Spring 2027

Introduction to Biostatistics

Introduction to Biostatistics for biomedical researchers covering descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, ANOVA, regression, survival analysis, and odds ratios using biomedical applications.

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

Summary

1 / 8

Past student reviews · Ismor Fischer, Mary Lindstrom

Students reported that exams were take-home under Fischer and open note/book under Lindstrom. One student noted the class was a breeze if they had already taken intro stats.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Understand building blocks and fundamentals that support core themes of Biostatistics in the application of biomedicine and public health

  • Conduct basic statistical analyses of biomedical data

  • Use R for statistical computing

  • Critique methods and evidence from others' studies

  • Collaborate effectively with biostatisticians

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

Graduate/professional standing. Not open to students with credit for STAT 511 or POP HLTH/​B M I 551

    • Graduate/professional standing
    • not eligible with
    take all
BMI/STAT 541 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
  • All of
    • Graduate/professional standing
    • Not eligible with

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ISMOR FISCHER is recorded teaching in Fall 2008, Fall 2009. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MARY LINDSTROM is recorded teaching in Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015. 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
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Ismor Fischer

Ismor Fischer taught the basics of statistics by continually tying the course back to the scientific method, which one student described as a fantastic teaching approach.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.71 GPA, 82.7% A/AB (n=75 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.66 GPA, 83.5% A/AB (n=79 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.89 GPA, 91.5% A/AB (n=106 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Ismor Fischer, Mary Lindstrom

Students reported that exams were take-home under Fischer and open note/book under Lindstrom. One student noted the class was a breeze if they had already taken intro stats.

Past student reviews · Mary Lindstrom

Mary Lindstrom's lectures were sometimes disorganized, but she was always willing to answer questions.

Topics

  • Descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, estimation, confidence intervals, t-tests, chi-squared tests, ANOVA, linear regression, correlation, nonparametric tests, survival analysis, and odds ratio.
  • Biomedical applications

Skills

  • Conduct basic statistical analyses of biomedical data
  • Use R for statistical computing
  • Critique methods and evidence from others' studies
  • Collaborate effectively with biostatisticians

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.

Download part 1
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
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": "575e233cd49cd8c51bee463507d5648be39444f02564893e1cef6ea2a49a5271",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}