Spring 2027

Undergraduate Topics in Computing

Undergraduate Topics in Computing covers instructor-selected topics from all areas of computer science, with content varying by offering.

offering recorded1–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Rahul Chatterjee3.4/5Swamit Tannu3.1/5

Summary

1 / 5

Past student reviews · Laura Legault

Laura Legault previously taught the CS Tutor version of the class, which students found rewarding and an easy way to earn credit.

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

COMP SCI 200, 300, 301, 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 638

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: 3.00/5 from 10 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.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=81 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Swamit Tannu

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.47/5 from 19 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.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=81 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

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

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 400

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Paul Barford

Paul Barford was previously described as an unbelievably good resource with phenomenal insight, making the class a phenomenal experience for students.

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

Past student reviews · Laura Legault

Laura Legault previously taught the CS Tutor version of the class, which students found rewarding and an easy way to earn credit.

Past student reviews · Anhai Doan

Anhai Doan previously explained complex concepts clearly and delivered hilarious lectures filled with career and life advice, showing genuine care for students.

Topics

  • Instructor-selected topics spanning all areas of computer science.

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.

6 earlier forecasts · 0.18 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
COMPSCI 638 · Spring 2027

Undergraduate Topics in Computing

Recorded 2026-10-29
COMPSCI 638 · Spring 2027

Tech Entrepreneurship Seminar

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": "1274:266:004292",
    "course_id": "COMPSCI 638",
    "course_uid": "course_451e04263559a1194fd692f0",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "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": "20261029T213040-0fa85c20",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-29 21:30:40.248904+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:266:004292.51",
    "course_id": "COMPSCI 638",
    "course_uid": "course_451e04263559a1194fd692f0",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "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
Download part 1
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": "f0652147891435de0846be471aeb97466603b4d786a1a68a2455311d0e7d8af9",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "c9cd06eaa45f9ddf7e69faa38b89ff3d3dd995dd",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-29 21:30:40.248904+00:00"
}