‘18.06: Linear Algebra’
Table of contents
- Course Info
- Realistic Prerequisites
- Subject Matter
- Course Staff
- Lectures
- Problem Sets
- Exams
- Resources
- Grading
- Advice to Future Students
Course Info
Class Size | 453 |
Hours/Week | 10.4 (134 responses) |
Instructors | Gilbert Strang, Andrew Horning |
Overall Rating | 5.7/7.0 |
Realistic Prerequisites
- Most students thought 18.02 was a good prerequisite.
Subject Matter
- Most thought there was a good balance between theory and application.
- Some wished there could have been more intuitive explanations.
Course Staff
- The course staff were described as approachable and understanding. Some students said that the course staff is approachable and responsive.
- Students said that Horning was a good lecturer and approachable.
Lectures
- Most students believed that they learned from solving psets rather than lectures - and that this prepared them more for the tests. They believed that the lectures covered the concepts fine but still would have a hard time with the psets.
- The textbook helped clarify the lectures.
Problem Sets
- Challenging.
- Required time to think of applications of the concepts - OH and emailing TAs usually helped to go through problems on the pset.
- Lecture notes are generally helpful for the psets.
- Collaboration on psets with people was helpful.
Exams
- The exams were considered difficult to finish on time but not totally unreasonable.
- The problems were thought to be quite challenging, but many complained about the allotted time given the problems.
- Some students said that as the class went on the exams got progressively more challenging.
Resources
- Students found Strang’s textbook helpful for both psets and exams.
Grading
- Students felt that grading was overall fair.
- The grading was lenient on psets but harsh on exams.
- Some students felt that there could have been more transparency about grade cutoffs.
Advice to Future Students
- “Mainly to read the textbook and attend both lecture and recitation because they all helped me with my understanding”
- ”Take the time to read the textbook and understand the proofs”