Fall 2026

Design Practicum

Introduction to design through the invention, fabrication, and testing of a device solving a real-world client problem.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Tracy Puccinelli3.8/5Darilis Suarez-Gonzalez3.5/5JT Striebel3.4/5 +7 more

Summary

1 / 7

The course is described as easy with grades dependent on a group project, though some students found early assignments redundant and the final project rushed.

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
INTEREGR 170

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

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

Raw average: 3.89/5 from 18 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: 3.9/5 raw quality · 1.8/5 difficulty · 16 reviews

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

Tracy Puccinelli is praised as caring, kind, and supportive, with students noting her passion and willingness to help outside class. Reviewers highlight her patience and concern for student well-being, particularly in labs where she provides encouragement and resources.

Some students find her lectures unentertaining, boring, or useless, with one noting they nearly fell asleep. These reviewers suggest attendance is low because slides are posted and lectures feel like a waste of time compared to labs or projects.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.94 GPA, 97.9% A/AB (n=190 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.97 GPA, 99.5% A/AB (n=199 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.99 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=192 letter grades).

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

Raw average: 2.75/5 from 4 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: 4.0/5 raw quality · 3.0/5 difficulty · 1 reviews

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

No course-specific feedback yet.

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

Raw average: 2.92/5 from 12 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.

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Kathryn Kalscheur’s historical reviews present conflicting views on clarity. Some reviewers report she outlined requirements clearly and offered constructive advice, while one reviewer found expectations unclear and nitpicky. Others highlight her kindness and support for ensuring equitable group work contributions.

AMIT NIMUNKAR is recorded teaching in Fall 2016, Spring 2017. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

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

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

TRACY PUCCINELLI is recorded teaching in Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, 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

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LAB 301Classroom Instruction14 / 220
LAB 305Classroom Instruction25 / 250
LAB 306Classroom Instruction16 / 220
LAB 308Classroom Instruction14 / 220
LEC 001Classroom Instruction213 / 2580
LAB 302Classroom Instruction25 / 250
LAB 304Classroom Instruction24 / 250
LAB 307Classroom Instruction24 / 250
LAB 303Classroom Instruction25 / 250
LAB 309Classroom Instruction21 / 250
LAB 310Classroom Instruction25 / 250

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

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Reviewers describe Tracy Puccinelli as caring, kind, and passionate about engineering, noting her supportive nature and willingness to help students outside of lecture.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.94 GPA, 97.9% A/AB (n=190 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.97 GPA, 99.5% A/AB (n=199 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.99 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=192 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

The course is described as easy with grades dependent on a group project, though some students found early assignments redundant and the final project rushed.

Lectures are frequently criticized as boring or unengaging, while the lab component is consistently highlighted as fun, engaging, and a valuable learning experience.

Topics

  • Device invention, fabrication, and testing
  • Information retrieval and specification writing
  • Creativity enhancement and analysis techniques
  • Scheduling, selection, cost estimating, and sustainability
  • Shop safety and engineering ethics
  • Fabrication equipment and techniques
  • Engineering student opportunities and major exploration

Skills

  • Design and fabrication of client-specified devices
  • Information retrieval and specification writing
  • Creativity methods, analysis, scheduling, and cost estimation
  • Shop safety and engineering ethics
  • Oral and written communication

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.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
INTEREGR 170 · Fall 2026

Design Practicum

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": "1272:496:024497",
    "course_id": "INTEREGR 170",
    "course_uid": "course_ccd8530122b794ce90ec0b5d",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "024497",
    "source_subject_id": "496",
    "title": "Design Practicum",
    "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
Download part 1
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": "4c3d4e04e3e4ef7d0c49ba6a920be33c525ce6a525bf0d3b9561ebe2ef386ed1",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}