Dr. Burke is an assistant adjunct professor who is applying for a permanent job for FALL 2014. The only problem associated with his teaching is that many people don’t realize, and as modest he is, he doesn’t realize himself, that HE IS A VERY EFFECTIVE professor even at a young age! I absolutely loved attending his lectures and I managed to get through the quarter without studying from the Jon Rogawski textbook. As an introductory statement to this review, Dr. Burke is extremely underrated and those who gave up on his lectures and just stopped attending them must have been oblivious to the effective structure that is always present.

Dr. Burke, I have to admit, started off rough in the first week and a half, and that might have scarred many students lol; lectures were slightly rushed, notation wasn’t formally introduced, and he was nervous in front of a class of 200- which is totally understandable. It was until week 2 that I identified and thus appreciated the effective structure of his lectures and started seeing great value in his class. Prior to stating a new theorem, which is basically what the 31B course is packed of, Dr. Burke would always introduce multiple examples and engage the class into working through the examples with him. By the time we could work an example by ourselves, he’d state the theorem and we’d fully absorb it. His lectures provide a pathway of thinking; the worked problems/examples in lecture are also of the same style as those that appear on his midterms and finals, which definitely adds value to lectures.

Dr. Burke assigns odd-number homework problems from the book after every lecture and if you can do these problems, you’d be able to follow lecture and stay on top of things; remember, answers to odd-number questions are also available at the back! Professor Burke writes very quickly on a board and is efficient when he teaches. He is also really funny when he occasionally drops a ‘math joke’. He knows the material well and he is also willing to help students individually. He really cares for his students and wants all of them to do well.

Overall, Professor Burke really deserves a permanent job in the math department and I hope many others start to appreciate his effort and effectiveness as these qualities may not be completely apparent from the surface. Hope this review helps!

Course: Math31B

I personally find his class VERY stressful. He is a nice guy and I guess he can be helpful one-on-one during office hours, but during lecture I understand absolutely nothing. I basically depend on discussion and teaching myself everything from the book. Which would be okay if his tests weren't so tricky.
Plus he's super nervous in front of a big class. And just makes everything more confusing and trickier than it needs to be.
I wouldn't recommend him if you're the kind of student who needs things explained to you clearly and, like me, whose brain shuts down during a midterm when given super tricky questions and ends up doing poorly even after countless days of studying.