Historical instructor
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Overall good professor, makes a lot of jokes and is ready to help. I did found the tests to be sometimes a bit tougher than older ones. I practiced a lot using these, and there were always some problems with an extra twist (in terms of concepts however, it was always standard). For me, this was the fine line between a good and a not-so-good grade.Rate My Professors ↗
Dr. Gustafson is one of the nicest professors I have ever had. He is an extremely nice guy, and I cannot recommend him more. The issues with the calculus sequence stem from the math department itself, such as the insane exam weighting. He does a great job explaining things in office hours, and all of his lecture slides are posted to canvas.Rate My Professors ↗
Phil is an amazing professor. He is extremely caring to his students and makes a true effort to make his lectures engaging and enjoyable.Rate My Professors ↗
He always stayed after class to answer tons of questions. Very open with what will be on tests and how to succeed. I highly recommend him if you have to take Math 171.Rate My Professors ↗
Dr. Gustafson was a decent professor for Math171. You can tell he cares a lot about math and his students. He can sometimes be unclear on important concepts, and tends to skip over important problem types. Overall, if you have a little calculus background, Dr. Phil would be a great professor for you.Rate My Professors ↗
Professor Gustafson is a very nice guy and clearly cares about his students. His teaching was a bit hard to follow in my opinion... he would get lost in his own notes during lectures. Students had to correct him multiple times. If you have a basic knowledge of calc before taking the course, though, you will be completely fine. His tests were easy.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.
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