course becomes proof based after the first midterm. Between one third and a half of the second midterm and final consisted of proofs. So if you don't know how to write a proof, you are screwed. But you won't know it until it's too late to drop the class.
Prof. Ciperiani seems like a nice woman, but this doesn't mean she's a great teacher. She teaches almost exclusively from the textbook and doesn't go into any more detail than the textbook which makes completely understanding the topics difficult sometimes. The homeworks can get lengthy and the TA graded very harshly. She's a little difficult to understand in the beginning, but that's not a problem after the first week. I was semi-familiar with calculus before I took this class, but I doubt I could have made it through the class with no prior knowledge of calculus.
Honestly, if you spend the time in class to study on your own, you will be better off. You could do very well in this class since the midterms are easy and straight forward. The material is interesting. But I bet that you would NEVER use your class notes, so just study on your own and you'll be more than fine!
This class was very easy. She is not a very good teacher; however, she moves very slowly. If you have any experience with calculus, this is a good choice. Her homeworks are not so long but they are sometimes hard and the TAs grade harshly but I had a horrible homework grade and did well on the tests and got an A-. She doesn't make you do the webworks assignments. The tests are very easy. Much easier than the homeworks. On the final, she did not place anything harder than integrals. (just solving them - no volumes of shapes, etc.) As compared to other Calc I classes, there are fewer topics. She took the final straight from the midterms and the last couple homeworks. If you are not good at math or haven't taken any calculus before, she might not be good for you, as she is not very good at explaining things.