Spring 2027

The Digital Age

Introduction to the history of computers from the 1940s to present, covering major developments in computer science and technology in historical context and recent trends in computing and society.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Devin Kennedy

Weekly work involved doable multiple readings and a short graded response. One student noted that skipping the textbook reading still allowed them to pass with an A.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Identify key technological developments, periods, and themes in the history of computing

  • Analyze primary cultural and technical sources from the history of technology in the 20th century

  • Engage ongoing developments in computer science and digital technology with historical and critical perspective

  • Write and speak conscientiously about digital technology’s effects in society

  • Recognize factors that contribute to technological change

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

None

  • None
HISTSCI 150

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

DEVIN KENNEDY is recorded teaching in Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2024. 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

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Devin Kennedy

Students described the course as simple and manageable, with a clear assessment structure consisting of a midterm, final, weekly reading responses, and one op-ed paper.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2022: 3.76 GPA, 93.0% A/AB (n=229 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.75 GPA, 88.8% A/AB (n=276 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.68 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=38 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Devin Kennedy

Weekly work involved doable multiple readings and a short graded response. One student noted that skipping the textbook reading still allowed them to pass with an A.

Past student reviews · Devin Kennedy

While Professor Kennedy was perceived as nice, one student found the grading scale harsh, noting that underperforming on any single assignment made it difficult to achieve an A.

Topics

  • History of the computer from the 1940s to the present day
  • Major developments in computer science and technology in their historical contexts
  • Institutions, scientists, workers, and social movements that invented, facilitated, and transformed digital technology

Skills

  • Identify key technological developments, periods, and themes in the history of computing
  • Analyze primary cultural and technical sources from the history of technology in the 20th century
  • Write and speak conscientiously about digital technology’s effects in society
  • Recognize factors that contribute to technological change

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
C
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

No offering records for the selected term.

Raw records 
[]
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
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Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "e0e0e5aa3b4920114d43b288830d810655bf20091b569fcbf74d8d10ae824157",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}