I want to preface that I took Professor Ding for 31A, not 31B, but he wasn’t listed for 31A, so I’m leaving my review here. Also, this was an MWF 8 a.m. class, which might bias my review.

Professor Ding was pretty difficult to understand in lecture. He somehow made simple problems feel confusing, and overall the lectures weren’t great. That said, he was very organized, and he posted clean, organized lecture notes after every class, which helped a lot. We had around 30 homework problems per week, which was honestly annoying. On top of that, we had weekly quizzes in discussion during the first 10 minutes, usually two problems.

The midterms were straightforward and almost identical to the practice exams he gave out (which were super helpful). They only had four questions, but because there were so few, grading could be harsh over small notation mistakes. On Midterm 2 there was a confusing related rates question worth 25 points, and the average dropped so much that they ended up giving everyone 15 points just for attempting it. The final was cumulative with 10 questions. Overall, the exams are short, and you have plenty of time to check your work.

Pretty much everyone I know didn’t really go to lecture, partly because it was 8 a.m., but also because he just isn’t a strong lecturer. If you’re taking 31A, I’d recommend another professor if you have the option, even though the exams are straightforward. If you already took Calc 1 in high school and you’re fine learning mostly from notes and practice exams, then this class is manageable and you might as well take it.

Leaving review for 31A as it wasn't listed.

It was a good class with manageable workload. I found the quizzes, homework and tests to be incredibly easy and similar to the practice test he gives around a week before the tests. I took calc in high school, so this class went a pretty good pace for me.
But for someone who hadn't taken any form of AP calc, it can be a bit fast paced, but overall shouldn't be too hard to get a good grade. The tests are almost the exact same as samples (with a few change in numbers) and pretty reflective of what was taught in class. Only drawback would be the class timings at 8 am.

Okay to preface this is a review for Math 31A with Changying Ding not 31B. I'm writing this here because as of rn he isn't listed for 31A. One of the questions I feel doesn't have a clear answer for freshman at ucla is "Will I be able to pass with a subpar math background?" Going to forums or even asking the NSAs often gives a very vague answer and leaves much question. So I wanna cut it short and say even with a subpar math background (algebra 1 and geometry and very shabby algebra two and in my case no precalc) it is very possible to pass and even get an A. You will most definitely have to work a little extra to cover the concepts you don't have an understanding of like trig or logs, but it is doable. Especially if you get Professor Ding if he teaches it again. Mostly cause he's allergic to trig and almost never put it on exams unless it was easy to remember like cos(0) = 1 so a lot of our content relied heavily on polynomials. Outside of this question the class itself was very straightforward you had your weekly HW, quizzes, two midterms and the final. You are allowed to drop 1 midterm 1 HW and 1 quiz. Overall, it was a very doable class for those without sufficient math background, but fair warning Ding cares A LOT about punctuation and would dock points for improper punctuation.

Since Math 31A is not available for review, I will leave this here. This was my first math class at UCLA, and because I had not taken calculus before, I found the course very confusing. The logic behind many of the problems did not make sense to me, so I ended up teaching myself the entire class.

You really do need prior knowledge going in. Otherwise, you should expect to spend a lot of your free time studying many different variations of the problems just to keep up. I personally spent about twenty-four hours a week studying. After the midterms, I reviewed the material again and again. Still, even the most minor mistakes, even when I had the correct answer and most of the correct methodology, still resulted in losing about half the points on a question. This makes sense of the subject, but the professor was often not specific about the layout for exam responses until after midterm 1. His teaching style is perfect for those with prior knowledge and who have already had the chance to apply this math in high school.

Pretty Easy Class shout out to Andrew Fuentes he's the goat

the goat.
- midterms & finals easy af as long as u put a bit of effort
- exams EXTREMELY similar to the practice exams
- TAs are great (if u have daniel rui he is so cool, he hosted a 3 HOUR LONG office hours on a weekend before the final which is like?? ur so cool i love you. hes also really funny)
- only complaint is sometimes ding can complicate simple topics but as long as u attend office hours diligently if you have questions youll be fine

DING IS THE GOAT, DANIEL RUI IS THE GOAT!

Changying is the goat. Easy af class. Homework and midterm 1 are super free, lectures are recorded and he gives notes. Lots of homework but idt they even check it for correctness outside one or two times. Midterm 2 was a bit hard but he drops your lower midterm. Final was pretty easy too imo. Absolutely take this class if you can for 31b, prolly the best one you can take.

overall, a great professor for a class that wasn't really super hard (other than some parts of taylor series). ding explains the concepts really well, and he was pretty funny. the grading scheme was also very fair, he drops the lowest midterm. would take again!!

if you have the option to take it with this professor do it!!! I cant' stress how good of a professor he is. There are two midterms and one final and you have the option to drop one midterm, that just means the the other Midterm and Final will be weighed more. But the midterms and final was pretty easy Im not gonna lie. He is also a very funny and charismatic professor who engages with the students. I will say this class goes incredibly fast as you are learning all of Calc II in like 10 weeks, so just make sure you understand what he says and go over concepts you are having trouble understanding. Overall view: Take this class with him if you can!

This is definitely a class I would recommend going in person for, especially since our lectures were not recorded consistently. Ding is a good professor and would always keep us updated about grading, changes in the class, etc. I remember not liking the first class, but throughout the quarter warmed up to it, and he warmed up to us too. He would skip stuff in the textbook if it wasn't gonna be on the final. He wasn't like an amazing teacher but he got the job done and I utilized TA office hours for anything I didn't get.