Spring 2027

Introduction to Microprocessor Systems

Introduction to microprocessor architecture, operation, and application. Covers programming, address decoding, system timing, I/O, interrupts, DMA, and RAM interfacing for microcontrollers.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Joseph Krachey4.1/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Joseph Krachey

The class is described as heavy on coding and self-directed learning, often involving lengthy datasheets and in-exam coding. Significant effort is expected for homework and the final project.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Program a microcontroller to meet functional requirements of an embedded system

  • Write, debug, and optimize programs for an efficient embedded system

  • Interface a microcontroller to various on-chip and off-chip peripherals

  • Design and implement a microcontroller-based embedded system

  • Interpret technical documents related to embedded system components

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
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AB
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

E C E/​COMP SCI 252 and COMP SCI 300, or member of Engineering Guest Students

ECE 353 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

Joseph Krachey

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.26/5 from 42 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: 3.9/5 raw quality · 3.6/5 difficulty · 19 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Joseph Krachey

Joseph Krachey taught a project-heavy course that required significant coding effort and in-class exercises to succeed. Students noted that exams often featured fill-in-the-blank code and conceptual questions, which some found misaligned with the application-based projects. Krachey was described as approachable and supportive, offering opportunities to improve grades and maintaining kind grading policies.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.37 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=87 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.27 GPA, 63.3% A/AB (n=90 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.25 GPA, 56.0% A/AB (n=84 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Younghyun Kim

Students described the course as self-taught using Joe Krachey's videos, with in-class exercises and review sessions. Professor Kim was noted for his patience and willingness to answer questions. Exams were considered tricky, while the final project required significant time for debugging, prompting students to start early.

JOSEPH KRACHEY is recorded teaching in Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MICHAEL MORROW is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2012. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

YOUNGHYUN KIM is recorded teaching in Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023. 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 / 800

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 · Joseph Krachey

Students describe the course as practical and interesting, with a strong emphasis on real-world engineering skills. The final project allows you to apply cumulative knowledge to build a game of your choice.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.37 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=87 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.27 GPA, 63.3% A/AB (n=90 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.25 GPA, 56.0% A/AB (n=84 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Joseph Krachey

The class is described as heavy on coding and self-directed learning, often involving lengthy datasheets and in-exam coding. Significant effort is expected for homework and the final project.

Past student reviews · Joseph Krachey

One student found Krachey overly kind and considerate, noting he extended deadlines for assignments. Another described him as very caring, mentioning he gave lots of opportunities to improve grades and noticed when students put in extra effort.

Topics

  • Microprocessor architecture, operation, and application.
  • Microprocessor programming.
  • Address decoding and system timing.
  • Parallel, serial, and analog I/O.
  • Interrupts and direct memory access (DMA).
  • Interfacing to static and dynamic RAM.
  • Microcontrollers.

Skills

  • Programming, debugging, and optimizing microcontroller code for embedded systems.
  • Interfacing microcontrollers to on-chip/off-chip peripherals and static/dynamic RAM.
  • Designing and implementing microcontroller-based embedded systems.
  • Interpreting technical documentation for embedded system components.

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.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.15 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.

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Selected offering source records
ECE 353 · Spring 2027

Introduction to Microprocessor Systems

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:320:006339",
    "course_id": "ECE 353",
    "course_uid": "course_ae177875d7b9797eccef5e60",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "006339",
    "source_subject_id": "320",
    "title": "Introduction to Microprocessor Systems",
    "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 2026-10-14

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 1Download part 2
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "38ee1a87b6d81cf5d14da5b15c298c20b58a26cb90e06b4b08466a9704707637",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}