Spring 2027

Research Methods in Human Development and Family Studies

Research Methods in Human Development and Family Studies covers basics of research design for family studies and individual development, including quantitative, qualitative, participatory action, and evaluation research.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Janean Dilworth-Bart3.6/5

Summary

1 / 5

Past student reviews · Janean Dilworth-Bart

Success required a good deal of studying and reading, with attendance and note-taking essential for achieving high grades on difficult exams.

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

HDFS 262,ED PSYCH 320,PSYCH 460, or HDFS 263

HDFS 425

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

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.33/5 from 3 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.

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

Past student reviews · Janean Dilworth-Bart

Janean Dilworth-Bart delivered fast-paced lectures, with one student noting she covered only 10 slides while students remained responsible for all material. The course was described as difficult, requiring significant studying, though she was also considered intelligent and friendly.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2018: 3.77 GPA, 93.8% A/AB (n=80 letter grades); Spring 2019: 3.67 GPA, 83.8% A/AB (n=68 letter grades); Fall 2019: 3.35 GPA, 58.1% A/AB (n=43 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Jennifer Putney

Jennifer Putney structured the online course with weekly reading assignments, quizzes, and discussion posts. Students learned research methods and worked in groups to find papers for exploring a chosen topic. The student found the course straightforward and noted that Putney was kind and clearly cared about student success.

AOSAI LIU is recorded teaching in Fall 2024, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

CAROLYN LIESEN is recorded teaching in Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JANEAN DILWORTH-BART is recorded teaching in Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JENNIFER PUTNEY is recorded teaching in Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 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 / 350
LEC 002Classroom Instruction0 / 350

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 · Janean Dilworth-Bart

Students described Dilworth-Bart as a good, intelligent, and friendly lecturer who expects a lot from her students.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.95 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=39 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.94 GPA, 97.9% A/AB (n=48 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.75 GPA, 88.6% A/AB (n=44 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Janean Dilworth-Bart

Success required a good deal of studying and reading, with attendance and note-taking essential for achieving high grades on difficult exams.

Past student reviews · Janean Dilworth-Bart

Despite the fast pace, one student found the instructor approachable and appreciated that she made the class more interesting.

Topics

  • Research design in family studies and individual development over the life course.
  • Quantitative, qualitative, participatory action, and evaluation research designs.
  • Application of research to intervention and prevention programs.

Skills

  • Research design for family studies and individual development over the life course.
  • Application of quantitative, qualitative, participatory action, and evaluation research designs.
  • Understanding how research informs intervention and prevention programs.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
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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

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.

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Selected offering source records
HDFS 425 · Spring 2027

Research Methods in Human Development and Family Studies

Recorded 2026-10-29
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261029T213040-0fa85c20",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-29 21:30:40.248904+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:230:022678",
    "course_id": "HDFS 425",
    "course_uid": "course_42ff0509640f8cab240f4ca0",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "022678",
    "source_subject_id": "230",
    "title": "Research Methods in Human Development and Family Studies",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, 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 2026-10-29

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": "16f0315c4ff74d7b0697af419ffcfe4c2cd7816115075f95815b9888ce80eee9",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "c9cd06eaa45f9ddf7e69faa38b89ff3d3dd995dd",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-29 21:30:40.248904+00:00"
}