Fall 2026

Code and Power

LIS 500: CODE AND POWER prepares students to analyze media portrayals of race, gender, and computing while developing PHP web scripting skills.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Reginold Royston2.6/5

Summary

1 / 6

Students report heavy self-study requirements, including watching extensive LinkedIn Learning videos and documentaries, with minimal direct instruction. The workload involves significant readings and films for short discussion posts, often accompanied by confusing module structures.

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

Junior standing

  • Junior standing
LIS 500

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • Junior standing

Professors

Fall 2026

Reginold Royston

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

Raw average: 1.64/5 from 22 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: 1.2/5 raw quality · 3.9/5 difficulty · 12 reviews

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

Reginold Royston is criticized for disorganized course materials, vague expectations, and harsh grading with minimal feedback. Reviewers describe his lectures as insufficient and his communication as unreliable, including missed Zoom sessions. One student found the self-directed components helpful, while others report a frustrating and poorly managed learning environment.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.50 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=57 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.41 GPA, 65.0% A/AB (n=40 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.72 GPA, 88.6% A/AB (n=44 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

REGINOLD ROYSTON is recorded teaching in Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Spring 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
LEC 001Online Only72 / 7522

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

Meeting source records

No records available.

Student experience

the class

Reviewers consistently describe Reginold Royston as a disorganized and harsh instructor with vague expectations and poor feedback. While one student found the class interesting, the majority report a frustrating and poorly managed course experience.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.41 GPA, 65.0% A/AB (n=40 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.71 GPA, 80.5% A/AB (n=41 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.72 GPA, 88.6% A/AB (n=44 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Students report heavy self-study requirements, including watching extensive LinkedIn Learning videos and documentaries, with minimal direct instruction. The workload involves significant readings and films for short discussion posts, often accompanied by confusing module structures.

The course is frequently criticized for messy Canvas organization, moved deadlines, and condescending or vague grading feedback. Students also report issues with missed Zoom sessions and a lack of inclusive environment despite the instructor's rhetoric.

Topics

  • Portrayal of race, gender and computing in media
  • PHP website development
  • Self-perception and contribution to computing industries

Skills

  • Design, develop, and discuss web scripting aspects related to PHP website development
  • Analyze and critique the portrayal of race, gender and computing in various media outlets

Grades

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

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

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
LIS 500 · Fall 2026

Code and Power

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": "1272:544:024621",
    "course_id": "LIS 500",
    "course_uid": "course_bab18d0357588b37625d2579",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "024621",
    "source_subject_id": "544",
    "title": "Code and Power",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

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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.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "a059cd75a49005c6989609747503ef1c0418af73f15bae7a19c2f949a20db4f0",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}