I do not believe that Ludden is a good professor. He teaches the material, but never explains it. He often trails off with out finishing his thoughts, and never explains what he is thinking. If you are a visual learner, it is difficult to read his handwriting, and he often scribbles over his work, making it confusing to read. Ludden assigns problems for homework that prepare you for the exams, however, when asked to do them himself he has come up short on results. Overall, I did not like Ludden's teaching methods, and had I been better at learning from the book only, I would not have gone to class.

Ludden writes with his left hand on a projector the entire time, and since he is left handed, he covers up everything he is doing and it makes it hard to follow. For teaching classes where he has to draw a lot, he sucks at it. He should be forced to take a class on perspective or something, his 3D pictures suck really bad. He is not a very good lecturer, you do not really need to go to class. Learning from the book is much easier.

Definitely one of the better 234 profs. His grading scale is very generous, he lets you make up any and all quizzes you miss, in some cases I've heard he even lets you make up tests you miss. He's a nice old man, teaches fairly well, and sometimes makes an error while writing but 99% of the time the students will correct him. He drops your lowest test score OR your cumulative quiz score if its lower than any of your tests.



Tests are straightforward, you'll only really screw up if you didn't study at all. Plenty of people here are complaining but that's probably because they didn't put a solid effort into preparing.



I also disagree with other reviews here saying his exams are nothing like the final. This semester, I felt like some problems on his exams were the exact ones asked on the final. So either he wrote the final, or revamped his old exams to help students prepare better. I 4.0'd the final and the class and all I did was review the concepts I was weak on and went over all the exams and quizzes again. I'm also not the best math student and I got a 75 and 69 on the last two tests so that's proof for you of how generous his curve his.



You won't go wrong with picking Ludden.

Class is composed of four tests, and quizzes every Friday, and a final.



I went to class every day and would fail every fucking quiz, was usually such bullshit. I would usually go over 3 sections, and think "no way that'll be on the quiz", and sure enough, to my fucking surprise, it'd be there.



Tests on the other hand were much easier. I pretty much 95+'d every test except the fourth. I stopped going after the third test, since I was going to drop my quizzes and binge studied for 3 days for the fourth test and still ended up with an 81. I was extremely smart at math, and did little studying in calc 1 and 2, but I really think the practice problems are going to help you. A lot of the concepts mesh together, so you really will want to make sure you know how to do every problem.



Getting your hands on the answer PDF will also save your life, showing every step on how to solve problems.



Oh, and the class was hugely curved. It already begins on a curve (85+ is a 4), but I knew many kids around 80 who 4.0'd. He also lets you drop either 1. All your quizzes (which count as a whole test), or 2. A test.

This course is just like any other Calculus course. You cannot expect to learn everything just by going to lectures, you must do the homework in order to do good. I thought going to lectures was kind of pointless because he is not the best at explaining things throughly. He gives a lot of partial credit. On one of my exam my grade went from a 76 to an 88. The TAs don't give much partial credit but be sure to take it back to the Prof. because he will be fair in giving you partial credit. The exams are fair but can be kind of long and the quizes are not too bad. Just be sure you do the homework because if you do than you should have no problem getting a 3.5 to 4.0 because 85% is a 4.0 in his class. Over all, not the best at teaching but great in giving fair exams.

Ludden is a very nice guy. He is very understandable and will let you turn in hw late anytime before he hands it back. As a teacher, he is just average. Its nice to understand him and his writing isnt that for what hes got. He tends to just throw a lot of info on the board and try to explain it all through. Quizes are easy, hw is decent as well just assigns a few for grading. The class is fairly tough as Geometry has a ton of info. His exams are pretty tough but he is reasonable. I got a 48, 64 and 84 on the 3 exams and with decent hw/quizes, he still 4.0 me. Also, gives optional finals which is a plus. If you go see him and put in an effort you can do fine. I'll take a nice, reasonable guy over a better teacher who doesnt care any day.

Pros: he's very nice and somewhat helpful in office hours.

you can usually get ahold of past exams which he copies and pastes for the new exams.

the class is curved pretty significantly

Cons: he's confusing in class and gets confused himself while teaching.

the homework is super hard if you try to do it by yourself.

the exams are very difficult if you don't have past exams.

I feel bad because he is really nice, but he is super old and probably just shouldn't be teaching anymore. He assumes that we know things that we don't actually know, can't explain why you got points off on any given homework or exam problem, and grades pretty sporadically.

He really is just this nice old man. But his teaching is horrendously bad and he assumes that you know a lot of math that I didn't. That being said I never went to lecture unless there was a quiz or we were getting back a test. I failed the last test and all my quizzes and still 4.0 the class. Basically his tests are EXACTLY like the final, which is extremely helpful because the final is a third of your grade. He even takes test questions from old finals. I personally learned the material better on my own but he is a fair/very good test maker just a really bad teacher. Rely on your TA and take him if there is no one better.

Great professor. Some of the grading on the tests and quizzes is a little harsh. He explains things very well. A lot of people seem to complain that he skips steps and won't finish problems but if you can't follow the little steps he skips, and can't integrate the final equation for an answer, then you have more math problems than just calc 3. Just do the homework and things will start clicking if you didn't understand it in class. I really think that's the biggest thing, do the homework he assigns even though it isn't collected. By far the most interesting calculus course of the first three, and a lot easier than calc 2.

sure, his handwriting is bad, but if you ASK him what he wrote he'll tell you, no problem. if you're used to teachers holding your hand, this class is not for you. i just got out of a 4-books-in-3-years advanced math class in high school, so i'm used to getting an idea of what the material is, and figuring the rest out for myself. curving of tests would be nice but an 85% is a 4, and he drops the lowest test or total quiz score. and in my experience, he has been very fair in giving out partial credit. he's very nice and friendly if you need help during office hours.

My first math prof at msu. i felt he explained things very well, sometimes he made a mistake, but in a way, that almost helped me to understand it better because it forced him to spend extra time on the problem. overall, he explained exactly what we needed to know (no extras or super complex derivations) and his tests and quizzes were simple. i didn't do a single homework problem or even open the book all semester and managed to pull off a 4.0. (maybe i'm that good at math?) basically, just go to class, follow along and it will be a great class for you.

G. Ludden is not a bad choice for MTH 234. His exams are fair and he lets you drop either one test or all your quizzes. Be sure to do well on your quizzes because thats what saved my grade. What I like the most about him is that he teaches from the book so when you do homework you have plenty of examples to help you out. What I liked the least about him is that he is very dry. He is very scattered in his work and he stands right in front of the overhead when he is working problems making it hard to see the screen. But overall a decent professor.

Like the other posts have stated this man's Penmanship is lacking. I felt that he often skipped steps and had a difficult time explaining the steps he didn't skip. For instance a problem would be given and he would magically graph it and not explain how he made the picture. And by not knowing how to graph the problem it makes it alittle difficult to solve even if you know the rest of the steps. More times then not he would just say its a quaker oats box cut some way or another. I've had worse professors but not by much. Look for a better one.

Pros: He uses past exams so if you can get your hands on those, you can do fairly well in the class. He is cute old guy but there's definitely too many cons that overpower his cute oldness. Quizzes just straight definitions so pretty easy.

Cons: So he basically never finishes a thought. I cant even pay attention to him because he goes off on these random things and expects you to be really good in geometry. I havent had it since high shcool so i forgot a lot and its so beyond normal geometry, that when he skips the basics, you are just super confused.

THIS CLASS IS HARD. I have never felt more discouraged, than when I was in this class. Professor Ludden is very hard to understand and tends to mumble at the chalkboard all class. He is willing to help, but unfortunately, his help is not helpful. The class is composed of homework, quizzes, and tests. The final is optional, and he does a huge curve at the end, as he gives out more points on assignments/quizzes, than are in the syllabus. I got a 1.5 on every exam, and somehow came out with a 3.0. Hard class, difficult professor.

Ludden has the worst handwriting eveer! He is one of the worst math professors I have had yet. Now, after saying that I will say his midterm tests aren't to bad if you study. He doesn't really review with you, he will set a day before the test aside for review but he only goes over questions you want him to, which can kind of screw you over. Like I said, his handwriting is horrible and he writes more in between two lines that are already to close togehter as it is. Homework isn't due, just quizzes every friday.

Can teach if he wants to but will leave you hanging on a lot of example problems. For example, on lecture he was doing an example that lead to integration by parts and I quote,"I don't feel like finishing this problem because its monday morning..." He does not give unfair quizzes or tests just does not present a good lecture. You can definitely do well if you do the homework and ask the TA for help. I ended with a 3.5. If you understand math, take him, if not then I would suggest finding a different prof.

If you have to take this class, take Dr. Ludden. His tests aren't too difficult as long as you study and ask questions during office hours. The tests are worth 60% of your grade, and homework and quizzes are worth 40%. The quizzes are really easy, and if you go to his office hours and ask for help when you don't understand the homework - he'll help you out. Dr. Ludden wants his students to do well, but you HAVE to put forth the effort. He also curves at the end. Overall, great professor.

Do not take this class with ludden if u can avoid him. Hes a little old guy who is really nice and means well but he cant teach at all. His hand writing is impossible to read and he just explains stuff and expects you to make the connection. the test are fair but there is zero partial credit given on them. also there are friday quizes every week and i dont know about you guys..but i'd rather be home enjoying my hangover than having to get up for a 10:20 quiz. nice guy...bad teacher!!

sure you can't read his writing, and he stands infront of the board so you have no idea what he is talking about. And yes, he does skip some proofs and decides that some "magic" happens and it all works out, but Ludden was an overall good teacher. The quizes that he gives aren't bad, and actually help you in the long run. The exams are nothing crazy and he will give you points just for drawing the picture. Homework gets alittle annoying, but again, it all helps you in the end!!!