Spring 2027

Engineering Measurements and Instrumentation

Engineering Measurements and Instrumentation covers modern instrumentation theory, experiment design and execution, and data analysis. Labs focus on hypothesis testing, product evaluation, and control system design.

offering recorded4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Scott Sanders3.5/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Scott Sanders

Students expected to spend a lot of time on homework and labs, with the course involving vague troubleshooting tasks.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Use common sensors such as thermocouples, thermistors, microphones and strain gauges to make engineering measurements

  • Set up a digital data acquisition system to record, analyze and effectively display experimental data

  • Calculate the uncertainty of a measurement and take action to reduce uncertainty through calibration and noise reduction

  • Analyze an experiment and the results; troubleshoot any errors or deviations from expected theoretical values

  • Analyze and interpret data in the frequency domain

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

(M E 306 orE M A 303),M E 361, 340, and (E C E 376, 230, orM E 376)

ME 368

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: 3.36/5 from 28 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: 1.5/5 raw quality · 3.0/5 difficulty · 2 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Scott Sanders

Scott Sanders taught the course with a focus on troubleshooting, which students noted made some assignments vague. One student reported spending significant time on homework and labs, stating that they should not expect much feedback or help from the instructor. The course was described as not fun but required.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2022: 3.46 GPA, 64.9% A/AB (n=111 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.39 GPA, 59.4% A/AB (n=128 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.51 GPA, 75.7% A/AB (n=173 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Danny Aerts

Historical student feedback for Danny Aerts described labs as a large portion of the grade with varying difficulty, while lectures were considered straightforward but unengaging. Reviewers noted that Aerts graded promptly and fairly, with one student finding him patient in lab and lenient on the final lab assessment.

DANNY AERTS is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Spring 2011, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Spring 2015. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SCOTT SANDERS is recorded teaching in Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Spring 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2022, Fall 2024, Fall 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 / 980
LAB 301Classroom Instruction0 / 240
LAB 304Classroom Instruction0 / 240
LAB 305Classroom Instruction0 / 240
LAB 302Classroom Instruction0 / 240

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 · Scott Sanders

Students described the course as a required, unfun experience with vague troubleshooting components, though they noted Scott Sanders enjoyed the subject matter.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.79 GPA, 90.4% A/AB (n=114 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.51 GPA, 75.7% A/AB (n=173 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.79 GPA, 90.0% A/AB (n=120 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Scott Sanders

Students expected to spend a lot of time on homework and labs, with the course involving vague troubleshooting tasks.

Past student reviews · Scott Sanders

Reviewers indicated that students should not expect much feedback or help from the instructor, despite his enthusiasm for the subject.

Topics

  • Modern instrumentation theory
  • Design and execution of experiments
  • Analysis of experimental data
  • Experimental design for hypothesis testing, product evaluation, and control system design

Skills

  • Using sensors like thermocouples, thermistors, microphones, and strain gauges for engineering measurements
  • Setting up digital data acquisition systems to record, analyze, and display experimental data
  • Calculating measurement uncertainty and reducing it via calibration and noise reduction
  • Analyzing experiments and troubleshooting errors or deviations from theoretical values
  • Analyzing and interpreting data in the frequency domain

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 · 0.30 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.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
ME 368 · Spring 2027

Engineering Measurements and Instrumentation

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": "1274:612:012001",
    "course_id": "ME 368",
    "course_uid": "course_5e431c462635aa7dbe86d6d9",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "012001",
    "source_subject_id": "612",
    "title": "Engineering Measurements and Instrumentation",
    "credits_min": 4,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "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 1Download part 2
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "3d21574fcf03ebb7a3642d37d6d075ac267cb3d89d6743bd288e110e1e746e84",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}