MATH 31A
Differential and Integral Calculus
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Preparation: at least three and one half years of high school mathematics (including some coordinate geometry and trigonometry). Requisite: successful completion of Mathematics Diagnostic Test or course 1 with grade of C- or better. Differential calculus and applications; introduction to integration. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Summer 2026 - WOW. I have to say I did not want to retake Math 31a in summer because not only is it a shorter session, I struggled immensely on the material prior to Professor Jukka. This dude is the best Math teacher I have ever had and I am not kidding. I would have failed again with any other Professor. Professor Jukka implemented clickers in his lecture to foster engagement and this makes up 10% of your points in the course along with worksheets and homework assignments. For a summer session, it was a lot of work, but honestly, if you truly take the time to attend lectures and dedicate a day or two on the material, you will be more than prepared for his exams. I saw a review that said he has a lot of office hours and drops hints about the type of questions he might include in his exams and I will say that this is in fact true. He hosts multiple office hour sessions on Zoom to work on homework problems and he records them for the rest of the class. The week of exams, he hosts two review sessions prior and posts practice midterms/finals for you to review. PLS DO THESE PRACTICE EXAMS! It literally mirrored the questions on the final. He also gave the opportunity to earn extra credit on missed midterm problems to raise your score, which without it, I would not have passed the class. Jukka is the best professor in the UCLA math department. Please take him and spare the others in the department. It will require effort, but if math is not your strong suit, HE IS THE MAN FOR THE JOB.
Summer 2026 - WOW. I have to say I did not want to retake Math 31a in summer because not only is it a shorter session, I struggled immensely on the material prior to Professor Jukka. This dude is the best Math teacher I have ever had and I am not kidding. I would have failed again with any other Professor. Professor Jukka implemented clickers in his lecture to foster engagement and this makes up 10% of your points in the course along with worksheets and homework assignments. For a summer session, it was a lot of work, but honestly, if you truly take the time to attend lectures and dedicate a day or two on the material, you will be more than prepared for his exams. I saw a review that said he has a lot of office hours and drops hints about the type of questions he might include in his exams and I will say that this is in fact true. He hosts multiple office hour sessions on Zoom to work on homework problems and he records them for the rest of the class. The week of exams, he hosts two review sessions prior and posts practice midterms/finals for you to review. PLS DO THESE PRACTICE EXAMS! It literally mirrored the questions on the final. He also gave the opportunity to earn extra credit on missed midterm problems to raise your score, which without it, I would not have passed the class. Jukka is the best professor in the UCLA math department. Please take him and spare the others in the department. It will require effort, but if math is not your strong suit, HE IS THE MAN FOR THE JOB.
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2021 - Harris is so nice. Always willing to help, emails back quickly, has plenty of time to meet, cares about his students. He is really good at breaking things down into simpler terms. He would often write out general steps for solving problems which I found really helpful. I did take calculus in high school, but I definitely think even if you had never seen calc before, you would be able to do well with Harris as your prof. I would 100% take a class with Harris again!!
Summer 2021 - Harris is so nice. Always willing to help, emails back quickly, has plenty of time to meet, cares about his students. He is really good at breaking things down into simpler terms. He would often write out general steps for solving problems which I found really helpful. I did take calculus in high school, but I definitely think even if you had never seen calc before, you would be able to do well with Harris as your prof. I would 100% take a class with Harris again!!
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Most Helpful Review
He's not as bad as people say he is. He's organized, concise, and the grading is fair. The final was a bit difficult, but everything is curved. I enjoyed his lectures and I'm taking 31B with him next quarter. It's not an easy A, but it's definitely not super hard either if you do your work!
He's not as bad as people say he is. He's organized, concise, and the grading is fair. The final was a bit difficult, but everything is curved. I enjoyed his lectures and I'm taking 31B with him next quarter. It's not an easy A, but it's definitely not super hard either if you do your work!
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - This class was incredibly difficult. If you have no prior knowledge to calculus or you aren't well versed in the topics, do not take this class. I worked so hard to understand the material but it was no use. I attended all of his lectures and most of his office hours, I watched YouTube tutorials, I used khan academy and it was still not enough. The class moves way too fast for someone who doesn't have any knowledge on calculus and its especially hard when the professors lectures aren't helpful in any way. The professor teaches and explains in a way that only suits those who already know calculus and have a strong foundation in it. He offers no explanation on what calculus is and what the terminology he uses means. I only ended up passing because he curved the grades up which turned my D into a C. I will give him that, he allows students extra credit opportunities so that was helpful in boosting up grades. If you're good at calculus this class will be easy for you. If you don't know calculus I recommend you find another professor or a realllyyyy good tutor.
Fall 2021 - This class was incredibly difficult. If you have no prior knowledge to calculus or you aren't well versed in the topics, do not take this class. I worked so hard to understand the material but it was no use. I attended all of his lectures and most of his office hours, I watched YouTube tutorials, I used khan academy and it was still not enough. The class moves way too fast for someone who doesn't have any knowledge on calculus and its especially hard when the professors lectures aren't helpful in any way. The professor teaches and explains in a way that only suits those who already know calculus and have a strong foundation in it. He offers no explanation on what calculus is and what the terminology he uses means. I only ended up passing because he curved the grades up which turned my D into a C. I will give him that, he allows students extra credit opportunities so that was helpful in boosting up grades. If you're good at calculus this class will be easy for you. If you don't know calculus I recommend you find another professor or a realllyyyy good tutor.
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