Professor

Jukka Keranen

AD
4.5
Overall Ratings
Based on 237 Users
Easiness 3.9 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Workload 3.4 / 5 How light the workload is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Clarity 4.4 / 5 How clear the professor is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Helpfulness 4.7 / 5 How helpful the professor is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

Reviews (237)

14 of 17
14 of 17
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LIFESCI 30A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Dec. 22, 2021
Quarter: Fall 2021
Grade: A+

I really enjoyed taking this class with Jukka. He cares a lot for his students and offers a good amount of extra credit. His lectures were recorded so it was very helpful to go back and rewatch confusing parts. Overall this class is not that difficult but it does get confusing at times because the math in this class can be really weird. There is a great amount of work that we have to complete. The amount of homework we got sometimes was a lot but I think it was manageable. He does go over some homework problems during his office hours so I recommend attending or watching most of his office hours. We also had weekly quizzes and weekly coding assignments. Some of the coding assignments were confusing but the TAs can help you. The midterm and final were not that difficult, for me the most difficult part was trying to finish the exams on time because the midterm had a 2-hour limit and the final had a 3-hour limit but you do have a 24-hour window to complete them.
Be prepared to work with other people. You are assigned a learning team at the beginning of the quarter and you're expected to complete the coding assignments with them and the first stage of both exams consists of completing a study guide with your learning team.
I recommend taking this class with Jukka! So take it with him if you can!!!

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LIFESCI 30A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Dec. 31, 2021
Quarter: Fall 2021
Grade: B+

Jukka is an amazing professor. He is really dedicated to his students. However, his class work is quite extensive. You should expect hours on hours of work. There are pre-class videos, pre-class reflections, post-class reflections, and participation quizzes for every lesson. At first this doesn't seem bad but as the quarter goes on his pre-class videos become quite long. I believe the longest was 30 mins. The homework assignments take a few hours as well(5-6). However, he assigns the homework assignments in the activities mentioned before. You should definitely stay on track. If you do, you will not struggle as much as I did. I was generally doing fine on the course until the final. I completely panicked and thats why my grade went from an A to a B+. Also the midterm materials and final materials have information you probably wont be tested on. I found quite often that I understood those materials but then came the exams they didn't test you on the same information. All the other reviews you see here are true. You are most definitely capable of earning an A but you have to stay on track and invest a lot of your time. Office hours are a great time to seek homework help. He goes over most of the problems there. Coding I struggled with, if you make sure to ask questions during your section and finish it during those two hours you should be fine. The point I am trying to get across is that to do well in this course you must invest a lot of your time. I often felt quite frustrated because I couldn't always balance the workload for all my classes. Thats a me problem. This is just a heads up but I would recommend taking his course. Seriously though, stay on top of the work and you will do fine.

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LIFESCI 30A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Jan. 4, 2022
Quarter: Fall 2021
Grade: A+

This class was decent definitely challenging if you are used to traditional math. I personally didn't enjoy this class but Jukka as a teacher was ok definitely moved a little fast I found the recorded lectures very helpful because you can pause and rewind. The hw assignments are pretty rough if you wait till the last minute. The final was very difficult so make sure to do well on the midterm to protect your grade.

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LIFESCI 30B
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Feb. 3, 2022
Quarter: Winter 2021
Grade: B+

jukka is the best teacher for this class. he is clear, helpful, and very approachable. he uses two beanie babies in class that you ask questions to (flippy and puffers). he is also very funny during class and makes the lessons fun and entertaining as well as easy to understand. i would love every class at UCLA and pass every one if ey were all taught by the penguin god himself, jukka

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LIFESCI 30A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Feb. 9, 2022
Quarter: Fall 2021
Grade: N/A

I am going to be completely honest by saying that although I got an A+ in this class, I did not feel like I learned anything. The 30 series is decently confusing and most of the time you feel like you're learning the same thing every single week. Jukka overall was a good professor, but he was not very helpful and was honestly very passive aggressive when students asked questions. The exams are decently challenging, but the practice exams are very similar. There is much opportunity for extra credit in this class so getting an A is super attainable.

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July 16, 2025
Quarter: Summer 2025
Grade: A

Jukka is nerdy, funny, and professional all in one (my best compliment). Occasionally he throws a really funny and lowkey joke out of nowhere during his lectures. Very clear on the class objectives and materials. Lenient grading and reasonable homework. Also super responsive and responsible. He even pretends there are students going to his office whereas in fact he was just recording an extra video going through hw/worksheet with no students present in his office hours. Highly recommend.

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LIFESCI 30B
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
March 28, 2022
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A

I'm not very religious, but I do wholeheartedly believe this man is an angel descended from the heavens. Jukka is the best professor I've had at UCLA so far, and I 100% recommend taking him if you need LS 30A/B. He is super understanding, accommodating, clear, and just an all-around nice person. Sometimes in the middle of lecture he'll just randomly say how much he loves us and it makes me want to cry he is so sweet. His slides are really easy to understand - he does a great job of turning pretty complicated topics into very organized presentations. He does give a lot of small assignments throughout the week (like pre-class/post-class work) that can be difficult to keep track of in the beginning, but once you get the hang of it it's not bad at all. His exams were very fair and he did an amazing job preparing us for it. In his review sessions, he'll literally go over problems of the exact same format before the midterm & final. He also provides practice exams and a whole slideshow of practice exam problems so you'll be set. Near the end, he gave more extra credit because it seemed like he just wanted everyone to get an A and not be stressed. The coding in 30B was harder than 30A, but I just got a lot of help from my TA and LA and I was fine. And it's not bad considering there wasn't any coding on our midterm or final. Overall, Jukka is your best friend so take 30B with him if you can!!!

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
June 29, 2025
Quarter: Winter 2025
Grade: A-

This class honestly felt like a full-time job. I took an otherwise light workload the quarter I enrolled, and I still found myself overwhelmed at times. We had weekly worksheets (graded for completion), homework assignments with about 30 questions graded for accuracy, daily classes with mandatory attendance for clicker questions, weekly quizzes (which ended up being canceled due to the fires—we just did them together in class), and reflections plus 1–2 short questions at the end of each lecture (though I don’t think he’ll keep that part for future quarters).

My biggest tip: the study guides he gives are an accurate reflection of what will be on the exams. If you can confidently get through the practice midterms, you’ll be fine on the actual ones—he slightly changes the problem, but the concepts stay the same.

Jukka truly cares about his students. He’s got his quirks—like his deep love for math and commitment to helping students—but he genuinely wants you to succeed. The material is hard no matter who you take it with, so don’t think another professor will necessarily make it easier.

One thing to know: Jukka does teach straight from the slides, and sometimes his explanations can be hard to follow, which is why I highly recommend going to his office hours (he holds them almost every day, even Sundays) or your TA’s sessions.

I also took another class with him, and he was the only professor who went out of his way to fight for us—he advocated for allowing cheat sheets and giving us real study guides. That alone says a lot about his character and how much he wants to support students.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
March 24, 2025
Quarter: Winter 2025
Grade: A

READ. THE. SYLLABUS.

Not because there's anything astounding you need to know about the course, but because it will give you an idea right off the bat of just what a wonderful human being Jukka is.

Calculus can be a very tough course for many. Jukka knows that and treats every student with the utmost care and respect as a result. Never once did I feel like he wouldn't understand my extenuating circumstances or that he wanted me to fail. Myself and my friends all agreed that the dedication he puts into making comprehensive study materials and organizing review sessions (often on the weekends and late into the evenings, out of his own free time) is unparalleled. Tests were difficult but I never felt they were "unfair", as he thoroughly prepared us for the types of problems we could see on the exam.

Yes, the other reviews are right, there is a lot of homework. But the class was never a burden on me and I've never been this engaged in a math class before, simply because of the immense work and joy Jukka has put into 31AL and, I assume, all his other classes.

To anyone reading this who may have their doubts: This class, like most, is all about how inspired you feel to attack it, and Jukka is someone who inspires you to do your best and succeed. I look forward to taking a class with him next quarter and can confidently say that he is the best professor I've had at UCLA thus far.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
April 9, 2025
Quarter: Winter 2025
Grade: A

Jukka is the absolute best! He was very willing to help all of his students out by hosting multiple student hours a week. He would often go over homework questions and explain to us how to work through it. The workload is kind of a lot but as long as you start early and not wait until last minute you should be fine. The class is structured in a helpful manner with a post class reflection assignment as well as content review questions (a question based on material taught during lecture). It really helped with practicing what we just learned that very day. His practice exams are very similar to the actual exams and he is very fair in the types of questions that are on the midterms/final exams. I cannot stress enough how much of a good teacher Jukka is and if you have the opportunity to take him, you 100% should!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
LIFESCI 30A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2021
Grade: A+
Dec. 22, 2021

I really enjoyed taking this class with Jukka. He cares a lot for his students and offers a good amount of extra credit. His lectures were recorded so it was very helpful to go back and rewatch confusing parts. Overall this class is not that difficult but it does get confusing at times because the math in this class can be really weird. There is a great amount of work that we have to complete. The amount of homework we got sometimes was a lot but I think it was manageable. He does go over some homework problems during his office hours so I recommend attending or watching most of his office hours. We also had weekly quizzes and weekly coding assignments. Some of the coding assignments were confusing but the TAs can help you. The midterm and final were not that difficult, for me the most difficult part was trying to finish the exams on time because the midterm had a 2-hour limit and the final had a 3-hour limit but you do have a 24-hour window to complete them.
Be prepared to work with other people. You are assigned a learning team at the beginning of the quarter and you're expected to complete the coding assignments with them and the first stage of both exams consists of completing a study guide with your learning team.
I recommend taking this class with Jukka! So take it with him if you can!!!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
LIFESCI 30A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2021
Grade: B+
Dec. 31, 2021

Jukka is an amazing professor. He is really dedicated to his students. However, his class work is quite extensive. You should expect hours on hours of work. There are pre-class videos, pre-class reflections, post-class reflections, and participation quizzes for every lesson. At first this doesn't seem bad but as the quarter goes on his pre-class videos become quite long. I believe the longest was 30 mins. The homework assignments take a few hours as well(5-6). However, he assigns the homework assignments in the activities mentioned before. You should definitely stay on track. If you do, you will not struggle as much as I did. I was generally doing fine on the course until the final. I completely panicked and thats why my grade went from an A to a B+. Also the midterm materials and final materials have information you probably wont be tested on. I found quite often that I understood those materials but then came the exams they didn't test you on the same information. All the other reviews you see here are true. You are most definitely capable of earning an A but you have to stay on track and invest a lot of your time. Office hours are a great time to seek homework help. He goes over most of the problems there. Coding I struggled with, if you make sure to ask questions during your section and finish it during those two hours you should be fine. The point I am trying to get across is that to do well in this course you must invest a lot of your time. I often felt quite frustrated because I couldn't always balance the workload for all my classes. Thats a me problem. This is just a heads up but I would recommend taking his course. Seriously though, stay on top of the work and you will do fine.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
LIFESCI 30A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2021
Grade: A+
Jan. 4, 2022

This class was decent definitely challenging if you are used to traditional math. I personally didn't enjoy this class but Jukka as a teacher was ok definitely moved a little fast I found the recorded lectures very helpful because you can pause and rewind. The hw assignments are pretty rough if you wait till the last minute. The final was very difficult so make sure to do well on the midterm to protect your grade.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
LIFESCI 30B
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2021
Grade: B+
Feb. 3, 2022

jukka is the best teacher for this class. he is clear, helpful, and very approachable. he uses two beanie babies in class that you ask questions to (flippy and puffers). he is also very funny during class and makes the lessons fun and entertaining as well as easy to understand. i would love every class at UCLA and pass every one if ey were all taught by the penguin god himself, jukka

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
LIFESCI 30A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2021
Grade: N/A
Feb. 9, 2022

I am going to be completely honest by saying that although I got an A+ in this class, I did not feel like I learned anything. The 30 series is decently confusing and most of the time you feel like you're learning the same thing every single week. Jukka overall was a good professor, but he was not very helpful and was honestly very passive aggressive when students asked questions. The exams are decently challenging, but the practice exams are very similar. There is much opportunity for extra credit in this class so getting an A is super attainable.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 115A
Quarter: Summer 2025
Grade: A
July 16, 2025

Jukka is nerdy, funny, and professional all in one (my best compliment). Occasionally he throws a really funny and lowkey joke out of nowhere during his lectures. Very clear on the class objectives and materials. Lenient grading and reasonable homework. Also super responsive and responsible. He even pretends there are students going to his office whereas in fact he was just recording an extra video going through hw/worksheet with no students present in his office hours. Highly recommend.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
LIFESCI 30B
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A
March 28, 2022

I'm not very religious, but I do wholeheartedly believe this man is an angel descended from the heavens. Jukka is the best professor I've had at UCLA so far, and I 100% recommend taking him if you need LS 30A/B. He is super understanding, accommodating, clear, and just an all-around nice person. Sometimes in the middle of lecture he'll just randomly say how much he loves us and it makes me want to cry he is so sweet. His slides are really easy to understand - he does a great job of turning pretty complicated topics into very organized presentations. He does give a lot of small assignments throughout the week (like pre-class/post-class work) that can be difficult to keep track of in the beginning, but once you get the hang of it it's not bad at all. His exams were very fair and he did an amazing job preparing us for it. In his review sessions, he'll literally go over problems of the exact same format before the midterm & final. He also provides practice exams and a whole slideshow of practice exam problems so you'll be set. Near the end, he gave more extra credit because it seemed like he just wanted everyone to get an A and not be stressed. The coding in 30B was harder than 30A, but I just got a lot of help from my TA and LA and I was fine. And it's not bad considering there wasn't any coding on our midterm or final. Overall, Jukka is your best friend so take 30B with him if you can!!!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 31AL
Quarter: Winter 2025
Grade: A-
June 29, 2025

This class honestly felt like a full-time job. I took an otherwise light workload the quarter I enrolled, and I still found myself overwhelmed at times. We had weekly worksheets (graded for completion), homework assignments with about 30 questions graded for accuracy, daily classes with mandatory attendance for clicker questions, weekly quizzes (which ended up being canceled due to the fires—we just did them together in class), and reflections plus 1–2 short questions at the end of each lecture (though I don’t think he’ll keep that part for future quarters).

My biggest tip: the study guides he gives are an accurate reflection of what will be on the exams. If you can confidently get through the practice midterms, you’ll be fine on the actual ones—he slightly changes the problem, but the concepts stay the same.

Jukka truly cares about his students. He’s got his quirks—like his deep love for math and commitment to helping students—but he genuinely wants you to succeed. The material is hard no matter who you take it with, so don’t think another professor will necessarily make it easier.

One thing to know: Jukka does teach straight from the slides, and sometimes his explanations can be hard to follow, which is why I highly recommend going to his office hours (he holds them almost every day, even Sundays) or your TA’s sessions.

I also took another class with him, and he was the only professor who went out of his way to fight for us—he advocated for allowing cheat sheets and giving us real study guides. That alone says a lot about his character and how much he wants to support students.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 31AL
Quarter: Winter 2025
Grade: A
March 24, 2025

READ. THE. SYLLABUS.

Not because there's anything astounding you need to know about the course, but because it will give you an idea right off the bat of just what a wonderful human being Jukka is.

Calculus can be a very tough course for many. Jukka knows that and treats every student with the utmost care and respect as a result. Never once did I feel like he wouldn't understand my extenuating circumstances or that he wanted me to fail. Myself and my friends all agreed that the dedication he puts into making comprehensive study materials and organizing review sessions (often on the weekends and late into the evenings, out of his own free time) is unparalleled. Tests were difficult but I never felt they were "unfair", as he thoroughly prepared us for the types of problems we could see on the exam.

Yes, the other reviews are right, there is a lot of homework. But the class was never a burden on me and I've never been this engaged in a math class before, simply because of the immense work and joy Jukka has put into 31AL and, I assume, all his other classes.

To anyone reading this who may have their doubts: This class, like most, is all about how inspired you feel to attack it, and Jukka is someone who inspires you to do your best and succeed. I look forward to taking a class with him next quarter and can confidently say that he is the best professor I've had at UCLA thus far.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 31AL
Quarter: Winter 2025
Grade: A
April 9, 2025

Jukka is the absolute best! He was very willing to help all of his students out by hosting multiple student hours a week. He would often go over homework questions and explain to us how to work through it. The workload is kind of a lot but as long as you start early and not wait until last minute you should be fine. The class is structured in a helpful manner with a post class reflection assignment as well as content review questions (a question based on material taught during lecture). It really helped with practicing what we just learned that very day. His practice exams are very similar to the actual exams and he is very fair in the types of questions that are on the midterms/final exams. I cannot stress enough how much of a good teacher Jukka is and if you have the opportunity to take him, you 100% should!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
14 of 17
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