Fall 2026

Play-development and Role Across the Lifespan

Examines the role and function of play and playfulness in promoting development across the lifespan.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Amy Wagner3.9/5Chenxiao Wang

Summary

1 / 6

Reviewers note that attendance is required and a textbook is necessary for the course.

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

HDFS 262(or HDFS 362 prior to Fall 2023),ED PSYCH 320, or PSYCH 460

HDFS 464

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

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.50/5 from 10 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: 5.0/5 raw quality · 2.3/5 difficulty · 4 reviews

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

Amy Wagner is consistently praised for her passion, compassion, and strong connection with students. Reviewers highlight her helpfulness and ability to make the material engaging and fun. She is described as an amazing and supportive instructor who cares deeply about student success.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.96 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=39 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.76 GPA, 91.9% A/AB (n=37 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.98 GPA, 97.6% A/AB (n=42 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviewer Jill Steinberg taught upper-level classes effectively by mixing PowerPoint lectures with games to maintain engagement. While the lectures could be boring, the reviewer noted that the instructor broke them up well, resulting in a positive experience.

AMY WAGNER is recorded teaching in Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JILL STEINBERG is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013. 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 Instruction39 / 400

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

Amy Wagner receives universal praise for her passion, compassion, and student support, with reviewers describing her as an amazing and highly recommended professor.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.96 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=39 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.76 GPA, 91.9% A/AB (n=37 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.98 GPA, 97.6% A/AB (n=42 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Reviewers note that attendance is required and a textbook is necessary for the course.

Students find the content on child development through play fascinating and perspective-changing, while appreciating the professor's understanding nature.

Topics

  • Play and playfulness in development
  • Lifespan development

Skills

  • Analyze the role and function of play in development.

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Fall 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Fall 2025 · 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

1320 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 464 · Fall 2026

Play-Development and Role Across the Lifespan

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": "1272:230:002907",
    "course_id": "HDFS 464",
    "course_uid": "course_a11055fc6ae711bdc933bf4e",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "002907",
    "source_subject_id": "230",
    "title": "Play-Development and Role Across the Lifespan",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Occasionally"
  }
]
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.

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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.

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Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "205430ddccc6b19d277f6dfa73b51b9af2db0967e55a2864d64c88199777902a",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}