MATH 2310

Professor Mark is a fun and friendly professor. He is always willing to help out students who show interest. As a pro tip: always go to his office hours! He will guide you, especially with the written homework. His lectures focus a lot on general introductions and then in-depth examples. Where you will probably gain the most understanding through the homework. That's why I'd recommend spreading out practice and review throughout the week: try not to cram it all at once, or else you won't remember it adequately. Learning math takes a lot of practice and review. In fact, that's why cramming is probably the absolute worst thing you could do in this class. Especially since the theorems covered in Calculus III can be quite complex (ahem, Stokes Theorem particularly), you will have a horrible time if you don't make efforts to 1) attend office hours for help and 2) practice, practice, and practice over time to get a thorough understanding of the material.

As a side note: the lectures cover an alternate approach to Stokes Theorem that involve differential equations. This is different from the vector approach taken in the textbook. However, it is helpful to know both methods for the final exam (although you are free to use whichever method you prefer). So, make sure you are keeping up with the textbook reading throughout the semester. It is helpful to have read the textbook before the lectures, so that you come in with a basic understanding of what will be discussed.

Professor Mark is a very supportive instructor. If you are struggling with something or feel that the disparity between the lectures and textbook material is too great, reach out to him. He'll give you what you need in terms of extra material or reading. Hope that helps!

Professor Mark is a nice guy, and a relatively fun professor. However, I found the way he teaches to be a bit problematic for me. Some of the topics he teaches differently from the text book, and when speaking to other students who have taken Calc 3, none of them have ever heard of his methods. This is one of the more difficult classes I have taken at UVA, and recommend trying to find a tutor at the beginning of the semester so you don't fall behind. Some of the other students in my class seemed to understand more, but they have mentioned taking similar courses in high school. I had no background in the Calc 3 material, so I felt a lot more behind than the rest of the class. Professor Mark is extremely intelligent, although I don't think he's the best when it comes to explaining things to a student who doesn't understand. Good luck!

I had wanted to be a math major/minor for a long time, but a particularly bad math class my senior year of high school had made me reconsider wanting to be a math major. Taking this course with Professor Mark made me love math and want to be a math major again! Dr. Mark is fun, quirky and a great professor. His lectures are helpful, the amount of homework he assigns is very reasonable, and his exams are more than fair. He is also extremely kind and always willing to go the extra mile and help students. He doesn’t often teach Calc III anymore, but if you have the chance to take it with him, do it!