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.
No courses match this selection. Try the full catalog or another term.
| Term | Course | Title |
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Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
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