‘18.06: Linear Algebra’

Table of contents

  1. Course Info
  2. Realistic Prerequisites
  3. Subject Matter
  4. Course Staff
  5. Lectures
  6. Problem Sets
  7. Exams
  8. Resources
  9. Grading
  10. Advice to Future Students

Course Info

Class Size 453
Hours/Week 10.4 (134 responses)
Instructors Gilbert Strang, Andrew Horning
Overall Rating 5.7/7.0

Realistic Prerequisites

  • Most students thought 18.02 was a good prerequisite.

Subject Matter

  • Most thought there was a good balance between theory and application.
  • Some wished there could have been more intuitive explanations.

Course Staff

  • The course staff were described as approachable and understanding. Some students said that the course staff is approachable and responsive.
  • Students said that Horning was a good lecturer and approachable.

Lectures

  • Most students believed that they learned from solving psets rather than lectures - and that this prepared them more for the tests. They believed that the lectures covered the concepts fine but still would have a hard time with the psets.
  • The textbook helped clarify the lectures.

Problem Sets

  • Challenging.
  • Required time to think of applications of the concepts - OH and emailing TAs usually helped to go through problems on the pset.
  • Lecture notes are generally helpful for the psets.
  • Collaboration on psets with people was helpful.

Exams

  • The exams were considered difficult to finish on time but not totally unreasonable.
  • The problems were thought to be quite challenging, but many complained about the allotted time given the problems.
  • Some students said that as the class went on the exams got progressively more challenging.

Resources

  • Students found Strang’s textbook helpful for both psets and exams.

Grading

  • Students felt that grading was overall fair.
  • The grading was lenient on psets but harsh on exams.
  • Some students felt that there could have been more transparency about grade cutoffs.

Advice to Future Students

  1. “Mainly to read the textbook and attend both lecture and recitation because they all helped me with my understanding”
  2. ”Take the time to read the textbook and understand the proofs”