These are some of the comments from student evaluations I’ve collected over the years. If you’re interested, let me know and I’ll send you a zip file of the complete evaluations.
Commutative Algebra:
“One of the best courses I ever followed.”
“Owen was fantastic.”
“The exercises were a good support to the lectures.”
“Very good teacher, notes online were really handy. Homework exercises were logical questions, extra information and optional exercises made it more fun.”
“The material and explanations of the teacher were superb.”
“The extra geometrical interpretations were useful. All proofs were very clear (and so were all explanations).”
“A lot of effort was put into creating intuition. I liked the notes on algebraic geometry and category theory.”
“Teacher knows the material well. A lot of ground is covered at quite a high pace. The course is difficult but doable. The teacher is very approachable in case something is unclear.”
Introduction to Calculus:
“slow pace and useful explanations.”
“The instructor is great and his online notes are amazing (in particular the proofs)”
“Great course. Best instructor I’ve ever met in terms of making advanced topics seem easy & clear!”
“It was very well structured and the teacher had so much patience in explaining things”
“I wish calculus in high school was taught like this! I finally get it (:”
“Owen is an amazing teacher; the best teacher I’ve had so far. He explains everything super clearly and makes sure everyone understands before proceeding.”
“Well-prepared. Managed to break down mathematics into something liberal arts & sciences students understand.”
MAT 100: Precalculus:
“Owen is a great guy who did a good job of communicating with his students. he makes math fun and easy to understand.”
“an exceptional professor”
“He was always nice, funny, and overall interesting”
“The classes were very organized; Owen always seemed to have a good idea of what he wanted to accomplish each class. He also presented optional challenge problems to stimulate our curiosity and showed us how we could apply what we learned to the real world.”
“The classes were great. Owen is amazing and I’m sure he’ll be successful in whatever he does.”
“The quality of classes was great!”
“I describe the overall quality of the classes as excellent! I thought that Professor Biesel was an exceptional professor. He timed his classes well, was always well-prepared, and helped us learn the concepts from the readings with explanations and examples. He always asked the group if we understand and if not he proceeded to explain and try to see where the mis-communication was occurring. He helped to challenge us, encouraged participation, responded to all questions, and offered help outside of class. He told everyone not to be afraid to ask questions and was a great teacher.”
“VERY GOOD! Highly recommend. Owen is great—and really explains things. He will work with you no matter your skill level or interest!”
“I thought the overall quality of the course was great. The professor was helpful in helping us understand and apply key concepts. He made the class a comfortable environment and it was clear that he cared a lot about his students and how we learned. He was very good at explaining and being careful that he was understood properly. Instruction worked very well. What could be improved might be teaching students some useful math shortcuts along the way that will be useful in future courses.”
“Biesel made a great effort to teach the material as clearly as he could and did a great job. It was very enjoyable to have a couple classes on “mystery topics” somehow relevant to what we had been studying at the time. I appreciated how available Biesel was to help us outside of class-time. The home-work was light, but helpful to reinforce concepts that were introduced in class.”
MAT 189: Investigations in Elementary Number Theory (teaching assistant):
“I looked forward to Owen’s precepts because he was patient and was able to explain things so clearly and easily. He answered all questions and clarified material well.”
“Owen always presented new and old material in a very clear and organized manner.”
“He always took questions and was receptive about what the class was confused about.”
MAT 190: The Magic of Numbers (teaching assistant):
“Owen was a great preceptor. He helped explain a lot of things to me and I was never bored. Also, he is a really nice, funny guy who made it very easy to approach him when you had a question.”
“He cleared up things that were confusing about the classes. He was very helpful.”
“very helpful, smart, and kind preceptor; overall, an excellent teacher”
“very good preceptor, was willing to go over examples in depth”
“very useful and succint”
MAT 323: Algebra (grader):
“Owen was helpful in office hours, and his patience helped with understanding the material. He also made us think and did not just give us the material.”
“Owen Biesel was extremely knowledgeable of the material and willing to help with any misunderstanding one may have. He explained problems carefully and in a way that was intellectually stimulating.
MAT 104: Calculus (grader):
“Owen is a darn good grader. I wish all graders were as attentive as he has been.”
“Owen was VERY helpful and clear during office hours.”
MAT 103: Calculus (grader):
“I like the way if you made a mistake the person who grades the homework would write a note telling you what you did wrong.”
Owen Biesel 