Recent recorded grades — Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=81 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.
Fall 2026
Undergraduate Topics in Computing
COMPSCI 638 covers selected topics in computing, with content varying by instructor and offering.
Summary
1 / 6
Historical reviews of Deborah Joseph, Laura Legault, Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau: Reviewers describe the course as generally easy, though one instructor is noted for requiring outside-the-box thinking.
Grade history
↗ average GPA
letter grades
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F
All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapCOMP SCI 200, 300, 301, 302, 310, 367, placement into COMP SCI 300, orL I S/COMP SCI 102(COMP SCI 202 prior to Fall 2023), graduate/professional standing, or declared in the Capstone Certificate in Computer Sciences for Professionals
- COMPSCI 200
- COMPSCI 300
- 301,
- 302,
- COMPSCI 310
- 367,
- placement into COMP SCI 300,
- orL I S/COMP SCI 102(COMP SCI 202 prior to Fall 2023),
- graduate/professional standing,
- or declared in the Capstone Certificate in Computer Sciences for Professionals
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Any of
- COMPSCI 200
- COMPSCI 300
- 301,
- 302,
- COMPSCI 310
- 367,
- placement into COMP SCI 300,
- orL I S/COMP SCI 102(COMP SCI 202 prior to Fall 2023),
- graduate/professional standing,
- or declared in the Capstone Certificate in Computer Sciences for Professionals
Professors
Fall 2026Recent recorded grades — Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=81 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Paul Barford is described as a gas professor and the best CS professor by one reviewer. This historical review from 2024 highlights his high quality rating.
DEBORAH JOSEPH is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Fall 2007. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
LAURA LEGAULT is recorded teaching in Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
PAUL BARFORD is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
RAHUL CHATTERJEE is recorded teaching in Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
REMZI ARPACI-DUSSEAU is recorded teaching in Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
SWAMIT TANNU is recorded teaching in Spring 2026. 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 2026Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | Classroom Instruction | 6 / 50 | 0 |
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Historical reviews highlight varied teaching styles across past instructors, with some praised for clarity and others noted for demanding independent thinking.
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.86 GPA, 86.4% A/AB (n=22 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.83 GPA, 93.9% A/AB (n=33 letter grades); Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=81 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Historical reviews of Deborah Joseph, Laura Legault, Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau: Reviewers describe the course as generally easy, though one instructor is noted for requiring outside-the-box thinking.
Historical reviews of Anhai Doan, Paul Barford: Students appreciate past instructors who genuinely care about learning and explain complex concepts clearly.
Grades
Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Fall 2026.
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
1283 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.
Selected offering source records
Undergraduate Topics in Computing
Recorded 2026-09-07Tech Entrepreneurship Seminar
Recorded 2026-09-07Raw records
[
{
"run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
"semester": "1272",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"offering_id": "1272:266:004292",
"course_id": "COMPSCI 638",
"course_uid": "course_451e04263559a1194fd692f0",
"term_id": "1272",
"source_course_id": "004292",
"source_subject_id": "266",
"title": "Undergraduate Topics in Computing",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 4,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
},
{
"run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
"semester": "1272",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"offering_id": "1272:266:004292.51",
"course_id": "COMPSCI 638",
"course_uid": "course_451e04263559a1194fd692f0",
"term_id": "1272",
"source_course_id": "004292.51",
"source_subject_id": "266",
"title": "Tech Entrepreneurship Seminar",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 4,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
}
]Rate My Professors
Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Madgrades
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesModel outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
{
"model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
"model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
"task_version": "14",
"output_id": "7ff588fb730629cf63fdd739212e299279074ec10deb39d3f4b0043f6b1f50c5",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}