Introduction to Discrete Structures

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisites: courses 31A, 31B. Not open for credit to students with credit for course 180 or 184. Discrete structures commonly used in computer science and mathematics, including sets and relations, permutations and combinations, graphs and trees, induction. P/NP or letter grading.

Review Summary

Clarity
8.3 / 10
Organization
8.3 / 10
Time
5-10 hrs/week
Overall
3.3 / 10

Reviews

    Quarter Taken: Fall 2022 In-Person
    Grade: A

    I like how the lectures for the class were recorded and posted online so we can watch them in case we missed the in-person lecture that day

    Quarter Taken: Fall 2022 In-Person
    Grade: B+

    This was the worst math class I've taken at UCLA. Four months later, I am still traumatized.
    I had good impressions initially, as Professor Robichaux presented the material quite clearly. Her exams also seemed pretty reasonable since the questions were pretty similar to in-class examples and homework problems. However, the grading scheme was overly harsh to the point where it's kind of impossible to do well no matter how much you study. Robichaux expects very specific things in the answers and she isn't transparent about what she expects, so it's easy to lose a ton of points for just not phrasing things a certain way or not writing a certain keyword. Even the most trivial errors deduct a ton of points, which sucks because the midterms are only out of 40 points each, so just losing one point deducts 2.5% from your midterm score and 0.875% (almost 1%) from your overall class grade. I made a very trivial numerical error on midterm 2 and that deducted so many points that if I hadn't made it, I would have gotten an A- in the class overall. It's possible to submit regrade requests, but they can be dangerous since it's possible for your grade to become lower.
    Despite these warning signs, I didn't drop and stayed in the class because Robichaux said she might curve and she emphasized over and over again that she would design the final exam to not take too long and leave us plenty of time to check our work. After not doing as well as I would have liked for the first half of the quarter, I tried my very best to improve my homework and quiz scores and learn the material better. I put a ton of effort into the class and diligently attended office hours every week. I crafted an elaborate final exam study plan based on the tips Robichaux gave in office hours. I even put off getting treated for a serious health issue just so that I could focus on this class. Yet, despite all my studying, the final exam ended up completely screwing me over. It was nothing like Robichaux said it would be. The set of the things I studied according to the tips she gave during office hours and the set of things that were actually on the exam were disjoint!! For example, she had said that there would be a pretty even split of topics on the exam (rather than heavier weighting towards later topics) and that we should carefully review our midterms since she could put questions on the final directly from the midterms. Yet, the final was definitely weighted heavier to the later topics and had questions very different from the midterms. The final exam objectives list had proved to be pretty useless as well since there were exam questions that didn't come from the objectives. The exam was also very long and definitely wasn't anywhere near as short as Robichaux had hyped it up to be; I couldn't even finish in the 3 hours we had, much less check all my answers.
    Devastated from the final exam, my only hope was that she might curve the class. Yet, despite the final exam average being only 74%, she didn't curve at all!!! This is especially messed up considering we didn't have any TA's for many weeks due to the strike.
    Unless Robichaux reworks the grading scheme or becomes more transparent with what she expects, I would not recommend taking this class if you're not alright with your GPA tanking. With the way the grading currently is, it is pretty much impossible to do well no matter how determined you are. Exams are 80% of the grade and the midterms are out of few points, and it's very easy to lose a ton of points for trivial mistakes.
    If you still do decide to take this class, I'd recommend going to office hours and discussion section as well as making sure to study a lot for the exams (as I mentioned, studying a lot probably won't be enough to get a good grade but at least it can help you pass instead of failing. Be careful, as the average score of midterm 1 was 65). Also, although Robichaux was good at teaching for the most part, be sure to read the textbook and/or utilize outside resources for the initial part of the class (specifically set theory), as she didn't cover those concepts enough in-depth and there were several questions on the first quiz which weren't covered in lecture.

    Quarter Taken: Fall 2022 In-Person
    Grade: A

    Robichaux made it very clear what material we had to know for exams and was a clear lecturer. Overall, had a good experience in her class.

    Quarter Taken: Spring 2023 In-Person
    Grade: A-

    The teacher is decent at explaining although often doesnt explain an intuitive understanding of the concepts that would have made it easier. The homework and tests are quite fair although definitely not easy, and kind of like if you are unable to do one of the problems (like you cant think of the right solution to the proof in the amount of time so you have no legitimate answer) then you are kind of screwed. I found the content a bit difficult but have been doing okay, but it is no cake walk for sure. Unlike previous quarters with this teacher, the midterm averages were relatively reasonable in around the B range

    Quarter Taken: Spring 2023 In-Person
    Grade: A

    Lectures were clear and organized but difficult tests were given with no curve.

    Quarter Taken: Spring 2023 In-Person
    Grade: C+

    The professor is very cold and not super friendly but she does a good job of making concepts clear during lecture. Lectures are pretty easy to follow but the concepts can be very difficult. For someone who had never taken a math class involving proofs, I really struggled despite going to office hours and every discussion section.

    Quarter Taken: Spring 2023 In-Person
    Grade: A

    She knows exactly how to teach and she'e an amazing professor!
    Her OH were so useful!

Course

Instructor
Colleen Robichaux
Previously taught
23S 22F

Grading Information

  • No group projects

  • Attendance not required

  • 2 midterms

  • Finals week final

  • 86% recommend the textbook

Previous Grades

Grade distributions not available.