Spring 2027

Materials Chemistry of Polymers

Materials Chemistry of Polymers covers polymer classification, synthesis, molecular architecture, solid-state structure, glass transition, rheology, and physical properties.

offering recorded2–3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 AJ Boydston4.5/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Mahesh Mahanthappa

The instructor held high expectations, and one student reported he became annoyed if questions were perceived as basic.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Identify and describe structural features of polymers, including connections to reactivity and function.

  • Propose and critique syntheses for target polymer structures.

  • Compare and critique disparate mechanistic approaches for polymer syntheses.

  • Identify strengths and weaknesses of classic polymer synthetic methods.

  • Propose polymer targets that would provide desired, currently unavailable function or capability.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

CHEM 345 and (CHEM 561, 565 or CBE 310), or graduate/professional standing

CHEM 654

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

AJ Boydston

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.79/5 from 57 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.

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

MAHESH MAHANTHAPPA is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2012, 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

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 340

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 · Mahesh Mahanthappa

A student described the lectures as outstanding, though they noted the instructor could be condescending when expectations were not met.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.96 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.87 GPA, 92.3% A/AB (n=26 letter grades); Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=31 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Mahesh Mahanthappa

The instructor held high expectations, and one student reported he became annoyed if questions were perceived as basic.

Past student reviews · Mahesh Mahanthappa

A student found the instructor's office hours frustrating, noting he turned nasty when helping with basic questions.

Topics

  • Polymer classification, synthesis, and molecular architecture
  • Solid state structure and characterization
  • Glassy state and glass transition
  • Polymer rheology in solids and gels
  • Transport, dielectric and optical properties

Skills

  • Identify and describe structural features of polymers, including connections to reactivity and function.
  • Propose and critique syntheses for target polymer structures.
  • Compare and critique disparate mechanistic approaches for polymer syntheses.
  • Identify strengths and weaknesses of classic polymer synthetic methods.
  • Propose polymer targets that would provide desired, currently unavailable function or capability.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— 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 Spring 2026

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
CHEM 654 · Spring 2027

Materials Chemistry of Polymers

Recorded 2026-10-29
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261029T213040-0fa85c20",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-29 21:30:40.248904+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:224:021254",
    "course_id": "CHEM 654",
    "course_uid": "course_f6dcecda2dcdae42619e98f8",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "021254",
    "source_subject_id": "224",
    "title": "Materials Chemistry of Polymers",
    "credits_min": 2,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  }
]
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 2026-10-29

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 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "c7c5529ee50b23d42b3ec5649180f56d22d645a4aec4489f1037e87654c01e89",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "c9cd06eaa45f9ddf7e69faa38b89ff3d3dd995dd",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-29 21:30:40.248904+00:00"
}