Fall 2026

Introduction to Biostatistics

Introduction to biostatistics for biomedical researchers, covering descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, regression, and survival analysis with biomedical applications.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Christina NewtonZhengzheng Tang

Summary

1 / 7

Historical reviews of Ismor Fischer, Mary Lindstrom: Reviewers describe the course as easy, with take-home or open-note exams. Prior intro stats knowledge makes the material manageable.

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

Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.90 GPA, 94.1% A/AB (n=34 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.91 GPA, 97.1% A/AB (n=34 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.92 GPA, 95.6% A/AB (n=45 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

No reviews exist for current instructors Christina Newton or Zhengzheng Tang. Historical reviews for Ismor Fischer highlight his helpfulness and clear teaching of statistical basics. Mary Lindstrom was supportive but had disorganized lectures, though exams were open-note and manageable for students with prior statistics background.

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.

ZHENGZHENG TANG is recorded teaching in Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. 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 Instruction21 / 800
DIS 311Classroom Instruction8 / 400
LEC 002Online Only20 / 500
DIS 321Online Only20 / 500
DIS 312Classroom Instruction13 / 400
LEC 001Classroom Instruction12 / 800
LEC 002Online Only10 / 500
DIS 321Online Only10 / 500
DIS 311Classroom Instruction7 / 400
DIS 312Classroom Instruction5 / 400

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

Historical reviews for Ismor Fischer praise his clear teaching and helpfulness. Historical reviews for Mary Lindstrom describe her as nice but disorganized, with open-note exams.

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

Historical reviews of Ismor Fischer, Mary Lindstrom: Reviewers describe the course as easy, with take-home or open-note exams. Prior intro stats knowledge makes the material manageable.

Historical reviews for Ismor Fischer note he is available and caring. Historical reviews for Mary Lindstrom say she answers questions, though lectures are unclear.

Topics

  • Descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, estimation, confidence intervals, t-tests, chi-squared tests, analysis of variance, linear regression, correlation, nonparametric tests, survival analysis, and odds ratios.

Skills

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

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 · 0.08 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.

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Selected offering source records
BMI/STAT 541 · Fall 2026

Introduction to Biostatistics

Recorded 2026-09-07
BMI/STAT 541 · Fall 2026

Introduction to Biostatistics

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
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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 2026-09-07

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": "5436a716c4caf4727cf65655711f60cffd996c8dd8a8fc8418c8c815b3b8acad",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}