Dr. Russell Euler

Classes taught

• Precalculus (17-117)
• Calculus I (17-120)
• Calculus II (17-121)

• Multivariate Calculus (17-321)
• Seminar in History of Mathematics (17-490)
• Number Theory (17-580)

Style & personality

A seemingly meek, balding man, Euler is a good guy. He's a decent teacher, but he can easily make you look/feel stupid when you ask questions during class.

Not a whole lot to say about Euler, pretty average college calculus teacher. Like most, he seems to think that calculus is just a review for everyone.

Sad to say the worst thing about Euler, not including 4 tests and comprehensive final, is the complete lack of partial credit. This is because his test are multiple choice, so it's all or nothing.

And forget about extra credit, if you actually need it, because it's ridiculously impossible. Trust me, it's way too hard, he will even tell you that he'd hate to see you spend time on his extra credit. Usually he'll give you something that no one has ever gotten before.

Student opinions

He's not approachable, kind of rude and intimidating at first. He doesn't fool around with his math though. I think a teacher who requires homework, like Dr. Shepard, would be best for a person who isn't very confident in their abilities for Precalculus. Calculus 1 and 2 he definately rules, though. He likes to teach asuming the student has fully memorized the previous lesson, often calling out students in class and seemingly insulting them. starts class early, lets out late.

Dr. Euler uses lots and lots of examples, which makes learning easy. I found him to be a pretty approachable sweet old guy. I suppose you either really really like him or think he's an awful teacher.

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I took Dr. Euler first semester, but his tests made me kind of nervous. I made stupid mistakes on the first two, and since there are only 20 questions per test, it drops the score fast. I did well on the next two and the final, however... Then came the time to set out my schedule for semester 2. I talked to a few 2nd years and they adviced Dr. Haile because of his homework. You can do rather poorly on the tests, but still get a decent grade because of the homework/etc.

CAUTION: If you pulled an A or B in Dr. Euler's precalculus class, you probably should not move to Dr. Haile the next semester. For some it works outs, but the people in my class that went Euler-->Haile are not happy. Personally, I find it hard to learn in his class. It feels very unstructured, and I'm not used to having so many homework problems assigned. I really, really wish I would have taken Dr. Euler now.

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I took Dr. Euler for Pre Calculus and hated his tests. For the multiple choice questions I would always second guess myself when I see the positive and negative options. Often when I went to him to talk about how bad I did on a test my problems were having the correct number but the wrong sign. Other problems of mine were having the correct number but the inverted answer. He is a tricky teacher and he says he isn't out to trick you but he is most of the time. I ended up retaking Pre Calculus and getting a B versus the 69% I got first semester. It is different for all people but if you are not a confident test taker then Euler is probably not the right teacher for you.