Spring 2027

Evolution, Ecology, and Genetics

Covers basic ecology, transmission and population genetics, and evolution including origin of life, mechanisms, and species diversity.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 8

Past student reviews · Evelyn Howell

Students reported that while the material was generally easy, grading could be picky with random point deductions. One student noted the ecology exam was not hard, though exam content was sometimes difficult to predict.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Understand what we know, how we know, and what we don't know in ecology, transmission genetics and evolution at the intermediate level

  • Apply scientific theory, concepts, reasoning, and quantitative and qualitative approaches to understand and solve problems

  • Use terminology accurately and effectively within appropriate conventions of the discipline

  • Find, evaluate and relate relevant information found in primary scientific literature using core library resources

  • Build a logical argument in writing based on critical reading, and use of evidence and scientific reasoning

  • Analyze a problem using a systems approach, recognizing levels of biological scale and organization

  • Work as a member of a productive, collaborative group

  • Demonstrate scientific communication skills and the ability to translate scientific concepts to a broader community using appropriate style and disciplinary conventions

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Declared in Biology Core Curriculum Honors Certificate

  • Declared in Biology Core Curriculum Honors Certificate
BIOCORE 381 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
  • Declared in Biology Core Curriculum Honors Certificate

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

AMY MOSER is recorded teaching in Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

BRIAN KIRKPATRICK is recorded teaching in Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

EVELYN HOWELL is recorded teaching in Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

IRWIN GOLDMAN is recorded teaching in Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PHILIPP SIMON is recorded teaching in Fall 2014. 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

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SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist

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

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Irwin Goldman

Past students found Irwin Goldman's evolution unit captivating and engaging, noting he posted excellent resources and made lectures fun. His teaching style was described as clear and engaging, with some enthusiasm for Darwin.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.63 GPA, 84.1% A/AB (n=88 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.59 GPA, 68.1% A/AB (n=91 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.55 GPA, 65.6% A/AB (n=64 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Evelyn Howell

Students reported that while the material was generally easy, grading could be picky with random point deductions. One student noted the ecology exam was not hard, though exam content was sometimes difficult to predict.

Past student reviews · Irwin Goldman

Irwin Goldman spent multiple lectures on Darwin trivia, which some found irrelevant to the exam but still interesting. This focus sometimes led to later lectures being rushed or skimming over harder concepts.

Topics

  • Ecology: individuals, populations, communities, ecosystems, and environment
  • Transmission genetics and population genetics
  • Evolution: origin of life, mechanisms, ancestral relationships, and diversity

Skills

  • Apply scientific theory, concepts, reasoning, and quantitative and qualitative approaches to understand and solve problems
  • Find, evaluate and relate relevant information found in primary scientific literature using core library resources
  • Analyze a problem using a systems approach, recognizing levels of biological scale and organization

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Fall 2025

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

1316 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.

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Selected offering source records

No offering records for the selected term.

Raw records 
[]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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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
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Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "0c415802fc4add427e9fc763222d0400b8e8a65d1b45850c358db0262f6b953e",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}