Spring 2027

Evolution, Ecology, and Genetics Laboratory

A writing-intensive laboratory course focusing on ecology, genetics, and evolution, featuring field trips, research projects, and hypothesis testing.

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

Summary

1 / 7

Past student reviews · Janet Batzli

The course was reported to be extremely time-consuming, with assignments that took longer than expected to complete while meeting high instructor expectations.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Ask testable, relevant, creative scientific questions related to ecology, transmission genetics and evolution.

  • Search, sort and gather relevant background information from texts and primary literature.

  • Make predictions and formulate clear, testable hypotheses.

  • Develop protocols that test hypotheses.

  • Evaluate assumptions associated with experimental design and the biological system.

  • Analyze data and make logical conclusions utilizing statistical reasoning.

  • Communicate effectively about science through writing and oral presentations.

  • Work as a member of a productive, collaborative research team.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
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F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

BIOCORE 381 or concurrent enrollment

BIOCORE 382 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

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

HANNAH RICHERSON is recorded teaching in Fall 2021. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

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

SETH MCGEE is recorded teaching in 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

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

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 · Janet Batzli

Students described the lab component as well-taught and useful, emphasizing an inquiry-based approach that prepares learners for real research environments.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.59 GPA, 71.6% A/AB (n=74 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.60 GPA, 67.4% A/AB (n=86 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.66 GPA, 71.2% A/AB (n=59 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Janet Batzli

The course was reported to be extremely time-consuming, with assignments that took longer than expected to complete while meeting high instructor expectations.

Past student reviews · Janet Batzli

One student found grading unclear and harsh, noting that rubrics seemed designed to trip students up and that A grades were very difficult to achieve.

Topics

  • Ecology
  • Genetics
  • Evolution
  • Scientific inquiry and hypothesis testing
  • Statistical analysis of biological data

Skills

  • Formulating testable scientific questions
  • Gathering background information from primary literature
  • Formulating hypotheses and making predictions
  • Developing experimental protocols
  • Evaluating experimental design assumptions
  • Analyzing data using statistical reasoning
  • Scientific communication through writing and presentations
  • Collaborative teamwork in research settings

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": "236bd4763d3168ebb88b5025367271493e3c20b3fefc417fe74efb2ea5fcb499",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}