Fall 2026

Introduction to Animal Sciences

ANSCI/DYSCI 101 provides an overview of animal sciences, covering anatomy, physiology, nutrition, reproduction, genetics, management, welfare, and behavior of domesticated animals with an emphasis on food animals.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Eric Ronk3.5/5Hilario Mantovani

Summary

1 / 6

Students report that exams are detail-oriented and memorization-heavy, requiring study of every lecture slide. The group term paper is frequently described as harshly graded, requiring regular review of lecture material to succeed.

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
ANSCI/DYSCI 101 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.40/5 from 15 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.

Eric Ronk is a knowledgeable and nice instructor, though his lectures are frequently criticized as dry or reading directly from slides. Students find the material interesting but prefer the engaging lab components. Reviews also disagree on exam difficulty, with some calling tests easy, while others describe them as extremely difficult and memorization-heavy.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.07 GPA, 41.6% A/AB (n=125 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.26 GPA, 57.8% A/AB (n=135 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.10 GPA, 49.1% A/AB (n=165 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2025: 3.10 GPA, 49.1% A/AB (n=165 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews of David Combs: David Combs is described as caring and passionate, though later reviews note he lectures less and labs are chaotic due to unprepared TAs. One review states memorizing slides is required and grading is harsh, while another finds the class extremely hard without prior experience.

DAVID KENNETH COMBS is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ERIC RONK is recorded teaching in Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

HILARIO MANTOVANI is recorded teaching in Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MARK E. COOK is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2016. 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

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction3 / 1480
LEC 001Classroom Instruction146 / 1480

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

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Eric Ronk teaches a broad, interesting overview of animal science that some find easy while others find material-heavy and difficult. Reviews highlight a significant disagreement regarding exam difficulty and grading leniency.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.07 GPA, 41.6% A/AB (n=125 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.26 GPA, 57.8% A/AB (n=135 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.10 GPA, 49.1% A/AB (n=165 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Students report that exams are detail-oriented and memorization-heavy, requiring study of every lecture slide. The group term paper is frequently described as harshly graded, requiring regular review of lecture material to succeed.

Lectures are often criticized for being dry or reading off slides, though labs are considered more engaging. Some students find the course easy with an animal science background, while others without it struggle with the volume of daily material.

Topics

  • Anatomy, physiology, nutrition, reproduction, genetics, management, animal welfare, and behavior
  • Food animals and their contributions to humans

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · 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 5 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 · 0.11 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Fall 2025 · 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

1320 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
ANSCI/DYSCI 101 · Fall 2026

Introduction to Animal Sciences

Recorded 2026-09-07
ANSCI/DYSCI 101 · Fall 2026

Introduction to Animal Sciences

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:292:005198",
    "course_id": "ANSCI/DYSCI 101",
    "course_uid": "course_41f98d76088bbd875d578e96",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "005198",
    "source_subject_id": "292",
    "title": "Introduction to Animal Sciences",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:604:005198",
    "course_id": "ANSCI/DYSCI 101",
    "course_uid": "course_41f98d76088bbd875d578e96",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "005198",
    "source_subject_id": "604",
    "title": "Introduction to Animal Sciences",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  }
]
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 2026-09-07

Download the original dataset
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "c25b9ba25c262ef0256e155329f22bfd75038a4aaf3d26d47fa1efa8cf6938e5",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}