Fall 2026

Couple Relationships

HDFS 517 explores theoretical perspectives and methodologies to understand how intimate relationships develop, thrive, or deteriorate over time.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Polina Levchenko2.8/5Paulina Wuestefeld

Summary

1 / 6

Workload is described as manageable with easy grades, but students must complete all requirements because the instructor is strict and does not offer leniency or clear explanations.

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

Sophomore standing

  • Sophomore standing
HDFS 517

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • Sophomore standing

Professors

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

Raw average: 2.04/5 from 24 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: 1.7/5 raw quality · 2.3/5 difficulty · 3 reviews

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

Polina Levchenko receives criticism for poor communication, including delayed assignment postings and unreturned emails, as well as slow grading and mandatory attendance with minimal instruction. While one reviewer found the course an easy A, others describe the experience as annoying and frustrating due to unclear expectations and strict point deductions.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2020: 3.71 GPA, 88.0% A/AB (n=50 letter grades); Spring 2022: 3.89 GPA, 95.8% A/AB (n=48 letter grades); Fall 2022: 3.71 GPA, 87.0% A/AB (n=46 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2025: 3.77 GPA, 85.0% A/AB (n=60 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.62 GPA, 85.7% A/AB (n=56 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

No reviews exist for current instructors Paulina Wuestefeld or Polina Levchenko. Historical reviews for Lauren Papp describe her as a great teacher who uses discussions to maintain engagement, though one reviewer found the lectures boring.

LAUREN PAPP is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PAULINA WUESTEFELD is recorded teaching in Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

POLINA LEVCHENKO is recorded teaching in Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Fall 2020, Spring 2022, 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 001Online Only75 / 750

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

Reviews for Polina Levchenko describe a frustrating experience marked by poor communication, delayed grading, and confusing assignment instructions, though one student noted the course was easy to get an A in.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.71 GPA, 88.1% A/AB (n=59 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.77 GPA, 85.0% A/AB (n=60 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.62 GPA, 85.7% A/AB (n=56 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Workload is described as manageable with easy grades, but students must complete all requirements because the instructor is strict and does not offer leniency or clear explanations.

Students report significant frustration with the instructor's lack of email responsiveness, slow feedback turnaround, and mandatory attendance policies where she lectures without engaging with the material.

Topics

  • Development and deterioration of intimate relationships
  • Theoretical perspectives and methodologies in relationship science
  • Challenges in forming and maintaining intimate relationships

Skills

  • Apply theoretical perspectives and methodologies to relationship science
  • Connect relationship science to real-life experiences

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 · 0.06 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
HDFS 517 · Fall 2026

Couple Relationships

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": "1272:230:021250",
    "course_id": "HDFS 517",
    "course_uid": "course_86fa1803eed8dbbac8593e43",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "021250",
    "source_subject_id": "230",
    "title": "Couple Relationships",
    "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 2026-09-07

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": "3a5b6610af1a1e1e139f23cbf97aa386a6ceff8648909809c0a9546aaa807e00",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}