APMA 2130

Guadagni's "teaching" style did not work for me at all. Every class he talked for about 10 minutes and then we would split into groups and do worksheets that took much longer than the class period allowed. We would have to stay at least 10 minutes after class if not more everyday. The quizzes took the entire class period and were basically the same length as test and much more difficult. If you take this class expect to learn everything on your own when you're doing the webwork.

Professor Guadagni is really nice and makes the class enjoyable with his party jokes. The class is pretty easy in general, do the homework and listen in class and you should do fine.

PRINT OUT THE LECTURE NOTES. This was the most helpful thing I had... to follow along in class and to look up things later. I think the lectures were helpful in giving an overview of the material, and the ability to practice in class and ask questions about worksheets was nice. I wish the TAs were at the workshop office hours more often... I think half the time I arrived and they weren't there. When they were there, they were helpful. I forgot to do several of the daily online questions, but I think they definitely help make this class very present in my priorities. I'm glad Professor G still accepts the worksheets later than normal because they help me understand the material more when I am behind... Plus it's a nice balance to the online homework hard-deadlines. Find a good partner to do the worksheets at the beginning of the semester... you can take turns if one of you is super stressed. Overall, I like how Professor G has a friendly atmosphere for the class and takes time after class to explain things to people who need help, even if it's a Friday.

Prof. G is actually the best guy. Very nice and funny and very open to answering your questions. Sometimes the way he explains things can be confusing but if you look through the lecture notes it'll make a whole lot of sense. He also gives out a lot of group worksheets that you'll most likely have to finish outside of class which can be annoying, but its worth it to have such a great guy as your professor.

He's a nice guy but I don't think he was really that great of a professor. It's a confusing course and he sometimes goes off on tangents that don't really matter. Every lecture you'll do groupwork which you can take home if you don't finish but obviously it's nice to get it done in class and out of the way. During these groupworks he's a lot more helpful and can explain it pretty well if you have questions, it's the lectures themselves that aren't really that great. There were 6 or 7 quizzes and 1 drop - take these seriously and study more than just the night because they're more like mini exams and actually pretty hard. Doing poorly on a couple can really tank your grade. Three exams and one final. You get a single page cheat/formula sheet for the exams and apparently we weren't supposed to get one for the final but he said he convinced the other professors to let us have one so that was nice. As someone who got an A+, I recommend reading through/copying down the notes he posts before each class and doing the practice problems as these will be very similar to the groupworks, quizzes, and tests. HW can be even harder than test questions sometimes but it wasn't usually bad and it was typically around 10 questions a week on webwork

Professor Guadagni is an all-around nice guy, this class is difficult but if you do your work on time and really study, you'll do well. For every exam (including the final) he lets you use a 1-page (one-sided) formula sheet. I made a good formula sheet and studied for the final for the whole day on the day of the exam and got a 93. STUDY.

The material is pretty interesting and not insanely difficult. If you mess up on a test, then there's plenty of opportunities to boost your grade. The final also has a decent curve. I really enjoyed Guadagni as a professor, but four days a week is a lot for this class. Overall, I enjoyed the material and recommend this professor.

This course got better the farther along I was into it. I started out really confused, especially with the structure of no textbook I felt really overwhelmed at first, but the content only got easier as I went on. Start on the WeBWorK at least a day or two in advance and do your best to make every class. The quizzes were definitely the hardest part of this class, but they were open note so that made it a little easier. Overall, GG is a cool teacher, he's really personable and funny, but I think his teaching style is a little more disorganized for my taste.

Obviously no one takes APMA classes for fun but ODE wasn't too bad with prof GG. As long as you are there for the lectures and the group work you should be fine with the material. As far as math lecturers go, GG has been one of the most engaging and fun ones I have had. Problem sets, assigned through WebWork, usually take a good amount of time so its the best to get an early start on them.

Prof GG was a great professor! Not going to sugar coat it, this class is hard, but it's my favorite APMA class so far. He kept the lectures light hearted with his jokes and has a flair for the dramatic. I never missed a single class. Sometimes it's hard to finish the worksheet in class, but group work is encouraged and he's always friendly during office hours. He loves his coffee and always brings plenty of energy to class. The written homeworks can be really confusing, but the class worksheets are a great guide. The midterms, while challenging, are graded with plenty of partial credit. For us, he also dropped a couple of worksheets at the end of the semester and dropped out lowest written homework grade. GG is the best!
P.S. That "party" he keeps mentioning that's suspiciously scheduled at the same time as the final exam? You guessed it, not a party :)