Historical instructor

HOWARD BECKER

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.17/5 from 6 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

521 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
I actually like Prof Becker. I've taken both his 431 and 521. He is a very responsible professor, always helpful outside class. I think it would be fine that he make some mistakes when doing proof, cuz that is what everyone does
Rate My Professors ↗
MATH 341
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
Lectures were very unclear. He would often miss-prove theorems and have to rewrite them a few times. Homework is moderate level. Exams are moderate to difficult depending on how well you followed his material in class. Must be able to take concepts from class and use them abstractly to create own proofs for exams.
Rate My Professors ↗
421 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 3/5
He made so many mistakes during lecture that studying my notes was extremely frustrating because I was never sure what was right and what wasn't. He's unorganized and doesn't think enough about what he's writing down to make sure its right. He doesn't try the homework problems before he gives them to you, so they can be tough. Do not recommend.
Rate My Professors ↗
341 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
Wasn't clear in class, wasn't helpful out of class Exams were way harder than expected based on class work and homeworks and explanation of what he said was going to be on the exam
Rate My Professors ↗
MATH/STAT 431
Quality 2/5Difficulty 4/5
awful handwriting. lectures are exactly following the textbook which means if u can learn well by uself from the book, u probably can get a good grade. Exams are a little bit hard due to combining the knowledge of previous maths
Rate My Professors ↗
MATH/STAT 431
Quality 2/5Difficulty 4/5
His handwriting is not organized at all and barely readable. lectures follow the textbook written bu UW Madison Math Department tightly, but exams are extremely hard. You will need plenty of extra help to learn the course materials. Most examples he used during lectures are from the textbook. That means that lectures are of little help.
Rate My Professors ↗

Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with HOWARD BECKER

Covers first and second semester calculus material while teaching math majors to write and understand proofs.

No offering record · Spring 2015

with this instructor · course overall, matching historical terms

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2010–Spring 2015

MATH 873 covers advanced topics from all areas of mathematical logic.

No offering record · Spring 2015

with this instructor · course overall, matching historical terms

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2010–Spring 2015

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2015MATH 421The Theory of Single Variable Calculus
Spring 2015MATH 873Advanced Topics in Foundations
Fall 2014MATH 341Linear Algebra
Fall 2014MATH 521Analysis I
Spring 2013MATH 522Analysis II
Spring 2013MATH 873Advanced Topics in Foundations

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance
{
  "instructor_uid": "instructor_9cd23bacc4737468b0546bad",
  "source": "madgrades",
  "source_instructor_id": "5192573",
  "identity_basis": "source_id",
  "identity_status": "source_identified",
  "name": "HOWARD BECKER",
  "email": null,
  "first_observed_at": "2026-09-06 23:14:58.172943+00:00",
  "last_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
  "ratings": {
    "review_count": 6,
    "quality": 2.17,
    "difficulty": 3.67,
    "quality_count": 6,
    "difficulty_count": 6,
    "profile_id": "rmp:1912162",
    "source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/1912162",
    "match_basis": "exact_name",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:36:28.705711+00:00",
    "courses": {
      "course_fa53f4954bab469b5d4c4fe3": {
        "review_count": 1,
        "quality": 3,
        "difficulty": 4,
        "quality_count": 1,
        "difficulty_count": 1
      },
      "course_dcdb624e3fb8cbaf9a557ab9": {
        "review_count": 2,
        "quality": 2,
        "difficulty": 4,
        "quality_count": 2,
        "difficulty_count": 2
      }
    },
    "bayesian_quality": 3.315912141189689,
    "prior_mean": 3.6596857835465957,
    "prior_weight": 20
  },
  "grade_statistics": {
    "gpa": 3.191,
    "graded": 123,
    "counts": [
      44,
      20,
      33,
      9,
      12,
      1,
      4
    ],
    "sections": 6
  },
  "current": false,
  "courses": [],
  "revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "instructor_url": "/instructors/HOWARD_BECKER--instructor_9cd23bacc4737468b0546bad"
}