18.100P

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 27
Hours/Week 11.5 (13 responses)
Instructors Benjamin Landon (Lecturer), Malcah Effron (Communications Lecturer), Sean J. Elliot (UA), Robert W. Burklund (Recitation Instructor), Yiyu Zhang (Recitation Instructor)
# of Responses to Course 18 Underground Questions 8/27

Realistic Prerequisites

  • The content of 18.01 was useful, and the official pre-reqs are fairly accurate.
  • Knowledge of proof techniques and the ability to gauge whether a proof was correct was recommended.
  • The ability to use LaTeX is helpful.

Subject Matter

  • Deep, foundational, abstract, detailed. Foundational for higher level math classes; mathematical maturity gained through the course was invaluable.
  • The class was useful to improve mathematical communication and improving proof skills.

Course Staff

  • Approachable, generous with feedback, caring, engaging, and helpful.
  • The number of office hours as well as their open atmosphere were appreciated.

Lectures

  • The lecture slides were well-done, although the lectures themselves were somewhat monotonous and sometimes hard to follow.
  • Textbooks and lecture slides helped clarify the lectures.

Problem Sets

  • Challenging, but not ridiculously difficult.
  • Required time to think things through, and professor provided hints when necessary.
  • Lectures slides are generally helpful for the psets.
  • Collaboration is helpful, especially with little prior experience with Analysis or with proofs.

Exams

  • There were no exams this semester.

Resources

  • One textbook (Mattuck; no ebook version of the textbook was available for purchase.
  • Purchasing the physical book was helpful, but often lecture notes were enough.

Grading

  • Students generally felt that grading was fair and transparent, and that the grading for the problem sets are lenient and the grading for the written assignments are less generous.
  • The cutoff for an A this semester was a 92, although a good grade can be obtained with sufficient work.

Advice to Future Students

  1. “Make sure you have enough time to devote to this class. It is my most challenging course this semester and takes up the bulk of my time.”
  2. “Go to office hours for writing assignments and get them started early. Use the textbook to help you if you are confused. Really good class for getting better at proofs. Make sure you are somewhat familiar with LaTeX beforehand.”