Fall 2026

Community and Social Change

CSCS 125 examines contemporary issues and the role of individuals and communities in achieving positive social change.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Jennifer Gaddis3.7/5Jingyi Ma

Summary

1 / 6

Workload includes mandatory attendance, pre-class quizzes, papers, and a final group project. Some students find the class easy, while others note extensive pre-work and quizzes before every meeting.

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
CSCS 125

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.88/5 from 8 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.

For this course: 3.6/5 raw quality · 2.6/5 difficulty · 5 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Jennifer Gaddis is described as helpful and respectful, with students enjoying the interactive group discussions and relevant topics. Reviewers note her willingness to help and the engaging nature of the class structure.

Some students found the instruction boring or awkward, reporting limited learning and repetitive prompts. Others noted extensive pre-work and quizzes, with mixed feelings about the value of the oral history project.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.64 GPA, 86.2% A/AB (n=58 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.73 GPA, 90.9% A/AB (n=55 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.56 GPA, 80.0% A/AB (n=60 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2026: 3.75 GPA, 89.5% A/AB (n=57 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

No reviews exist for current instructors Jennifer Gaddis or Jingyi Ma. Historical reviews for Brian McInnes and Amy Hilgendorf describe the course as easy and interesting, though McInnes faced complaints about reliability and confusing assignment directions.

AMY HILGENDORF is recorded teaching in Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

BRIAN MCINNES is recorded teaching in Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JENNIFER GADDIS is recorded teaching in Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JINGYI MA 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 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Online (some classroom)119 / 1200

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

Jennifer Gaddis teaches a discussion-based course with no exams, relying on papers and group projects. Reviewers find the instructor helpful and the topics relevant, though one student found the experience boring and lacking in learning.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.73 GPA, 90.9% A/AB (n=55 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.56 GPA, 80.0% A/AB (n=60 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.75 GPA, 89.5% A/AB (n=57 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Workload includes mandatory attendance, pre-class quizzes, papers, and a final group project. Some students find the class easy, while others note extensive pre-work and quizzes before every meeting.

Students appreciate the oral history project and small group discussions as valuable experiences. Conversely, one reviewer found the instructor awkward and disliked the restriction on using technology during class.

Topics

  • Education reform, racial justice, health equity, alternative economies, food systems, and sustainability

Skills

  • Mindsets and communication skills for diverse community contexts

Grades

Historical instructor

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.

6 earlier forecasts · 0.12 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.

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Selected offering source records
CSCS 125 · Fall 2026

Community and Social Change

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:247:024539",
    "course_id": "CSCS 125",
    "course_uid": "course_25cce2dc8639b1d1c19dabec",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "024539",
    "source_subject_id": "247",
    "title": "Community and Social Change",
    "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
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

Download the original dataset
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "cf9cb68b453973ebcbd0a4e0c01a30d561f69bdb6c75034bdc21ccf3c98e809a",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}