Spring 2027

Economic Problems of Developing Areas

Analyzes aggregate growth, income distribution, and poverty in lower-income economies, exploring why some individuals advance economically while others fall behind.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Laura Schechter3.7/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Laura Schechter

The class was manageable with effort, and everything needed for assessments was covered in lectures or readings. Grading expectations were clear and fair, though the material was not considered easy.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Demonstrate knowledge of current research in development economics to explain cases and identify areas that policy can influence.

  • Calculate basic measures of poverty, inequality and economic development.

  • Differentiate empirical methods used to analyze poverty and poverty alleviation.

  • Use economic models and empirical methods to evaluate development policy.

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

A A E 101(215 prior to Fall 2024),ECON 101, or 111

AAE/ECON 474

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.64/5 from 11 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.

For this course: 3.6/5 raw quality · 3.1/5 difficulty · 7 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Laura Schechter

Laura Schechter taught a well-structured course where exams and problem sets were covered in lectures or specific readings. Students noted clear grading expectations and fair assessments, though some found her lectures confusing or her communication style unconfident. While many appreciated her enthusiasm and knowledge of development economics, others felt grading could be arbitrary and recommended attending office hours for clarification.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2016: 2.90 GPA, 47.4% A/AB (n=57 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.50 GPA, 77.5% A/AB (n=40 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.36 GPA, 69.8% A/AB (n=53 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Jennifer Alix-Garcia, Paul Dower

Jennifer Alix-Garcia taught a course with few assignments and no exams, though one student found the reading load heavy and grading inconsistent. Paul Dower’s class featured weekly quizzes, group projects, and dense readings. While some students found his quiet lecturing style difficult to hear, others praised his helpfulness during office hours.

JENNIFER ALIX-GARCIA is recorded teaching in Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2017. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

LAURA ANNE SCHECHTER is recorded teaching in Fall 2008, Spring 2013, Spring 2016, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PAUL DOWER is recorded teaching in Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 650
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 500

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Laura Schechter

Students described the course as an interesting introduction to international development, covering diverse topics like microfinance and poverty. Professor Schechter was noted for her enthusiasm and knowledge of the field.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.50 GPA, 77.5% A/AB (n=40 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.41 GPA, 67.3% A/AB (n=101 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.36 GPA, 69.8% A/AB (n=53 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Laura Schechter

The class was manageable with effort, and everything needed for assessments was covered in lectures or readings. Grading expectations were clear and fair, though the material was not considered easy.

Past student reviews · Laura Schechter

Some students found lectures hard to follow and noted ambiguous exam questions, which required regular office hours. Others described the instruction as confusing, with students often restating or clarifying the instructor's answers.

Topics

  • Microeconomics of imperfect labor, capital, and insurance markets
  • Implications for national and international economic policy

Skills

  • Using economic models and empirical methods to evaluate development policy
  • Differentiating empirical methods for analyzing poverty and poverty alleviation

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 4 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.29 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
AAE/ECON 474 · Spring 2027

Economic Problems of Developing Areas

Recorded 2026-10-14
AAE/ECON 474 · Spring 2027

Economic Problems of Developing Areas

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
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    "course_id": "AAE/ECON 474",
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    "source_subject_id": "108",
    "title": "Economic Problems of Developing Areas",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  },
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    "offering_id": "1274:296:000364",
    "course_id": "AAE/ECON 474",
    "course_uid": "course_955535bf63b310ab27c52534",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "000364",
    "source_subject_id": "296",
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    "credits_min": 3,
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Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1Download part 2
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "f041ae4f7e78b058cfcbcc01ac8a1c6764f5510deeccb4136ea00bf2a9a64086",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}