Fall 2026

Soil: Ecosystem and Resource

SOIL: ECOSYSTEM AND RESOURCE investigates soil structure, biology, water, fertility, taxonomy, and human impact using a systems approach.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 5

Historical reviews of Nick Balster: The course demands close attention during lectures, as complacent learners may fall behind without engaging actively with the material.

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

Not open to students with credit forSOIL SCI 301

ENVIRST/GEOG/SOILSCI 230 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

Fall 2026

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews of Nick Balster: Nick Balster is described as an engaging and interesting lecturer who cares about students and learns their names. Reviews note that his classes require close attention to avoid falling behind, but he offers significant support and meets students halfway.

NICK BALSTER is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 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

Fall 2026

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SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist

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

Meeting source records

No records available.

Student experience

the class

Historical reviews of Nick Balster: Nick Balster is described as an engaging and interesting instructor who cares deeply about students, though his lectures require active attention to avoid falling behind.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 2.65 GPA, 41.7% A/AB (n=72 letter grades); Spring 2025: 2.68 GPA, 33.3% A/AB (n=84 letter grades); Spring 2026: 2.63 GPA, 36.8% A/AB (n=87 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of Nick Balster: The course demands close attention during lectures, as complacent learners may fall behind without engaging actively with the material.

Historical reviews of Nick Balster: Students appreciate the support opportunities and the instructor's effort to learn names, which helps those who struggle to stay on track.

Topics

  • Soil structure, biology, water, fertility, and taxonomy
  • Human impact on the soil environment

Skills

  • Systems approach to soil investigation

Grades

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

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

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

No offering records for the selected term.

Raw records 
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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

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
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Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "51166fefcfaffe1ea783ba2ed1f8b291b85997ffc73792724850c7cb891947a7",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}