Fall 2026

Digital Media and Science Communication

LSC 440 explores digital and networked communication tools, social implications of media, and public engagement with controversial scientific issues for communication careers.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Michael Xenos3.9/5Jessica Maki

Summary

1 / 6

The course project is split into manageable parts, and the instructor helps resolve group work issues.

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

Satisfied Communications A or graduate/professional standing

    • Satisfied Communications A or graduate/professional standing
    • Satisfied Communications A or graduate/professional standing
    take one
LSC 440

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • Any of
    • Satisfied Communications A or graduate/professional standing
    • Satisfied Communications A or graduate/professional standing

Professors

Fall 2026
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.27/5 from 15 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: 5.0/5 raw quality · 3.0/5 difficulty · 2 reviews

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

Michael Xenos is described as caring, enthusiastic, and responsive to student questions. Reviewers appreciate his passion for the subject and his supportive approach to helping students succeed, particularly in managing group work and project components.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 3.75 GPA, 90.6% A/AB (n=64 letter grades); Fall 2023: 3.89 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=50 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.71 GPA, 80.5% A/AB (n=41 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

MICHAEL XENOS is recorded teaching in Fall 2019, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2025. 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 001Classroom Instruction30 / 400

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

Michael Xenos is a caring and enthusiastic instructor who wants students to succeed, making LSC 440 an enjoyable experience for beginners.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 3.75 GPA, 90.6% A/AB (n=64 letter grades); Fall 2023: 3.89 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=50 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.71 GPA, 80.5% A/AB (n=41 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

The course project is split into manageable parts, and the instructor helps resolve group work issues.

Students appreciate Xenos's responsiveness and passion, finding lectures and readings fascinating while valuing his support.

Topics

  • Digital and networked communication tools
  • Social implications of digital media
  • Classical communication theories
  • Public engagement with controversial scientific issues

Skills

  • Navigating digital and networked communication tools
  • Understanding and evaluating social implications of digital media
  • Analyzing implications for public engagement with controversial scientific issues

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2025— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

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 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2025 · 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

1289 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 440 · Fall 2026

Digital Media and Science Communication

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": "1272:120:000611",
    "course_id": "LSC 440",
    "course_uid": "course_2c19c96e1ce94b072c025245",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "000611",
    "source_subject_id": "120",
    "title": "Digital Media and Science Communication",
    "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

View the dataset on Hugging Face
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": "f194da1de2f62bac2e04715e91ca2d63c7f20051a8609420d409526a1b32ad75",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}