Recent recorded grades — Fall 2025: 3.26 GPA, 58.5% A/AB (n=82 letter grades).
Fall 2026
Introduction to Computer Architecture
Introduction to computer architecture covering processor, memory, and I/O system design.
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 George Tzimpragos
Summary
1 / 7
Historical reviews of Matthew Sinclair, Mikko Lipasti, Parmesh Ramanathan: Reviewers characterize the workload as intense, citing long group projects, dense online lectures, and difficult exams that require significant outside effort and preparation.
Grade history
↗ average GPA
letter grades
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F
All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course map(E C E/COMP SCI 352 and E C E/COMP SCI 354) or graduate/professional standing
- take all
- graduate/professional standing
“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Any of
- All of
- graduate/professional standing
Professors
Fall 2026Historical instructors & teaching patterns
George Tzimpragos is the current instructor. Historical reviews for Eric Hoffman describe him as helpful and knowledgeable in a flipped format, though requiring outside reading.
ERIC HOFFMAN is recorded teaching in Spring 2014. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
GEORGE TZIMPRAGOS is recorded teaching in Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
KARTHIKEYAN SANKARALINGAM is recorded teaching in Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2011, Spring 2013, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
MATT SINCLAIR is recorded teaching in Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
MIKKO LIPASTI is recorded teaching in Fall 2010, Spring 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
SETAREH BEHROOZI is recorded teaching in Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
SWAMIT TANNU is recorded teaching in Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
YU HU is recorded teaching in Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017. 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 | 21 / 115 | 0 |
| DIS 301 | Classroom Instruction | 10 / 42 | 0 |
| LEC 001 | Classroom Instruction | 61 / 120 | 0 |
| DIS 301 | Classroom Instruction | 28 / 42 | 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 describe Matthew Sinclair and Setareh Behroozi as highly caring and approachable instructors who support student success despite the course's inherent difficulty.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.63 GPA, 82.7% A/AB (n=104 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.26 GPA, 58.5% A/AB (n=82 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.67 GPA, 84.4% A/AB (n=90 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Historical reviews of Matthew Sinclair, Mikko Lipasti, Parmesh Ramanathan: Reviewers characterize the workload as intense, citing long group projects, dense online lectures, and difficult exams that require significant outside effort and preparation.
Historical reviews of Karthikeyan Sankaralingam, Mikko Lipasti, Swamit Tannu: Students note that success often depends on having a strong group for projects and engaging with the material outside of class, as the course demands substantial independent study and collaboration.
Topics
Skills
Grades
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 · 0.23 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 · 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
Introduction to Computer Architecture
Recorded 2026-09-07Introduction to Computer Architecture
Recorded 2026-09-07Raw records
[
{
"run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
"semester": "1272",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"offering_id": "1272:266:004284",
"course_id": "COMPSCI/ECE 552",
"course_uid": "course_45a9d9a05cba4d5b592ac7a3",
"term_id": "1272",
"source_course_id": "004284",
"source_subject_id": "266",
"title": "Introduction to Computer Architecture",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
},
{
"run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
"semester": "1272",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"offering_id": "1272:320:004284",
"course_id": "COMPSCI/ECE 552",
"course_uid": "course_45a9d9a05cba4d5b592ac7a3",
"term_id": "1272",
"source_course_id": "004284",
"source_subject_id": "320",
"title": "Introduction to Computer Architecture",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"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": "08a8261d8e4f5310666eb987bfcee275a90dd8ed73de10c1e3fa895797334998",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}