Reviews for Denny Gulick
Average Rating:| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: B January 31, 2012, 7:49 am | he talks fast and speeds through material. really nit-picky grading on exams. sure he's a funny/cute/smart guy but he goes too fast. i took a diff professor for math 141 and got an A. |
| FreshMeat Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: A December 26, 2011, 6:02 pm | Denny is awesome. He is a nice older man and makes calc as fun as he can considering it is an 8am. He teaches calc at 8am because he knows that the only people that will take it are students that care about their grades. It is not easy to get an A in his class but if you have taken calc 1 before it isn't hard. He is the best calc professor in 140 and 141. I am taking him next semester for 141. The people that don't like him are the ones that say "what is the point of calc i'm never going to use this...etc" If you are a normal person you will like him. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: C December 13, 2011, 12:00 pm | Denny is as good as people say he is. However he puts s lot of emphasis no Quizzes, over 10% of the final grade. So if getting up at 8AM isn't your thing then don't even consider him. I missed a lot of quizzes and that is the only reason I got a C. If I attended them all then I surely would've gotten a B+ if not an A. |
| helkoz Course: MATH410 Grade Expected: December 12, 2011, 3:40 pm | I don't know why everyone loves Denny, but I know I do. Yes, he can be very entertaining, but it's also the fact that he is compassionate, in-tune with student concerns, and knows his stuff! I would not necessarily call him the best professor ever or possibly not even in the math department BUT he is certainly a great professor. I am literally jealous of current classmates who will be able to be in 411 with him this fall because I have to take it over the summer. I still hope daily he decides to take on the summer instruction too. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH452 Grade Expected: A December 1, 2011, 10:12 am | I did not feel like I was treated as I have come to expect in a 400-level math class. I understand that all instructors hope their students attend lecture and pay close attention at all times, but I am well-studied in the course content and often the lecture covered material with which I was already familiar. Dr. Gulick assigned homework in almost every lecture period due for the next class and held pop quizzes that ensured that students needed to attend class regardless of the personal value of the lecture, because their attendance was effectively enforced by the grading scheme. Additionally, whereas many professors do not raise objections to me sleeping or text messaging in their classes and leave such decisions to me as my responsibility (which seems reasonable at the 400-level), Dr. Gulick interrupted class to chastise me for using my phone and threatened to disbar me from the classroom if I used it again. He later explained that using my phone was distracting to other students, but I feel the interruption of class that Dr. Gulick chose was ultimately more distracting and took more class time than any of my phone use would have. Similar interruptions and stalls took place daily as Dr. Gulick would ask the class and wait for answers to trivial questions such as simple arithmetic or even a response to "Good morning". I just did not feel the demeanor of the instructor was well-matched to the level of the course and seemed better suited to introductory courses where students are not electing to study an advanced topic. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH410 Grade Expected: A November 21, 2011, 6:20 pm | 410 is a great course to take as you will really start to understand what math is all about from it. Gulick is a good professor for this class. He definitely cares about students and tries to help you learn to the best of his ability. He gives a small homework due each class, which gets pretty annoying, but it's good that it keeps you up to date with the material all the time. His exams can be tough, but they are pretty fair. The quizzes that he gives to enforce attendance are stupid, but they're not really a big deal in terms of your grade. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: D August 20, 2011, 10:25 am | This class was horrible. Let me tell you something about Denny Gulick. Very nice and very intelligent. He is sometimes funny...I did not find him very funny like other people did. He holds really great reviews sessions for upcoming exams. He is a great person,but I would have to say, as a professor, he sucks. He is only a good professor if you take the extra step and talk to him and often as you can. The class for me was very difficult, and his office hours were during the times I had class, so I could not see him for help. We had WebAssigns, which were very difficult. I found myself having to stay up late/putting a lot of my time into these webassigns (~5 hrs). We also had worksheets during discussion (i had a horrible TA by the way). The worksheets were hard as hell and didnt give us good practice at all. Some people say these do not make a whole lot difference in your grade, but they do. The worskheets brought me down a lot. He also teaches way to fast, very hard to keep up. This class needed about 50% of my time, not to mention I had other difficult courses and I was pledging, so time was limited for me. I took this course over the summer and got an A+. If you have prior experience to the material, have a lot of time, have a great TA, have a strong study group, can make it to his office hours, can manage to do the webassigns, and can wake up at 8am, I'd say there is a chance you can ace this course. Otherwise, drop it before it is too late and take the summer course. He is difficult and his course is way more demanding than this course for other professors (except his wife, who is way worse). |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: August 20, 2011, 10:10 am | I feel this professor is the most overrated professor at UMD. Basically, when I was registering for Math141, I was scared that I was going to get a horrible teacher,so I made sure I waitlisted for all of this guy's sections. I was beyond happy when I got into his section. First off, the 8am sucked, but it is manageable for a lot of people. I am definitely not a morning person so I missed quite a few lectures. As for the lectures, here is one reason my grade went down. He teaches way too fast. He will go over a topic super fast, and make the topics seem confusing, and would not go over it again. He also writes crap on the board that he just thinks of at the top of his head and then tries to explain it. He makes quite a few mistakes too and doesnt realize it until someone points it out. He wastes time this way. He would talk fast, and write fast (and sloppy; everyday someone would ask me what a certain word/num was). No doubt he knows his stuff and he is very intelligent. But, me and the people around me could barely keep up with what he was teaching and often found ourselves reviewing the lecture from the book (poorly written by the way). I also had the worst TA, which really brought my grade down. He was a tough grader, and at the same time he was clueless. He didnt even know what we learned and try to apply his own concepts he learned in his grad courses. He never helped me and didnt care whether we were failing or not. He was not fit to be a TA. The exams were fine, some easy and some just hell. The average was pretty low for each test. The final was hell, totally not a good test that covered all the material there was. There were like three questions that were proofs, that we barely covered. I would suggest taking him if everyone else is horrible. But if there is another teacher with similar stats, I'd say go with him/her and not this guy. Hard teacher, goes through material fast, hard webassigns, etc.I spent more time trying to ace this class than trying to get a grade in all my other classes. I took this class again over the summer and aced it with flying colors. If you can take it over the summer, do that!!! Only the people who took this course in high school ended up surviving, others just dropped the class. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: A July 17, 2011, 1:56 pm | (Both MATH140 and MATH141) Significantly better than the other professors that teach these courses (from what I have heard). Well worth the 8 am class. PROS: He is entertaining during class, writes neatly, writes detailed email responses if you even have a question about the homework (or a last-minute question before an exam), and really enjoys helping students. CONS: His answers to questions people ask in class can come off harshly... but honestly he just wants to make sure you understand the material so he gives very thorough answers. He goes over easy examples in class when he teaches new material, making the WebAssign homework and discussion section worksheets extremely difficult, but they play a very small role in your grade and his classes always feel significantly more prepared for the exams. Suggestions: if you can switch discussion sections before the cut off date, try to get a good TA (or at least a nice one) because it really matters. Show up to class because there are weekly quizzes. If you get stuck on a homework problem, go back over your notes... you probably just forgot you went over it because it was at 8 am. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: A May 22, 2011, 8:37 pm | Denny. Amazing. Its not a question. Notice that I did not put a question mark after amazing. For all those who say Denny is overrated, your wrong (and I've heard several). Notice once again, no question mark, because its a fact. Denny explains things very thoroughly. He only goes over material that he needs and he goes over proofs and 10 or so examples in class. It's amazing that he gets so much done in a 50 minute class. Because he wrote the textbook and writes the final, he prepares you the best because he teaches material that will be tested, while for instance, Dick Wentworth taught non-seperable differential equations to his class, but those weren't taught by Denny and didn't show up on the final. Not to mention that Debbt tries his best to be interesting and funny, and he succeeds on almost every occasion. I wasn't lucky enough to get Denny in MATH140, but I still went to his lectures because they were worth it. Denny. Amazing. Thank you. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: A May 20, 2011, 4:28 pm | He is really cute and nice. He also teaches really well untill the end. I felt like he was worn out toward the end of the semester and made some of the materials confusing. But I would choose him for math141. |
| GoTestudo! Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: D May 18, 2011, 4:51 am | Denny maybe as good as it gets for Calculus II. He teaches from examples instead of proofs, and is very, very approachable. He's a bit quirky and fun. My only complaint is his discussions. Worksheets are meant to get you to think--but they were horrible! They're really difficult to drill through, and once you do finish them, questions don't show up again! Exams were most relevant to Webassign and suggested homework problems. EDIT: This guy does not believe in curves. I ended up with a D--the first D in my entire life!! Disappointing class and instructors (including TA's). |
| ningchris Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: B May 17, 2011, 1:20 pm | Okay. Cal 2 is actually not that bad. Denny is definitely a good teacher. Funny and patient. If you don't understand the material, just go ask him and send him an e-mail. He will explain to you very thoroughly. But if you really want to get an A in this class, do attend every discussion and pray you will get a good TA. My TA is total asshole, grading all the worksheet harshly. Denny will curve a little bit. Just a little. So work your ass off for this class to get an A. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: B+ December 7, 2010, 7:58 am | Definitely overrated. If I had not taken Calculus before, I would have been completely unable to work with this class. My TA was about average, but the discussion worksheets are terrible and frequently irrelevant to what we were actually expected to know. The WebAssigns were fair and relevant, but there were frequently programme errors that affected grades (a problem that was inaccurately displayed, for example) and there were several occurrences where the due dates were "mysteriously" changed to be earlier than they were supposed to. As a whole, I found Denny to be completely ineffective but the book to be helpful and the TA to be occasionally useful. The tests were fairly straightforward, if harshly graded at times, and he allowed us to do corrections on the class-wide worst test of the semester. Not a class I would recommend if it's not needed, but I've heard better things about Denny than the rest of the Math Dept so you could do worse. Just expect to rely on the book more than the prof. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: November 1, 2010, 10:38 am | Personally, I think Denny is a bit overrated. He speeds through the material quickly that it seems like you already need to know Calculus to do well. It seems like most of the students who do well have taken calculus before, or are have failed once and are retaking it. He does make noises that people find amusing, and sometimes it's effective for remembering a concept if you associate it with his noise. The TA was not that great either. When the TAs grade your tests- if you get something right, they look for reasons to take of excessive points. If you get something wrong, they don't look for reasons to give you points. Denny is extremely helpful during office hours, and so was the TA. The review sessions were a nice help before each exam. I found that the lectures contained material that was 10x easier than the homeworks and worksheets, so you'd feel confident and then struggle through worksheets and webassigns. Just hope you have a good group for discussion, it can make or break your grade. Not recommended for commuters who can't attend all the late night reviews and help sessions, because they aren't on campus that long. Dropped to save my gpa. |
| jamgord Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: C March 6, 2010, 5:54 pm | I have nothing against Professor Gulick because he's soooo nice and really sweet, but I think he's a bit overrated. He taught well but he was not the best professor I've had. I think because he's so entertaining with his cute noises and little kid voice impressions that people just fall in love with him and want to recommend him all of their friends. I don't know if it was the fact that his class is at 8am and I was never fully awake, if it was his teaching methods, or maybe I just couldn't grasp the concepts, but I ended up getting a C in the class. He actually did a reallllly nice thing and let me come back to his office for 15 extra minutes to finish my first exam because I overslept and ran to class so I wouldn't miss it. I guess the point is, if you don't mind getting up at the crack of dawn and want a funny professor, then take Denny, but if you don't think you'll be able to make it to all the lectures, you're better off taking it with another professor. (As long as it isn't his wife) |
| keyoung Course: MATH402 Grade Expected: January 4, 2010, 11:36 am | Best math professor in the dept. He really cares about every student. HW was assigned every class, but was not difficult. A few pop quizzes some of which were just attendance quizzes. 3 exams. He feels definitions and theorems are very important so there will be some on exams. Each exam we were able to do test corrections. Grades were spread usually as below 50 and above 70. If you go to class, pay attention, do the little HW's you're fine. |
| terp315 Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: A December 17, 2009, 10:11 pm | Denny was amazing. One of the best math professors UMD has to offer. If you're willing to get up early, you will learn. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: B December 16, 2009, 2:18 pm | Denny is a pretty cool guy. He drops 2 quiz grades, some webassigns, and worksheets. His tests are way easier than his wife Frannie(or as he calls her: his better half). Denny is also quite funny. He makes some lame math jokes, but that early in the morning you'd laugh at anything too. He does give random quizzes, so sometimes when you can't get up for his class, you'll lose a quiz grade, which is pretty much why I got a B. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: C December 10, 2009, 3:30 am | Taking this class was the biggest mistake ever. First off if you are a business major take 220 bc there is no need to put yourself through this hell. While I hear all the calc teachers here are bad, his class is just awful. Waking up for an 8am class three times a week is a lot harder than you think, which is why his class is so difficult, since he gives a quiz once a week without telling which day. Also the TA's are not only stupid because they wont help you at all in discussions (also worth a significant part of your grade) they grade with no regard to partial credit. Derivatives are understandable for not receiving any credit, but most other problems on tests the TA's basically look to see if you have the right answer, if you dont they basically cross it out, and if you do, they look for things that you might not have mentioned to take off excessive amounts of points. While his class has its funny moments, and he is very nice bc he always holds review sessions, his class is tough and unless you think you will be able to make more than 90% of his classes, I suggest not taking him. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: December 1, 2009, 3:04 pm | He's a great teacher, and funny! Even though his classes are at 8:00 am, he's entertaining enough for you to be able to pay attention when you're tired. He is tough on partial credit, but he drops a lot of assignments with low scores AND he curves. If you do all the assignments and come to class every day for the quizzes (which are super easy), it's an easy A! |
| smefeman Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: April 1, 2009, 8:43 pm | He only holds lectures at 8 AM which may be a problem for some people (like me). I was frequently tired during lecture, but he was able to teach the material well and even cracked jokes once in a while to liven the mood. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: A December 23, 2008, 6:56 pm | Amazing math professor. One of the few classes that add inspiration to my life lim sin(1/x) =GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR x-->0 |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: A December 13, 2008, 6:26 pm | He is certainly one of the greatest math professor... if u go to lecture, u will get a good grade. he is Funny! the "krrrrgh" thing as the last person said. Once in a while, you will write "BOO" in ur notebook, which means you wont be able to get an answer. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: B December 5, 2008, 7:04 am | He is very strange. He likes to make strange noises like "krrrgh" as he describes an equation, and he likes to talk to himself in high voices. He seems almost senile, yet he is very effective. He's certainly not boring, and if a student dozes off or appears distracted, he will embarrass them. This is for their own good. He certainly provides a wide variety of examples, and goes through every topic very thoroughly. A good student should have no trouble understanding the material and thus, doing well on exams. Also, he wrote the textbook (well him and Dr. Ellis, whoever that is...) |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: A November 12, 2008, 8:04 pm | Prof Gulick is absolutely amazing. He makes the tests self explanatory by listing the upcoming test topics and using Webassign by reviewing the previous lecture the day of discussion. Highly recommend to all calc beginners and veterans alike. Prof Gulick has some personality quirks which make the class exciting. He talks to the class as if we did not understand and thus comes across as arrogant to those who know but greatly helps those who have no idea what is going on. I highly recommend his class to anyone taking calculus. Personally i am signing up for his MATH141 class next semester. |
| babygnau Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: B November 11, 2008, 10:16 pm | Denny Gulick is an awesome teacher. He is really good at effectively explaining the topics and he has a good sense of humor. The only slight downfall with him is that I found him to be very strict with partial credit. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: A September 29, 2008, 3:35 pm | he's awesome, make sure you get him - D.Gulick, instead of another Gulick... that's a big difference. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: May 6, 2008, 2:43 pm | He explains everything very thoroughly. He sometimes talks to himself like he's a little kid... just take it all in stride, it makes the class interesting. The webassigns aren't too bad if you go to his lectures. He will usually cover the material/concepts in the assignment the day before it is due but sometimes random problems in an assignment will be from previous chapters. His quizzes are sweet too. Make sure you attend the class after an exam because most students won't, therefore he'll give a quiz, and when he's too lazy or there's not enough time for everyone to finish an actual quiz he'll put up two problems on the board and go through the answers with the class and then tell the class to hand in those problems. 10 points without doing actual work right there. |
| jmartin1 Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: April 23, 2008, 11:46 am | Denny Gulick was awesome, like the person below me said. He wrote the book, and is very good at explaining the material. The class was at 8AM, but if that doesn't bother you, you will do well. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: November 15, 2007, 3:48 pm | If you can get any calc teacher get him. He is an excellent professor and will hold review sessions before every exam. If you come to class and do the webassigns you will get an A or B. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: November 13, 2007, 7:23 am | Best calculus teacher at UMCP. Having his 8am class is better than having a 11am class with someone worse. Try to get him. You have the best chance of getting an A with him. |