Spring 2027

Neurogenetics

Neurogenetics covers the genetic basis of nervous system development, structure, function, and dysfunction, emphasizing research on neurological disorders and genetic methodologies.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Carin Loewen2.9/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Carin Loewen

The workload included multiple weekly assignments and very long required study guides with many long-form questions, which some students found excessive.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Identify and summarize key concepts that underlie the genetic basis of nervous system development and function.

  • Explain specific examples of how genetic variation/mutation can alter cellular and molecular pathways to impact nervous system development and function, behavior, as well as cause neurological disorders and diseases.

  • Analyze and interpret primary data, discuss how this data supports current neurogenetic hypothesizes, and formulate research questions that build on this data and address remaining uncertainties.

  • Summarize experimental genetic and genomic techniques employed in neurogenetic research that utilize various model organisms, as well as humans.

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

GENETICS 466, 467,BIOCORE 587,ZOOLOGY/​PSYCH 523, or PSYCH 454

GENETICS 520

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

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

Carin Loewen

Adjusted rating
RMP 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: 2.8/5 raw quality · 3.8/5 difficulty · 4 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Carin Loewen

Students reported Dr. Carin Loewen assigned heavy weekly workloads, including long study guides, that felt disproportionate for a 2-credit course. Reviewers found tests unnecessarily difficult with unclear expectations and described the grading as tough.

Other students found Dr. Loewen kind, approachable, and passionate, noting she was quick to reply to emails. They described the online exams as doable with a good understanding of the content, despite finding the slides somewhat confusing.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.72 GPA, 88.1% A/AB (n=59 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.70 GPA, 86.0% A/AB (n=57 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.58 GPA, 83.1% A/AB (n=59 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

CARIN LOEWEN is recorded teaching in Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, 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 / 600

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

Students described the course material as interesting and found Dr. Loewen passionate and accommodating.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.72 GPA, 88.1% A/AB (n=59 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.70 GPA, 86.0% A/AB (n=57 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.58 GPA, 83.1% A/AB (n=59 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Carin Loewen

The workload included multiple weekly assignments and very long required study guides with many long-form questions, which some students found excessive.

Past student reviews · Carin Loewen

Opinions on the instructor varied; some students found her approachable and kind, while others criticized her time management and exam difficulty.

Topics

  • Genetic basis of nervous system development, structure, function, and dysfunction.
  • Current research findings on the genetic basis of specific neurological disorders.
  • Genetic methodologies and experimental approaches used in neurobiological research.

Skills

  • Identifying and summarizing key concepts underlying the genetic basis of nervous system development and function.
  • Explaining how genetic variation or mutation alters cellular and molecular pathways to impact nervous system development, function, and behavior.
  • Analyzing and interpreting primary data to support neurogenetic hypotheses and formulating research questions.
  • Summarizing experimental genetic and genomic techniques used in neurogenetic research with model organisms and humans.

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.

4 earlier forecasts · 0.05 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 520 · Spring 2027

Neurogenetics

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": "1274:412:024994",
    "course_id": "GENETICS 520",
    "course_uid": "course_b1523e5d03d6564c3b2f5049",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "024994",
    "source_subject_id": "412",
    "title": "Neurogenetics",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  }
]
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 2026-10-14

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": "384328c0179598fec050ee6b0c28e354825e3b70be2ee44cb779846381e87b0e",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}