Spring 2027

Applied Mathematical Analysis 2: Partial Differential Equations

Covers Sturm-Liouville theory, Fourier series, and linear second-order PDEs including separation of variables, eigenfunction expansions, and Green's functions.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Jean-Luc Thiffeault3.8/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Jean Luc Thiffeault

Homework was not bad, and tests gave a lot of partial credit while being drawn directly from the homework problems.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Recall and state the formal definitions, properties, techniques, and theorems associated to elementary partial differential equations (e.g., boundary value problem, linearity, eigenfunction, Fourier series, finite difference methods, etc.).

  • Verify if a mathematical object has a given property used in elementary partial differential equations (e.g., homogeneous vs. nonhomogeneous PDEs, symmetry, etc.)

  • Check the premises of theorems used in complex and vector calculus in order to apply their conclusions (e.g., that a finite series solution minimizes error, etc.).

  • Resolve algebraic statements and perform standard computations related to elementary partial differential equations (e.g., derive series solutions to a given PDE, apply the finite element method to approximate a PDE solution, etc.).

  • Express informal mathematical arguments in English using appropriate mathematical terminology and notation.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

MATH 321, 376, or graduate/professional standing

MATH 322 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. 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: 3.92/5 from 26 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: 3.0/5 raw quality · 3.0/5 difficulty · 1 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Jean Luc Thiffeault

Jean-Luc Thiffeault taught this course in past terms, with a student noting that lectures were good but they learned mostly from the book. The homework was not bad, and tests offered substantial partial credit and drew directly from the homework problems, making it easy to earn a good grade if you understood the material.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2018: 3.01 GPA, 40.0% A/AB (n=35 letter grades); Fall 2018: 3.38 GPA, 54.2% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Spring 2020: 3.33 GPA, 58.6% A/AB (n=29 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Saverio Spagnolie

Saverio Spagnolie relaxed course difficulty in response to student scores and graded exams and homework generously. He posted lecture notes, was available via Piazza or office hours, and conducted five-minute quizzes worth 20% of the grade. Students described his lectures as kinetic and digestible, noting that he made difficult content accessible while keeping exams reasonable.

ADRIAN TUDORASCU is recorded teaching in Spring 2009. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ANDREJ ZLATOS is recorded teaching in Fall 2010, Spring 2011. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

GERARDO HERNANDEZ-DUENAS is recorded teaching in Spring 2013. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JEAN-LUC THIFFEAULT is recorded teaching in Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2013, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

LESLIE SMITH is recorded teaching in Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2022, Spring 2024, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SAMUEL STECHMANN is recorded teaching in Spring 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SAVERIO SPAGNOLIE is recorded teaching in Fall 2024, 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

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 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

Past student reviews · Jean Luc Thiffeault

Jean-Luc Thiffeault’s lectures were rated good, but the student learned mostly from the textbook. They found the course manageable if they understood the material.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 2.93 GPA, 40.9% A/AB (n=22 letter grades); Spring 2025: 2.88 GPA, 52.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Spring 2026: 2.64 GPA, 30.3% A/AB (n=33 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Jean Luc Thiffeault

Homework was not bad, and tests gave a lot of partial credit while being drawn directly from the homework problems.

Past student reviews · Jean Luc Thiffeault

The student felt the instructor was not the best at offering helpful advice, though they described him as hilarious.

Topics

  • Sturm-Liouville theory
  • Fourier series and mean convergence
  • Initial and boundary value problems for linear second-order PDEs
  • Separation of variables and eigenfunction expansions
  • Fundamental solutions and Green's functions in multiple dimensions

Skills

  • Solving initial and boundary value problems using separation of variables and eigenfunction expansions
  • Applying fundamental solutions and Green's functions in multiple dimensions
  • Analyzing Sturm-Liouville theory and Fourier series with mean convergence

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
MATH 322 · Spring 2027

Applied Mathematical Analysis 2: Partial Differential Equations

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": "1274:600:011648",
    "course_id": "MATH 322",
    "course_uid": "course_82c0e2f81301acacf0a46a15",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "011648",
    "source_subject_id": "600",
    "title": "Applied Mathematical Analysis 2: Partial Differential Equations",
    "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 2026-10-14

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": "4cf3dcb00bf397c4ae661e02d9497fee3fadd329d93abe038b9002feef74c364",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}