Fall 2026

Genetics in the News

GENETICS IN THE NEWS explores the genetics and methodologies behind current news headlines to help students make informed citizen decisions.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Carin Loewen2.9/5Katie Vermillion Kalmon

Summary

1 / 6

Success requires attentive listening during lectures and thorough familiarity with the provided PowerPoint slides. The quizzes are a primary grading component and have been noted as potentially confusing, necessitating careful study of the specific course materials.

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
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Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
GENETICS 133 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
  • None

Professors

Fall 2026

Carin Loewen

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

Raw average: 2.27/5 from 26 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: 2.5/5 raw quality · 3.5/5 difficulty · 2 reviews

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

Carin Loewen is described as nice and approachable for questions, but her lectures and messy PowerPoint slides are the primary source for quiz material. Reviewers note that success requires closely following these specific resources rather than relying on general study methods.

In a different course, Loewen’s quizzes were considered confusing and constituted the main grading component. However, she demonstrated flexibility by awarding points for unclear questions and offering support to students willing to put in the work.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.60 GPA, 79.7% A/AB (n=291 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.69 GPA, 85.1% A/AB (n=296 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.75 GPA, 89.1% A/AB (n=368 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews of Nicholas Zumwalde: Nicholas Zumwalde demonstrated mastery and passion, making lectures engaging and interesting even for non-science students. He provided clear expectations with exams focused strictly on key lecture material and provided readings, resulting in low difficulty and minimal assignments.

CARIN LOEWEN is recorded teaching in Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

NICHOLAS ZUMWALDE is recorded teaching in Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022. 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 001Classroom Instruction374 / 3750

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

Carin Loewen's Genetics 133 relies heavily on specific lecture materials, requiring students to master her PowerPoint slides to succeed on quizzes. While the content is accessible, the quizzes themselves have been described as confusing by students.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.76 GPA, 91.5% A/AB (n=294 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.75 GPA, 89.1% A/AB (n=368 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.86 GPA, 93.4% A/AB (n=318 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Success requires attentive listening during lectures and thorough familiarity with the provided PowerPoint slides. The quizzes are a primary grading component and have been noted as potentially confusing, necessitating careful study of the specific course materials.

Students find Loewen to be nice and approachable for questions after lecture. She has demonstrated flexibility by awarding points for confusing quiz questions and offering support to help students achieve higher grades if they put in the work.

Topics

  • Underlying genetics and methodologies
  • Science behind the headlines

Skills

  • Informed decision-making based on genetic science
  • Science communication and public education

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.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.10 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
GENETICS 133 · Fall 2026

Genetics in the News

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": "1272:412:008122",
    "course_id": "GENETICS 133",
    "course_uid": "course_5c14b69a1b9f2b9d47b65a0f",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "008122",
    "source_subject_id": "412",
    "title": "Genetics in the News",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "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": "f2834dd2cd07517018df6865dcf017fc7492725b68e3a3e12a86d5b31e5ce5d5",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}