Spring 2027

Quantitative Techniques for Biological Systems

Quantitative Techniques for Biological Systems covers energy/material utilization in cells, organisms, and ecosystems, applying mass/heat/energy balances and mathematical modeling to biological processes.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Paul Stoy3.9/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Paul Stoy

Students completed weekly group activities, homework, and quizzes. Assessments were open-book and untimed, though the concepts could be difficult.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Identify and analyze how energy and materials enter and are utilized by cells, organisms, and ecosystems using engineering concepts including material and energy balances, redox balance, and the first and second laws of thermodynamics.

  • Mathematically model important biological processes including enzyme kinetics and microbial growth and be able to quantitatively assess how interactions between biological characteristics and the environment affect system performance.

  • Recognize the basic types of plants and their ecosystems and be able to describe the ways in which plants interact with their environment and how that interaction can be manipulated to achieve desired outcomes.

  • Describe the ways in which all living creatures interact with each other and their environment on the local, regional, and global scale and to consider how the activities of people can affect the sustainability of these interactions.

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

MATH 222, (CHEM 104, 109, or 116), and (BOTANY/​BIOLOGY/​ZOOLOGY 151,ZOOLOGY 153,ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY 101,BOTANY/​BIOLOGY 130,MICROBIO 101, or ENVIR ST/​BOTANY/​ZOOLOGY 260)

BSE 349 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
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 5.00/5 from 4 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.

Past student reviews · Paul Stoy

Professor Paul Stoy taught the course using weekly group activities, homework, and open-book, untimed quizzes and exams. Students noted that while the concepts could be difficult, the class focused heavily on problem-solving and collaboration.

Students described Professor Paul Stoy as approachable, patient, and highly supportive, noting he was willing to re-explain material and maintained a manageable pace. One reviewer highlighted his flexibility, such as skipping a lecture for a class discussion.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.51 GPA, 70.6% A/AB (n=34 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.75 GPA, 90.4% A/AB (n=52 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.76 GPA, 86.4% A/AB (n=44 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Robert Anex

Historical students of Robert Anex found lectures disorganized and difficult to follow, often feeling demeaned when asking questions. Exams were described as unpredictable and tough, with one student noting that test questions seemed designed to trick rather than assess knowledge, while another reported receiving no partial credit. Although some material was interesting, the overall experience was frequently cited as stressful and poorly structured.

JESSICA DREWRY is recorded teaching in Spring 2019, Spring 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PAUL STOY is recorded teaching in Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ROBERT ANEX is recorded teaching in Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018. 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
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 700

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

Past student reviews · Paul Stoy

Professor Stoy led a dynamic class that blended lecture with problem-solving and collaboration, while remaining open to student feedback.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.51 GPA, 70.6% A/AB (n=34 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.75 GPA, 90.4% A/AB (n=52 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.76 GPA, 86.4% A/AB (n=44 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Paul Stoy

Students completed weekly group activities, homework, and quizzes. Assessments were open-book and untimed, though the concepts could be difficult.

Past student reviews · Paul Stoy

Reviewers described Stoy as approachable and patient, noting he was willing to re-explain material and prioritized student understanding.

Topics

  • Energy and material utilization in cells, organisms, and ecosystems
  • Mass transfer, heat, and energy balances in biological contexts
  • Mathematical modeling of enzyme kinetics and microbial growth
  • Interactions among living creatures and environmental sustainability

Skills

  • Apply mass transfer, heat, and energy balances to biological systems
  • Mathematically model biological processes like enzyme kinetics and microbial growth
  • Describe plant-environment interactions and manipulation strategies

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · 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.

7 earlier forecasts · 0.30 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · 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

1280 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
BSE 349 · Spring 2027

Quantitative Techniques for Biological Systems

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:112:023656",
    "course_id": "BSE 349",
    "course_uid": "course_eed3c9f536e42df4ae917922",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "023656",
    "source_subject_id": "112",
    "title": "Quantitative Techniques for Biological Systems",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  }
]
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": "95ede8a8272f1740d5f1830441eb4ed8b0b1eabc113035ff7355fd8a3503af37",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}