Spring 2027

Genetics in the News

Genetics in the News explores genetics methodologies and current topics to help citizens understand headlines, evaluate credibility, and discuss ethical issues, including how genes influence traits and disease.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Katie Vermillion Kalmon

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Carin Loewen

Students noted that quizzes required knowing the lecture and powerpoint material to get correct answers.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Describe the methodologies used in genetics to gain a deeper understanding of the science behind the headlines

  • Apply foundational scientific knowledge to be informed, versed and up-to-date on current genetic topics

  • Critically evaluate genetics in the news for credibility, validity. and merit

  • Discuss how genetics is relevant to our everyday lives

  • Discuss ethical concerns related to genetics and the applications of biotechnology

  • Describe how genes influence inherited traits and how genetic variation leads to specific diseases

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
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F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

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

Spring 2027
Historical instructors & teaching patterns

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

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 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

Past student reviews · Carin Loewen

The course relies on lectures and powerpoints, with quizzes testing material directly from these sources.

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

Past student reviews · Carin Loewen

Students noted that quizzes required knowing the lecture and powerpoint material to get correct answers.

Past student reviews · Carin Loewen

The instructor was described as very nice and approachable for questions after lecture, though some found the powerpoints messy.

Topics

  • Underlying genetics and methodologies behind news headlines
  • How genes influence inherited traits and how genetic variation leads to specific diseases
  • Ethical concerns related to genetics and the applications of biotechnology
  • Relevance of genetics to everyday life

Skills

  • Critically evaluate genetics in the news for credibility, validity, and merit
  • Discuss ethical concerns related to genetics and the applications of biotechnology
  • Educate others about genetics to support informed citizen decision-making

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.

6 earlier forecasts · 0.17 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.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
GENETICS 133 · Spring 2027

Genetics in the News

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": "1274:412:008122",
    "course_id": "GENETICS 133",
    "course_uid": "course_5c14b69a1b9f2b9d47b65a0f",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "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
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 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "654753e2d34aad3c2f30136689e2132e007bd1ad1e7a328754d251810885b1d2",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}