Spring 2027

Topics in Education Studies

Topics in Education Studies examines contemporary topics and debates in education studies while developing research and analytical skills for education careers.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Edgar Valles4.1/5Erica Ramberg3.7/5John Baldacchino +1 more

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Mary Michaud

Homework was primarily reading-heavy, with minimal other assignments, though students noted the workload was manageable.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Formulate research-based arguments on topics in education using academic literature, including both primary and secondary sources

  • Demonstrate an understanding of the social, cultural, and historical contexts of education policy and practice

  • Examine education policy from multiple theoretical perspectives

  • Examine different historical and social-science methods to answer major questions in education research, both contemporary and enduring

  • Analyze education policy issues from diverse perspectives related to race, class, and gender, and other forms of social difference

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Sophomore standing

  • Sophomore standing
EDPOL 350

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • Sophomore standing

Professors

Spring 2027

Edgar Valles

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.91/5 from 11 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.

No course-specific feedback yet.

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.00/5 from 2 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 2025: 3.65 GPA, 81.5% A/AB (n=27 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.82 GPA, 90.9% A/AB (n=11 letter grades).

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2025: 3.85 GPA, 91.7% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.91 GPA, 96.4% A/AB (n=28 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ERICA RAMBERG is recorded teaching in Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JOHN BALDACCHINO is recorded teaching in Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MARK JOHNSON is recorded teaching in Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MARY MICHAUD is recorded teaching in Fall 2025, 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 / 300
LEC 002Classroom Instruction0 / 250
LEC 003Classroom Instruction0 / 250
LEC 004Classroom Instruction0 / 300

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 · Mary Michaud

Students described the class as interesting, with a strong emphasis on discussion and group-based projects.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.67 GPA, 82.0% A/AB (n=50 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.81 GPA, 91.0% A/AB (n=78 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.89 GPA, 96.2% A/AB (n=104 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Mary Michaud

Homework was primarily reading-heavy, with minimal other assignments, though students noted the workload was manageable.

Past student reviews · Mary Michaud

Reviewers found the instructor passionate about the material and supportive of student success.

Topics

  • Contemporary topics and debates in education studies
  • Social, cultural, and historical contexts of education policy and practice
  • Multiple theoretical perspectives on education policy
  • Historical and social-science methods in education research
  • Education policy issues related to race, class, gender, and social difference

Skills

  • Research and analytical skills for education careers
  • Formulating research-based arguments using primary and secondary academic literature
  • Understanding social, cultural, and historical contexts of education policy and practice
  • Examining education policy from multiple theoretical perspectives
  • Examining historical and social-science methods for education research questions
  • Analyzing education policy issues through perspectives of race, class, gender, and social difference

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

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

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
EDPOL 350 · Spring 2027

Topics in Education Studies

Recorded 2026-10-14
EDPOL 350 · Spring 2027

Teach & Learn Diverse Settings

Recorded 2026-10-14
EDPOL 350 · Spring 2027

Edu & Advoc for Sustainability

Recorded 2026-10-14
EDPOL 350 · Spring 2027

Image, Society & Education

Recorded 2026-10-14
EDPOL 350 · Spring 2027

From Arena to Classroom

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
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    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
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    "source_subject_id": "310",
    "title": "Image, Society & Education",
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]
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 2026-10-14

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 1
Model & dataset provenance 
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  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "895151dfa1f283c9b0dd52a736cc64f337780832b20b76372799cb8c4ac02b39",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
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}