Heidi Evans is consistently praised as a patient, friendly, and helpful instructor who provides extensive, encouraging feedback on writing assignments. Reviewers highlight her accessibility and support for international students, though one note suggests her kindness may be exploited by some students.
Fall 2026
Academic Writing I
ESL 117 teaches basic academic writing, including fluency, paragraph structure, summarizing, and research projects.
Summary
1 / 4
Reviewers report high workloads and tedious writing assignments, particularly with Andrea Poulos and Shauna Crowther, who are also described as tough graders requiring significant effort.
Grade history
↗ average GPA
letter grades
letter grades
No recorded grade history.
All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapESL 116 or placement into ESL 117
“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
- ESL 116
- placement into ESL 117
Professors
Fall 2026Andrea Poulos is described as caring and supportive, with reviewers noting her detailed essay feedback and desire for student success. One student reports learning a lot from her progressive approach to academic writing.
A different reviewer finds the homework volume, especially writing, to be excessive compared to other ESL teachers. This student also notes that feedback can be abstract and that peer reviews may not always be useful.
Anya Nesterchouk receives polarized reviews. One student finds her teaching useless and awful, while others praise her as patient, knowledgeable, and helpful for improving writing skills. Positive reviewers also highlight her flexibility, humor, and engaging style.
No course-specific feedback yet.
Nevin Durmaz is described as a good teacher who cares about students, though instruction clarity can be inconsistent. Completing homework and avoiding excessive AI use is cited as a path to passing the course.
Stella Isenbuegel is praised as a kind, caring instructor who makes the course interesting and provides timely feedback with clear grading criteria. However, she is also described as a strict grader who enforces attendance policies, with some students reporting subjective grading, unclear draft guidance, and poor email communication.
Shauna Crowther is described as a nice and fun instructor who makes English class enjoyable for students who previously disliked the subject. Reviewers note that she is chill and that following her feedback can lead to high grades.
Other reviewers characterize Crowther as a tough grader who requires more sources and details than the course demands. Students report needing to adjust their work to fit her specific style to succeed, despite her occasional leniency with late work.
No course-specific feedback yet.
No course-specific feedback yet.
No course-specific feedback yet.
No course-specific feedback yet.
No course-specific feedback yet.
No course-specific feedback yet.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Historical reviews of Moses Oluwanifise: Moses Oluwanifise receives strong criticism for being disorganized, frequently late, and providing unclear answers or unhelpful advice. Reviewers describe his teaching as frustrating and advise avoiding his section if possible.
ANDREA POULOS is recorded teaching in Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2020, Fall 2021. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
ANNA NESTERCHOUK is recorded teaching in Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
CHRISTINE ESCHE is recorded teaching in Fall 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
GAIL IBELE is recorded teaching in Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Spring 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
HEIDI EVANS is recorded teaching in Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
JOSEPH NOSEK is recorded teaching in Fall 2014, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
KRISTIN DALBY is recorded teaching in Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
LAUREN PRIMUTH is recorded teaching in Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
LUDMILA RAO is recorded teaching in Spring 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
MARK PLANE is recorded teaching in Spring 2016. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
MARTA HALACZKIEWICZ is recorded teaching in Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
MOSES OLUWANIFISE is recorded teaching in Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
MUHAMED SADIKU is recorded teaching in Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Spring 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
NEVIN DURMAZ is recorded teaching in Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
PAUL MADDEN is recorded teaching in Fall 2021, Spring 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
SHAUNA CROWTHER is recorded teaching in Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Fall 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
STELLA ISENBUEGEL is recorded teaching in Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2022, Fall 2025. 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 | 17 / 15 | 0 |
| LEC 002 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 15 | 0 |
| LEC 003 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 15 | 0 |
| LEC 004 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 15 | 0 |
| LEC 005 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 15 | 0 |
| LEC 006 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 15 | 0 |
| LEC 007 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 15 | 0 |
| LEC 008 | Classroom Instruction | 16 / 15 | 0 |
| LEC 009 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 15 | 0 |
| LEC 010 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 15 | 0 |
| LEC 011 | Classroom Instruction | 16 / 15 | 0 |
| LEC 012 | Classroom Instruction | 0 / 0 | 0 |
| LEC 013 | Classroom Instruction | 16 / 15 | 0 |
| LEC 015 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 15 | 0 |
| LEC 017 | Classroom Instruction | 0 / 0 | 0 |
| LEC 018 | Classroom Instruction | 16 / 15 | 0 |
| LEC 020 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 15 | 0 |
| LEC 021 | Classroom Instruction | 16 / 15 | 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
Heidi Evans is described as kind, patient, and accessible, with reviewers noting her extensive feedback and encouragement. One review suggests her kindness may be taken advantage of by some students.
difficulty & workload
Reviewers report high workloads and tedious writing assignments, particularly with Andrea Poulos and Shauna Crowther, who are also described as tough graders requiring significant effort.
Experiences with Stella Isenbuegel diverge; some students value her caring nature and clear criteria, while others find her grading subjective, picky, or difficult to satisfy.
Topics
Skills
Grades
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
No grades available yet.
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
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
Academic Writing I
Recorded 2026-09-07Raw records
[
{
"run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
"semester": "1272",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"offering_id": "1272:351:006730",
"course_id": "ESL 117",
"course_uid": "course_8313576c9e21c86d04b7eb5e",
"term_id": "1272",
"source_course_id": "006730",
"source_subject_id": "351",
"title": "Academic Writing I",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
}
]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": "d09eab7db711396ecb6c9b721b574446790b6ff969c13aeadd6dbf4d4429e7ec",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}