Reviews for Jonathan M. Rosenberg
Average Rating:| emnm47 Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: B January 5, 2012, 12:05 pm | I came into Calc 3 having audited it at my local community college over the summer, and I found the lectures did not help me at all, and I knew the material pretty well already. To be completely honest, I stopped going after two classes and just showed up for exams. But I did put effort into this class. I took notes on every single chapter in the book, and went to every discussion (which helped me MUCH more than the lectures). The ten-point quizzes each week were easy, just making sure you understood the concept taught in that chapter (I had Ioannis as my TA). The exams were extremely difficult. But the final seemed really easy to me, probably because the exams had been so impossible. Important: Make a friend who is good at MATLAB! There are THIRTEEN MATLABs to do for his class, and he includes MATLAB questions on the first two exams. Basically the last chapter (15, Stoke's, Green's, line integrals) really screwed me over, because I didn't go to lecture and my summer class didn't cover that material. And I was sick for three weeks and fell a little bit behind towards the end. tl;dr: He's extremely hard if you haven't seen the material yet, quizzes are easy with a good TA, exams are IMPOSSIBLE (except collaborative final), Ch. 15 is very hard conceptually, make a friend that can do MATLAB well. |
| Eddie Wong Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: B December 5, 2011, 4:04 pm | Advice: Absolutely wait for another semester with another professor to take this course. Explanation/Experience:In my opinion, In the classroom Professor Rosenburg makes easy concepts more difficult than they really are with unnecessary variables, disorganized lectures, and spontaneous proofs. Like what many other said his lectures don't actually help you do well on the exams. Matlabs are self taught through his readings which are good. Options: if your reading this too late in the course to drop. Learn through MIT lectures, Khannacadamy, Reading textbook paragraphs, But above all to prepare for exams, use UMD test bank. These will help solidify the material you already practiced with. He curves in the end? I read? Conclusion: Calc III is still cool regardless of him making it ugly |
| Anonymous Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: B+ November 30, 2011, 5:12 pm | If you are taking Math241, take a different professor than Rosenberg. I came into the class with 5's on both AP Calc tests and math was always easy for me to pick up quite quickly. This class has been difficult for me, his notes are almost useless (very cryptic), the textbook just as cryptic, and the tests are not that easy even though you get a cheat sheet. The saving grace for me has been my TA, Maxx Cho; he has helped so much in me learning the material, but I definitely not learning the material like I should be, just learning it enough to scrape by on the tests with Bs. The lesson to be learned is take someone different, or really devote your time to learning the material on your own, because you really won't learn it from Rosenberg. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: A November 29, 2011, 7:35 pm | Mr. Rosenberg is the perfect teacher to take if you already have a vague idea of Calculus 3. If you are taking this class as a "breather" or have genuine interest in math, this class will engage you very well. His diagrams and proofs build on any preexisting experience you may have had with Calc 3. However, if you have no experience with Calculus 3, I by no means recommend taking this class. You can expect to have few to none basic "foundation", or concrete ways to do problems. If, however you are stuck taking this class due to scheduling problems, learn to "zone out" the first half of class to not get confused, and after he start writing formulas, try to pay attention to examples he gives. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: C November 11, 2011, 10:30 am | if you want a fast track to depression take Rosenberg. I pulled many all nighters just to get 70s on his exams. They are extremely difficult compared to other calc 3 professors. Not to mention i had the worst TA. He was from Russia and just did not know what was going on. If you have Alexey as your TA be ready for quiz questions that are harder than test questions. This is the worst class i have taken at UMD so far. |
| zhangsta Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: A May 26, 2011, 7:11 am | Dr. Rosenberg clearly knows his stuff, but he isn't that well-suited for teaching. In class, he likes to go over proofs of the equations that we use, but does very little on actual applications. However, the exam questions were entirely applications, but you'll probably learn how to apply the equations in discussion and on homeworks. In addition, Rosenberg loves to throw questions that involve special cases on the exams which is/are usually the question(s) that the class does the worst on. The best way to prepare is probably to do his old exams, which are on the testbank because you'll get some practice on how to approach his questions. Another great resource is Schaum's Outline of Calculus, which is pretty good at explaining a lot of the concepts clearly. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: B+ May 25, 2011, 10:08 am | Lectures are pretty boring so I never went. Learning the material from the book wasn't too hard for me, just make sure that if you decide to skip the lectures then you should definitely go to discussions. One of the test averages was like 40% so he gave everyone a take home exam to replace the grade with. Overall, not a bad teacher. He knows what he's talking about and gives a nice curve at the end (something like 85-100 is A, 75 - 85 is B, etc). |
| rkm Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: A December 18, 2010, 6:53 pm | Rosenberg very clearly knows his stuff (as everyone else has said), but the main thing I noticed about this course is that he tries to force MATLAB down your throat, so be sure that you're at least mildly acquainted with programming (I'm not, and it was a hassle for me to correct syntax on literally every problem). He's a very intelligent professor and does most of his lecture with the examples listed in the book; and as others have said, he's almost exactly like what one would expect out of an older mathematics professor. One word of caution: if you're going to take his class, be prepared to do extremely well on exams. His exam averages are significantly lower than the other professors', but since they use the same final, I've been told that Rosenberg uses the same cut-offs -- hence his 10% A distribution for this class. If you want to know how to use MATLAB rather comprehensively and you're willing to put the effort in, take him. You have one quiz and MATLAB a week, and out of the 13 of each, he drops 3. My TA was Dave Shaw, and in the first couple of weeks, he seemed somewhat incompetent, but give your TA time and you'll get to know them a bit better. Make sure you either attend lecture or read the book; he lets you have a page of notes on exams, so if you know how to apply the equations, then you're good to go. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: A- December 18, 2010, 1:45 pm | I feel like this class was unnecessarily stressful... it was really hard to get a good grade on his tests, even if you knew the material like the back of your hand. Most people's grades were salvaged because of the final, which was MUCH easier than his tests (albeit, not exactly easy...). However, his lectures by no means prepared us for the final- the only reason that the class generally did well was that we studied like crazy because we all needed to bring our grades up! |
| twitkows Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: C December 13, 2010, 2:40 pm | Rosenberg is a intelligent professor and knows all the material, but he knows it so well it effects his teaching methods. Instead of actually showing how to do calculus 3 problems he shows proofs and explains where the equations in the book come from. Honestly I could care less about where they come from and want to understand how to apply them. He acts like the concepts he shows in class are easy and cannot explain them to students without complicating the problem to the point of confusion. This is an honest review, not a good professor in my opinion. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: A December 10, 2010, 4:25 pm | When you think "stereotypical older math professor" Dr. Rosenberg should come to mind. He's really smart, knows MATLAB like the back of his hand, and his lectures are BORING! That being said, with a good amount of studying and grinding out problems the exams aren't too bad. When I took MATH241 he made one problem on the second exam truly impossible to lower the "really high" average on the first exam, which was a rude gesture. However, there were people who got A's on that exam. His class is hard, bottom line. But if you take the class with Rosenberg there is all but guaranteed to be a generous scale/curve and you will for sure be extremely well prepared for the common final exam/future math classes! |
| Anonymous Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: A December 7, 2010, 8:30 am | Just look at this man's grade distribution. He gives out more C's than B's and A's combined. He truly doesn't want his students to do well. His classes are incredibly boring and often off topic, and he rarely gives you a good answer to any question you may have. His tests range from reasonable to impossible, and that's how he likes it. Even my TA said some of his test questions were "not possible" and he gave hard tests just to lower the grades. I don't know how bad the other Calc 3 teachers are, but they can't be worse than this. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: C December 6, 2010, 12:42 am | Lectures are nearly impossible to follow.. if you can stay awake. Tests are ridiculously hard. As an mechanical engineering major, I thrive on problems with numeric and physical practicality. But, Rosenberg explains things in a very theoretical manner which will leave you feeling very confused. Rosenberg also helped write the textbook.. which means definitions and examples are equally cryptic and confusing. Additionally, He clearly enjoys failing a good percentage of the class. There is a reason he has a 20% drop rate! DO NOT SIGN UP FOR HIS CLASS. |
| terpfan8591 Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: A+ December 18, 2009, 11:34 am | Rosenberg's an alright professor. He's crazy smart and clearly knows what he's doing, but sometimes his explanations are too complicated if you don't have a PhD in math. His lectures are also pretty boring (he goes over proofs) and often irrelevant to the class. However, he's very approachable and a nice guy, so you can ask him questions during or after lectures and he'll explain it. MATLAB sucks but its not graded too hard so it boosts your grade. Contrary to what other people have said, his tests are reasonable; they're harder than the problems you do in class but if you do all of the problems in the textbook than you'll find that his tests are about the same as an average textbook problem. If you work hard and go to discussion then you can get a good grade. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: C+ December 16, 2009, 5:42 pm | Rosenberg may be very smart, but he is not a good teacher at all. He teaches in a way that is only suitable for a math major, and as an engineering major, his lectures were very boring and pointless, not to mention confusing a great deal of the time. He enjoys failing the class, he likes his test averages around 50-60 range, so that he can make his stupid curve at the end, which if you haven't seen is awful compared to any other teacher, and while it may be a normal curve, it is ridiculous compared to his tests. Also he decides to make his tests extremely hard, especially after everyone does well (about an 70-80 avg) on the one before. Sometimes he decides to get creative with questions by asking them in the most complicated and confusing way possible. Another problem is Matlab. He makes you do Matlab so you can buy his book, and his assignments are not too bad since you can follow his online instructional, but when he puts matlab questions on tests beware. DO NOT TAKE HIM under any circumstance. |
| rnb110 Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: B December 15, 2009, 7:31 pm | Dr. Rosenberg is extremely smart. In lectures he teaches more proofs and theory while the actual problems are taught in discussion. The lecture is sometime hard to follow, but overall not that bad. I definitely would have been lost without discussion though. Also, there are weekly quizzes but they're not too bad. There's a lot of matlab and it just gets progressively harder so even though he drops three, definitely do the first ones because you'll want to skip the later ones. Exams are okay, the last two were really hard but he curved a lot. There's four exams during the semester and a final. |
| UMDstudent2011 Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: C- December 12, 2009, 1:18 pm | Professor Rosenberg is the worst teacher i've had in a long time. With that said, my definition of a teacher is someone who can help students understand the material and prepare you for the examinations. He does neither; in fact, his examines started off easy for our MAT241 class and the last two examines were extremely difficult (3rd test avg : 65; 4th test avg: 50). The only reason i've managed to progress through the class is my textbook, and TA. The lectures are boring and most of the time i ended up dreaming about sports or whatever I was going to do after the class! Don't get me wrong, Professor Rosenberg is a nice person and means well. But at the end of the day, your employer/parents/whoever don't care if your professor was nice, all they care about is if you learned the material and have a GPA to show for it. With that said, i would look for alternative Math teachers before registering for any class with the last name Rosenberg teaching it. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: B December 8, 2009, 1:20 pm | This guy is terrible, his lectures are not only boring, but they are taught in a very confusing manner. He is unclear when he teaches concepts and his examples are extremely simple relative to what he expects on quizzes and tests. He gives the hardest tests out of all the 241 professors. He loves MATLAB like its crack or something. He gave us 13 MATLAB assignments while other professors gave 4, not to mention that the MATLAB assignments were difficult and included zero instruction. Another word on MATLAB, he likes to put it on tests to trip people up. He sounds like a smart guy (no doubt, afterall he IS a professor) so maybe his upper level classes better, but for 241 and under don't take him. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH241 Grade Expected: A December 1, 2009, 2:45 pm | Jonathan Rosenberg was a terrible teacher for me. His lectures were very difficult to understand and it was a struggle to stay awake everyday. He taught in a very abstract and theoretical way. This way of teaching may be good for a math major, but as an engineer major his lectures did not help me to learn how to do actual problems. Rosenberg is in love with MATLAB, so he includes MATLAB in a few of his lectures. He also tends to include MATLAB code for the last question of his exams. His exams are fairly difficult and he is a pretty tough grader--he is not afraid to give 61% of the class a C or D. Moral of the story is switch out of the class if you can. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: C April 23, 2009, 8:22 pm | He was a very smart man, and is probably a very good teacher for higher level maths, but he should not be allowed to teach Calc2 to first semester freshmen. It pretty much seemed like he wanted us to cry. The kid next to me in a test actually did once. After the course was over, I realized I actually liked the math, but I hated the class. I would strongly recommend getting a different professor for Calc2. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: B December 17, 2008, 8:18 am | Rosenberg is one of the smartest guys around, and a good teacher overall. If you take notes and pay attention in discussion, then you have a chance of doing well in this class. His tests are very difficult, and if he feels like the grades on one test were too high he will make the next exam very nearly impossible. Most of the questions on the exam can be answered fairly easily if you know the material inside and out, however, most of the time there is at least one question that even hours of studying could not have prepared you for. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: B November 24, 2008, 12:19 pm | Rosenberg is a relatively bad teacher. The material is tough and his lectures are often indecipherable. He talks with his back to the class and mumbles into the board, and tries to explain everything with proofs instead of examples. The TAs are relatively helpful, and you learn most of the material either with them or outside of class with the book. He is not very approachable and is definately not a people-person. His tests are extremely convoluted and difficult, and the TAs grade extremely hard. Most people I know in the class are getting a C, and I am hopefully in the A to B range because I am doing so much work outside of class. Try to get someone else if you can, but Rosenberg isn't completely horrible if you are good at math. |
| asianterp Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: November 16, 2008, 6:02 am | He goes over proofs and theories in class. So that means that you have to work really hard outside of class on the actual problems. His exams are impossible...I did all the homework, the webassign and i even went to my TA for extra help but it didn't prepare me at all for his exams. |
| mhd101 Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: B February 10, 2008, 9:20 pm | He is a pretty good professor. He does a good job explaining the material. Discussion is helpful to learn the material better. His tests are really hard though but there is a pretty generous curve. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: December 24, 2007, 11:01 am | Overall Rosenberg is pretty good. WIthout the discussions I would have been a little lost. He teaches the concepts and empirical proofs, where in discussion you learn how to solve the problems. The weekly quiz is fair and his tests are a bit difficult. He uses a lot of "special case" problems which make it much more difficult. While his tests are hard, he curves the exams and is very approachable. |
| sga001 Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: A December 21, 2007, 9:13 pm | Rosenberg is a tough grader. Even though he will tell you he curves, out of a 300 class lecture only 7 of us got A this semester. Expect to learn mostly from the book, and be prepare because sometimes he decides to be creative with the exams... By creative i mean he will ask the oddest question in the worst possible way ever. |
| trimalchio Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: C- November 28, 2007, 9:46 am | Rosenberg is a good calculus teacher, he explains the material and is understandable and I got a lot out of the lectures. His tests are incredibly hard though, and he expects a lot out of the class that the class can rarely give him. Rosenberg is generally nice and is approachable. For a Calculus professor Rosenburg is better than most. |