Spring 2027

Science and Storytelling

Science and Storytelling covers fundamentals of effective written and spoken communication, developing skills in gathering/evaluating information, writing research papers, and delivering oral presentations.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Dominique Brossard3.7/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Sheila Reaves

The class was characterized as easy overall, with students noting that the course structure relied heavily on teaching assistants rather than direct professor instruction.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Explore the many ways of knowing, such as the power of storytelling and its impact on science, empathy and communication skills

  • Think critically about quality evidence: distinguishing opinions from facts; good arguments from logical fallacies; develop humility in advancing one’s point of view in a multicultural society

  • Craft college-level essays attending to paragraph and sentence structures, effective transitions

  • Give appropriate feedback to classmates for oral presentations and peer review of writing; learning thoughtful feedback and how to appreciate others’ points of view as intellectual curiosity grows

  • Develop intellectual confidence by recognizing academic best practices ranging from introducing evidence to documenting sources and avoiding plagiarism

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

Students required to take the MSN ESLAT cannot enroll until theESL 118requirement is satisfied

LSC 100

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

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.86/5 from 7 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.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2019: 3.68 GPA, 83.1% A/AB (n=219 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.78 GPA, 91.1% A/AB (n=246 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.66 GPA, 81.0% A/AB (n=121 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

DOMINIQUE BROSSARD is recorded teaching in Spring 2019, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SHIELA REAVES is recorded teaching in Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018. 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
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 160
LEC 002Classroom Instruction0 / 160
LEC 003Classroom Instruction0 / 160
LEC 006Classroom Instruction0 / 160
LEC 012Classroom Instruction0 / 160
LEC 015Classroom Instruction0 / 160
LEC 004Classroom Instruction0 / 160
LEC 017Classroom Instruction0 / 160
LEC 005Classroom Instruction0 / 160
LEC 007Classroom Instruction0 / 160

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

Past student reviews · Sheila Reaves

Students described the course as easy, though one noted the professor rarely taught directly, making the experience heavily reliant on teaching assistants.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.74 GPA, 87.8% A/AB (n=181 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.78 GPA, 91.1% A/AB (n=246 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.66 GPA, 81.0% A/AB (n=121 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Sheila Reaves

The class was characterized as easy overall, with students noting that the course structure relied heavily on teaching assistants rather than direct professor instruction.

Past student reviews · Sheila Reaves

One student found the historical instructor frustrating, reporting that she contradicted herself during instructions and interrupted group discussions with what they considered pointless questions.

Topics

  • Effective written and spoken communication
  • Gathering and evaluating information
  • Writing research papers and documents
  • Preparing and delivering oral presentations
  • Storytelling and its impact on science, empathy, and communication
  • Crafting college-level essays with attention to structure and transitions

Skills

  • Gathering and evaluating information, writing research papers, and preparing and delivering oral presentations
  • Critical thinking about evidence, distinguishing opinions from facts, and identifying logical fallacies
  • Recognizing academic best practices including documenting sources and avoiding plagiarism

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · 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 Spring 2027

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
LSC 100 · Spring 2027

Science and Storytelling

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:120:000600",
    "course_id": "LSC 100",
    "course_uid": "course_02f9b1bc5eb6b6337116c588",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "000600",
    "source_subject_id": "120",
    "title": "Science and Storytelling",
    "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 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "3f00d7e71188e3f630ca33f357104847cb09d871cce434b347011c5cfdc0550b",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}