Medina, Elsa  

medina is a good math teacher. she is friendly, presents the material clearly, and doesn't give a terrible amount of homework. there are quizes every friday but they are a good point boost and they aren't difficult if you have been keeping up with the material. i didn't put a ton of effort into this course and i got a b. i'm taking her again for 142 this quarter and she is still just as good as last quarter. she is a good professor and i would definitely recommend her.

Medina is the best teacher. She actually teaches and helps you with your homework if you need it. Her grading system is generous and her office hours are really helpfull. Plus she is a really nice person. I actually failed her second midterm but that was my own fault, because I am slow at related rates problems. I would have taken her for 142 class too if I didn't have last priority. If you get the chance, I would take her class, especially from what I've heard of other proffs.

Medina is a sweet teacher. She's really nice, funny, and super caring about the students. I got a C in the class because I never tried on my homework and just tried to cram before the night before the tests. It was in no way a reflection of her teaching. She is VERY VERY helpful at her office hours and is willing to help you and explain it in every way possible until you understand the material. She doesn't really curve the tests (for the most part), but sometimes will 2-3%. She has someone in the class grade your homework, so that means, if you have a class full of douchebags, you'll get bad grades on your homework, but on the other side, if you have a class full of cool kids that dont care and see it fit that every one gets A's and is happy, then you're stoked. Yes, I had the class of douchebags. So at any rate, she's a really caring, good teacher, and I would take her again. Just study for the tests earlier than the night before and utilize office hours. "C" you kids later...

Dr. Medina is an excellent professor. Her lectures are very easy to understand and she's a very nice lady. I got a C because i failed my first midterm and didn't do so good on my second one, but the thing is, you don't have to give up because u can still pull your grades up. her grading system is pretty fair, 15% hmk, 15% quizzes, 20% for each of the exam (midterm) and 30% final. her tests are pretty hard and long sometimes, so make sure to study those A LOT (if u don't already know the material). final is a bit easier since it covers everything from the beginning.

A nice middle age lady. She is easy to understand and the exams are not too bad. The practice exams are for all practical purposes very similar to the real exams. She is supportive and helpful in office hours. I did not care for some one in the class grading my homework. She should have graded at least a few of our homeworks.What I did not care for at all was for the lack of applications of the material to real problems. She will explain you how to derive or integrate but she has NO CLUE how to use the concepts in science or engineering problems.

Professor Medina was awesome. If you have never taken calculus, take her. She teaches in well and her quizes and tests are easy. Just make sure you study.

I\'ll say that she is a REALLY nice teacher. Very kind and even made an office hour special when I couldn\'t attend any other. I really like her as a person, but not so much as a teacher. The thing with polyratings is that people confuse good as a person with good as a teacher. I\'d say that Medina is an average teacher. She doesn\'t do any of the learn by doing and doesn\'t have much sympathy. Homework is 20+ problems assigned every day due on Tue, homework quiz every Fri. Attendance is not mandatory, calculators not permitted and 2 midterms and a final. She does not allow any retakes, makeups, or excuses and her midterms are VERY hard. And no practice tests, which would have really helped. The class average was a D on one midterm but there was no curve nor any sympathy on her part. Final was difficult as well but I (think) I aced it but STILL got an F in the class because my 2 other midterms were ~35/100 F\'s which are terrible. I only hoped that since I did good on the final I would still pass the class, but Medina shows us the cruelty of simple math when she calculates the averages, which are 15%HW (which she actually grades each problem) 30%quizzes and midterms and final.

Dr. Medina is a very friendly, helpful professor who always was inclined to help students when they asked for help. There was homework due once a week, which was helpful, but could become a tad tedious/long at times. Be prepared to spend a lot of time studying for this class (which I\'m sure is the same for all MATH 141 courses), because it is fairly challenging, and was not an easy A.

Dr. Medina is good professor (and a really nice person). Her office hours are REALLY beneficial. GO TO THEM. Her tests are pretty straight forward. No tricks or anything like that. She collects hmwk once a week and there are weekly quizzes. Just do the homework and you should be all good for this class.

Professor Medina is a great lecturer. She taught the concepts of the class very well. She was very nice and did homework questions in class. However, THE TWO MIDTERMS AND THE FINAL EXAM WERE IMPOSSIBLE. These were significantly harder than just about every other MATH 141 section out there and I could have easily gotten an A- with any other teacher. The average on the midterms was around a 60%. DONT' TAKE HER IF YOU CAN AVOID IT.

Medina is a reallybad teacher. Like, REALLY bad. First of all, she screws up basic algebra all the time. Second, she switches between Englsih and Spanish. And third, she doesnt present the material clearly at all. She gives good definitions but when she goes through examples,she doesnt explain how she got there. Try to get a different teacher. I failed her class and then I took it again the next quarter and got a 95%.

I enrolled to her class after two weeks the quarter started, and I was scared that she will be a problem for me because only her class was open and usually good professors classes don't last that long. However, it all turned out to be great. She is a great professor that helps you a lot. Her exams and quizzes are pretty easy and basic. If you study and do your homework you will get a good grade plus won't need to study too much. If you don't like calculus and don't want it to be a problem choose her. She is very helpful and you won't regret it.

Medina is a really good teacher. My grade doesnt reflect it because i didnt keep up with the hw, but she really is a good teacher. HW is due two days from when it was assigned, which was kinda tough because she assigned the same amount of work as other teachers but other teachers gave their students a few more days to turn it in. the break down is...30% final, 20% for each of the two midterms and 15% for quizzes(given once a week on friday) and 15% for HW. Quizzes should be a cinch if u did you kept up with hw. Midterms and Finals were very reasonable. I lived off her partial credit which she is generous of. I had her for 141 and she rocked then...nothing has changed.

Medina is Awsome. Take her if you can. Her lectures are informative and the homework is easy. If you keep up with the homework then the weekly quizes will be simple and the midterms and final are basically large quizes. I used to be afraid of Calc but this class gave me a lot of confidence. Again she is just an Awsome calc teacher.

It is like taking mathematics from your grandmother. She is supportive, helpful, understanding ...you know, grandmotherly..It would be very difficult to fail with this mature lady. Of course she does not like to grade your homework. JUst study the practice tests and quizzes and you will do fine.

She isn't terrible, but isn't a great teacher either. I don't think her teaching style was that great. She would often "answer homework questions" for us, but would end up just setting up the problems (which was the easy part) and not working it through to get to what we needed help on. Also, I went to office hours a few times and she wasn't really helpful for that either. She must have curved the final grades though, which is one good thing about her. I know I would have definitely gotten a C in this course if I didn't have such a great study session leader. If you have a chance to pick a better teacher, do it.

Medina was a very, very nice person who loves teaching math and helping others. The way that she broke down problems when asked was simply brilliant. The problem, is that you have to ask for help. Her explanations are clear, but go by extremely fast, so if you do not pay close attention the first time, you will definitely miss it. Alternatively, go to her office hours, and you'll see her thoughtfulness come out. Overall, a very nice professor who explained the material pretty clearly, but just goes by very fast. PS - every week she assigns homework or a quiz, meaning you will not know until the friday of that week, meaning you should do the homework.

I love Medina! She is very nice and you can tell that she loves her students. Her tests and quizzes are very straightforward (no curve balls or difficult questions at all...everything is covered in class). I do have a gripe with her though because she teaches a lot about the derivation of formulas and methods. However, this is problematic because class is only 50 min long and by the end, she can only go over 1 example I'd prefer more examples if she could just give us the formula. With that being said, if you go to office hours, she is more than helpful (when the office isn't overfilled with other students) and can answer any of your questions well. I would definitely recommend taking her though because she is a very easy grader and will accept alternate solutions if you can derive them. GO MEDINA! Summary: above average teacher, easy grader, easy tests, nice person, spends too much time on derivations and not enough on examples, take her because she's still damn good

Medina is the BEST! She is by far my favorite math professor and she really cares about her students! She allows time at the beginning of class to answer any questions from the homework and is also super helpful during office hours. She always has a smile on her face and she explains everything brilliantly! If you have the chance, take her now. She has a quiz every Friday, but it's one or two questions from the homework, so it's super EASY! She is also an extremely nice grader and doesn't take off points for minimal algebra mistakes because she really is only interested in whether or not you know the overall concepts of the problems, not whether you put a negative instead of a positive. If I could, <3

Medina is an awesome teacher! She really cares that her students do well and understand the information, saying the phrase "Are we okay?" about 20 times a class and being sure that the whole class is involved in the lectures. Her tests and quizzes are pretty straight-forward and easy, and she's generous with partial credit. Just do the homework, and you're golden. She is a great, friendly, cheerful person, as well. She encourages everyone to come to office hours or make an appointment to meet her, if there are questions on the homework or the material in general. Definitely the best teacher I've had so far. Take her if you can!

She is such a sweet teacher! I did not do the best in the class but that's only because of my own fault, not hers. She was very patient and understanding. I went to her office hours and it helped a lot. She really wants to help you succeed. She's really wants to help you. Make sure you do your homework. I didn't and that cost me since quizzes pull straight from the homework! I enjoyed the class and I would recommend her. It's a doable class. She goes slightly fast, but compared to my past teachers, she's great. Not a hard class.

Dr. Medina is one of the best professors I've ever had at Cal Poly! She truly cares about her students, and her office hours are really helpful. She's always super excited about math and is eager to help her students learn.

Professor Medina is incredibly nice and understanding. She's a bit hard to hear at times because of her accept, but she knows the concepts really well and get you involved. I struggled because I didn't put enough work in on my own end, so be ready to do an hour or two of homework per night.

If you have the opportunity, take her! By far the best professor I've had. She does plenty of examples as well as presenting notes in an organized and clear fashion. Do your homework and the class will be easy.

I've heard Medina's style described as "learning Calculus from your grandmother." After taking a course from her for nearly a quarter, that phrase definitely highlights her best traits. She is kind, wise, and genuinely cares for her students. She greets us with a smile every day, and makes herself available if we ever need help. I felt like she could help me individually. I struggled through some sections in the course, but I felt motivated to improve myself. Medina structures the course in a very linear way, meaning that you know what to expect and how to do well in the class. Generally, she collects homework once a week right before a quiz. Expect to do 1-2 hours of homework a night. I also appreciated her teaching style, as she covers the material by explaining it very well and also working through example problems so you know how strategies can be implemented.

Professor Medina is awesome!!! no lie. She brings great energy to the classroom keeping the class entertaining while still very instructive. What I liked about her the most was her willingness to help out when you are struggling. She is very open and flexible with her office hours and strives to make your math experience one that you enjoy. Not a terrible workload, but the work you get directly reflects what you will be tested on. Overall a great teacher that you should want to have.

BEST PROFESSOR AT CALPOLY, EASILY! She brought doughnuts to class, what more do you want? There's weekly quizzes that are super easy and only two problems long. Office hours help; I only went twice. She organizes the class really well. 10/10

Super good Professor, genuinely cared about student learning and checked in one on one with students often.

Professor Medina is great! She really cares for her students. She isn't as methodical in her teaching as my high school Calc 1 teacher (which is a good thing for most people, but the way I think it was a little more difficult to follow). My high school teacher gave us steps and said, "If such-and-such happens, do this." (very mechanical) Medina, in contrast, simplifies the equations as usually seen from the book and often doesn't show HOW she got the equation and says it doesn't matter where it came from (another thing that's good for most, but I'd like to know the little details). How she presents the material is through identifying and solving individual problems (such as why you can't integrate a certain function and how can you get around that), which has more emphasis on the way you think about solving problems (a very engineer-friendly method). She gives most equations to you on an equation sheet for tests. Homework is split into extra problems and problems to turn in at the end of the week. Quizzes on the material at the end of the week and she drops the lowest quiz score. Homework load is daily (unless you save it for the end of the week, but don't do that) but light even when you do all the non-required problems (which I suggest you do as a way to study for the quizzes). If you ever have any problems you can go to office hours and she is very helpful (and other students in office hours help). I only went three times during the quarter and it helped a lot. Two students went to every office hour and they both got perfect on every quiz. Medina uses office hours to help you individually so you can learn better than during the class. Note: I am doing well in the class but I don't know my actual grade. This was my first College Math course and Medina made is easy and fun to go to class.

Medina is so sweet but is not a great professor for students who need lots of extra support. She spends one day on each topic and never revisits it unless everyone fails the quizzes. If you go into office hours she does slow down and will help more. Homework is due every Friday and she selects questions similar to those on the homework for the quizzes. She spends a lot of time every lecture explaining why an equation is the way it is instead of explaining how to solve or set up the problem which is partially why I did so bad. If you have a VERY STRONG base knowledge of integrals and identities then you will be okay but if not take this class with another professor.

Medina was very straight forward with the material, and always had a joke to lighten the mood of a dense lesson. Despite taking calculus 1 two years ago, I was able to catch up very quickly. There are no trick questions. Know how to do the math, and you can solve the problems.

Medina is a great professor. She explains concepts very well, although I wish she would have presented examples similar to the ones in the homework. Her quizzes are very easy if you understood the homework, most times the question are directly from the homework or only slightly tweaked. If you are confused, visit her office hours, she is incredibly kind and willing to help. She will work through all your questions with you and dumbs it down as much as possible. She tells you what to expect on midterms, and the practice problems she gives before an exam are very helpful. Would definitely recommend taking her class.

Medina is truly the greatest professor ever. The homework is due once a week on the day of the quiz and the quizzes are very very very very reasonable. She is very good at presenting the material and answering questions in class. As with any class you should study the material well for the midterms and final but there are never questions that try to trick you. Very straightforward class and the nicest person ever.

Medina is a great teacher. She is very sweet and understanding. She gives quizzes every week, two exams and the final, so it is a very straightforward class. The tests are a challenge, but I did well on them because this whole class was a review of BC Ap Calculus. Also, if your phone goes off in class, you have to bring in cookies, so everyone wins. Her lectures are fast, but she is very clear in explaining material. She multiplies in Spanish which is also kind of funny. GREAT TEACHER.

She explains everything clearly, presents everything clearly, helps out a lot in office hours, everything you could hope from a teacher.

She's a great professor. She explains the concepts clearly and provides useful examples. Homework is due on Tuesdays and Fridays along with a quiz at the end of the week. Her tests cover what was taught. Overall, great teacher!

Dr. Medina is one of the best math professors I have ever had. Her accent is VERY easy to get used to, and her English is very good (there are a few words/phrases that she mixes up, but any native English speaker can understand what she means). She is VERY helpful in office hours. I have gone to her office with 5 minutes left in office hours, and she'll sit there until I understand the material, even if that means staying 30 minutes past the end of office hours (that is, if she doesn't have a class to get to, of course). Dr. Medina wants all of her students to learn and succeed, and is very patient. She has no problem explaining a concept multiple times or with multiple approaches, and never gets frustrated. She is happy to review test/quiz problems that students did not understand. Honestly, Dr. Medina is a HUGE asset to Cal Poly's math department. She is also a very pleasant person with a great sense of humor and understands that students have multiple classes/social lives and cannot spend 168 hours per week on math. I VERY HIGHLY RECOMMEND HER.

Professor Medina likes to teach and loves math. Listening to her was easy, even though she has a slight accent. Her tests are reasonable, and she even let me take a quiz during her office hours because I had to miss class. Calc 2 was much easier than this class. I recommend you take Medina or Kato for Calc 3. They're both awesome.

IF YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO TAKE HER DO IT, IT WILL BE ONE OF YOUR BEST MATH DECISIONS. She is an amazing professor. She presents the material well, is very aware of how the class is progressing in terms of how hard the tests are, and she gets along well with the class. I would take her for every math class if I could. She does have a slight accent but nothing that you wont be able to understand.

Medina is the only math teacher I have ever had take a personal interest in my education. She really cares about her students and notices when you are truly trying to make an effort. I highly recommend you go to office hours- she is not one of those teachers who will just stare at you and not answer your questions. Ask her anything, as dumb as you may think it is, and she will walk you through it. The quizzes are not tricky- do the homework, ask about it in office hours, and you will get high grades on them. The midterms take more time to study for but they aren\'t meant to confuse you. Other math teachers on campus like to put extremely difficult problems on the exam which you will not even complete. Take Medina if you can, she is amazing.

Professor Medina is the sweetest lady and really cares about her students doing well. She gave minimal homework problems that were to be turned in and also extra textbook problems to master the material. Weekly quizzes that are very straight forward, and almost always questions directly from the homework problems. Midterms and final exam were also straight forward and she does not try to trick you on any assessments. She was always accommodating and understanding and I would absolutely recommend her to anyone who needs to take calculus!

Awesome professor. Presents material clearly. Quizzes every week that were basically strait out of the homework. Homework was collected every week. Tests were more than fair. Basically go to lecture and do the homework and you'll do fine. Definitely recommend this professor.

Awesome teacher. I felt I never got confused because she presented everything needed to do the homework and tests clearly without extra stuff. And when your phone went off in class she made you buy cookies. It was awesome. I got a 75% on the first midterm then I studied harder for the second one and was able to get a 97%. She's a nice lady and she is really really intelligent. take this class

Medina was an amazing professor. She was funny, knowledgeable, and presented the materials clearly. The midterms were fair and you will do well if you prepare for them. Overall I'm quite glad I had her as a professor, she made the course enjoyable and no class felt wasted

Prof. Medina is a literal angel. She is so sweet and actually cares about her students unlike many professors I have encountered at cal poly. I had challenges with this course because I didn't enjoy the material but having Medina totally made up for it. 1 on 1 she is waaay better too. Go to office hours if you have any issues because she is so nice and will work with you until you understand it. She is my favorite professor at cal poly so far!

Medina is an amazing person and is extremely clear in her lectures. My only complaint is that I felt like I knew more than my midterm grades reflected, but I guess that's just a testament to how clear she is. Highly recommend

Medina is probably the best professor I've had at Poly, and hands down the best math teacher I've had. She smiles all the time because she truly loves math, and she calls it "just beautiful" when we understand concepts. Concepts that you learn in elementary school (such as why a negative times a negative is positive) were things I just accepted, but never really understood. This class gave me a way to REALLY understand the basics, which is a lot more difficult than you might imagine. Her tests weren't hard, but there wasn't enough time to take them! I'm usually the last 10% to finish taking a test, so when I completed 67% of the test, I got a 67% on it. LAME.

Professor Medina is an absolute delight. She is a phenomenal teacher and educator and I feel so lucky that I got the chance to have her as a professor. As someone who has struggled with math, I was scared to take this class, but Professor Medina is such a good teacher and spends time to make sure that everyone understands the material. The pace is nice and slow and the class is constructed so that you communicate a lot with partners, and with the rest of the class. I really feel like I understand the basics of mathematics better now because of this class and Medina. She is so kind, memorizes your face and name, and is very helpful in office hours. Overall, a queen.

Ms. Medina is a very nice teacher. However, I think I took her first quarter of Math 327 and she really needed to work on a few things. First, she called the same two people up to class to explain answers so the rest of the class started to look at each other because this is an elementary math ed class. In an elementary situation you would have discouraged many many children. Also, she told me I should take the class again even though I had a high C. I just felt discouaged and thought she could have been less bias towards the A students. If you have a hard time in math try to take a different teacher. I won't take her again.

Dr. Medina is the NICEST, friendliest lady!! She loves math and she loves kids and she has a lot of insight to share as far as putting the two together! Since I'm a math person and Dr. Medina's requirements are very stright-forward, this class was a breeze for me. I could have gone a lot less and still gotten a good grade, but I went almost every day because I really felt what I gained from her lectures was valuable! The only draw-back is that English is her second language and as a result I occasionally noticed she would say one thing, while meaning to say another, and people who didn't know math better would easily get confused. The class has simple weekly quizes (yes, every Friday), weekly POWS (usually easy, but if you got stuck she was always giving the class hints during class and in office hours), a midterm and final. Another thing that made the class enjoyable was that it was 16 girls and very interactive so we'd all help each other if anyone was getting left behind. TAKE MEDINA!!:-)

Dr. Medina did a great job explaining the material. She made sure we understood the concepts taught and allowed us to work together to discuss the material and try to work out any problems on our own. She is always available to answer questions and open to corrections from students. English is a second language to her so she does have difficulty with spelling sometimes, but nothing you can't understand. The only thing wrong with her class was that she missed lecture quite a few times.

This class may have been slightly boring, but Medina was very friendly and helpful and gave students opportunities to be successful. Homework is assigned for practice, not for grades, but it's worth doing. There is a quiz every week, which sounds bad, but I think it was really helpful for the exams. There are 2 mid-terms and a cumulative final. My only complaint is when she had students share their answer with the class, knowing they got the wrong answer. She would then say, "Who can tell ______ what they did wrong?" She did this a couple times. I don't know if she realized how that can be embarrassing or hurtful. She spent a lot of time explaining that kids think differently, that you have to teach them multiple ways... but how about setting them up for failure? Anyway, she's really a sweet lady, and I would recommend her for this class.

Professor Medina is a really sweet person. She talks to her students as if they were her friends, usually starting off the day with a small story about her personal life. She gives a quiz a week which are all really easy as long as you go to class and understand the material. The thing I didn't enjoy about this course was the exams. I know that a lot of students got As on all the quizzes but when it came to the tests their grades just dropped. I think it's because she's very strict on partial credit. Most of her questions are worth around 10 points and even if you basically understood the question but just couldn't express your answer well, she only gave you like 4 points. However, she knows her material well and teaches it in a good manner with examples and student interaction (like worksheets, going to the board and writing your answer, etc.) She also gives homework but doesn't collect it. I think overall she's a good professor but maybe she should understand that if students are aceing the quizzes and failing the tests then maybe she should make the questions worth less or give more partial credit.

Medina challenged me in such a good way. I love the student support she gives. You can tell when a teacher cares about you and she does. One warning: Her grading is hard, so don't think because she is a nice person that she will be an easy grader. She will challenge you. But she will also care about your success in her class.

During this entire quarter all I could think about was how this professor reminded me of that small little dog that runs through the back of scene 23 in The Incredibles by Pixar. Seriously, if you look it up you will only be able to see it...