Troels Jorgensen

Jorgensen is the best I've had thus far. He's funny and his notes are crystal clear, and does care to some degree. I feel he has polished his craft of teaching after so many years of dealing with students. He tries to make the class fun and somewhat theoretical, he teaches what you need to know to move on to further math. His grading could be unfair though, no partial credit. Doesn't use a text book either.

After introducing new topics, he would go over many examples. His explanations were simple with clear diagrams of gradients and vectors. He was patient with all questions. My only complaint about the course was that he didn't finish the sample syllabus. He stopped about 2/3 of the way through. However, after taking more math, he only skipped the easy stuff and spent the most time on the hard stuff. The material he skipped was easily covered in Calc 4. He also introduced some concepts and terminology slightly outside the suggested syllabus and, 1.5 years later, I'm glad that he did.

Troels is a jovial, English-speaking, cheery man. He loves math and is very low key about his classes. If you have taken calc before and didn't do that well, this is your best option for a math at Columbia. Most teachers tend not to speak any English and assign numerous web works problem sets. Troels only gives 2-3 problems a night and if you ask him not to give you homework, he will agree; But youll want to do the homework as that is what his tests are based on. He doesnt really have a teaching plan or grading plan, so make sure he knows who you are and likes you. The tests are basically very fair, but he usually throws one problem at you that you will not be able to do. don't fear because he always says if you got 100 you shouldnt be in the class. he expects people to make mistakes, especially in calc 1. the final exam is extremely fair and basically based on the other tests and the problems he does in class (which usually come straight from the book). Final grades are largely based on the completion of all the homeworks and the final.

There's a bad side and a good side to Jorgensen's classes -- at least his higher-level math classes. The bad side is that the man is so thoroughly disorganized in his teaching of the material that many students opt to skip class. At the start of the semester, he'll give you no information about how the course is graded, nor when the tests will be. One full class was spent learning the students' names (to his credit, he now knows our names well, but still...)! He brings no lecture notes to class. He'll jump from one lesson to another without any continuity whatsoever. He'll frequently have no cogent answers to students' questions, and he'll often get stuck while trying to illustrate examples! He'll suddenly announce test dates *two* days in advance. The lectures give new meaning to the word "boring". Add all this to the fact that the material in this class in very hard to comprehend (it's basically set theory... there's as much "math" here as there is quantum physics in Lit Hum). The good part of the course is that Jorgensen is very lenient, probably the most lenient professor one can imagine. He'll give you every opportunity to succeed in his class. For example, on the test he announced two days in advance, he let the students ask him questions for the first 10 minutes of the period (after the test was given out!). Then, students were encouraged to try their best, but if they…

I'll be frank with you. I got an F in Jorgensen's class. I had straight A's in Calculus AB at my competitive high school. I agree with the other reviews recently written in December of 2012 as well. He does not know how to teach. He assumes you are already a Calculus II expert and spends most of the time just doing problems he thinks are interesting. He works problems very quickly and the students in my class (including me) would frequently get lost. (You could tell because everyone would look at each other and have that "what is he doing?"-face on.) Do not be fooled by the "easiness" of the class. There are 2-4 homework problems each class and 3 tests that supposedly do not count. No textbook is used. He does not communicate via email or phone, so it's just in-person meeting times. I honestly was not the best student, but I do not think I deserved an F of all grades. Maybe a C- or D but never an F. I am convinced that Columbia keeps him in the math department because he is a brilliant mathematician and does not consider his horrible teaching. PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS OR ANY OTHER CLASSES WITH TROELS JORGENSEN. IT IS NOT WORTH YOUR TIME OR MONEY AT ALL. PERIOD. I wish someone had told me how horrible this professor was before I took the course. Now I have to deal with an F on my transcript, which is going to be a long and irritating process to fix. Don't make my same mist…

If you have any desire to take higher level math classes, avoid Jorgensen at all costs. He does not teach all the material he is supposed to, and what he does teach is presented in such a superficial, unintelligible manner that its not even worth going to class for. I have never taken a class with someone less interested in doing his job. He is clearly just showing up so he can keep collecting paychecks. This class was the biggest waste of $4000 I have ever seen. With a month left in the semester, Jorgensen announced that he was finished teaching new material.

Don't do it to yourself!!!! DO NOT (I repeat) DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE w/ this professor!!! He is a horribly boring little man that does not know where he is going w/ the class or what he will teach 4 the day. I think he enters the classroom and says o'yes perhaps I will teach the easiest derivative today in class and 4 the homework and exam give a derivative that even I can not solve. The class often corrected him w/ whatever little knowledge they could. I do not recommend this professor, you have been warned! ENTER @ YOUR OWN RISK!

Pretty near useless. We spent the majority of three classes on a five-minute proof because he didn't prepare for classes. There's no pressure, which is great; the class is a joke, which is not. Expect to learn maybe a month's worth per semester. Credit for no work is wonderful but don't expect to learn much math.

So many mixed feelings about this class. I received a pretty terrible grade, but I really just took the class for AP credit and had almost zero work the entire semester, so it was a reasonably fair trade-off, as I had more time to devote to other classes where I actually had a chance to do well. This is definitely the section to be in if you're not overly concerned with your GPA and don't plan on taking much more math. Lectures: I think the way Troels began the first class set the tone for a lackluster semester. He coming in, walked to the blackboard, and said, "This is a course in integration," then started writing without any introduction or syllabus. I learned next to nothing from Troels' lectures other than the formulas for integration by parts and single-variable curvature (what?). Every class was the same - "solutions" for the hw problems which involved leaps in logic that us non-mathematicians were incapable of following, the simplest problem from the next section, and a proof for something like the volume of a sphere which was usually a sign to stop taking notes. When asked for advice on how to solve one integral, he said, "You know, when you get to my age, sometimes, you just have to think about it. Maybe ride the subway or take a walk and it will come to you, like 'ah'!" Truly a brilliant mind. Exams: Short, but not easy if you haven't taken AP BC. There was never an…

He's a smart mathematician, with a frog-face that never stops smiling at you. He looks at calculus with the same awe that the average undergraduate looks a two-step linear equations and arithmetic problems, and because of this he often omits one or several steps, and assumes you have a firm foundation of calculus I and II. That being said, he doesn't teach much, and doesn't count a single midterm or homework, although he does return corrections and goes over them in class. My suggestion is take him if you're an ace in math, or if you're an econ major that doesn't really need to know a lot more beyond partial derivatives and optimization/local max. min. The final has 6 problems and it includes torsion/curvature, orthogonal trajectories and first order linear ordinary differential equations with integrating factors; three subjects not covered in any other calc III course. Great, because since he doesn't count midterms or homework assignments, you actually learn to solve the mechanics. He often puts harder ones on the homework and in class than on the exams. He doesn't mind in-class eating, only when its popcorn, and he HATES James Stewart's textbook. Troels spends a good time bashing the textbook..so if you're a student that prides on learning everything verbatim from the book, this will be a terrible class for you because Troels goes out of sequence and teaches his own format/s…