Fall 2026

The Microbial World

MICROBIO 100 introduces non-science majors to the roles of microorganisms in nature, health, and ecology, covering disease principles and biotechnology.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 5

Historical reviews of Timothy Paustian: Reviewers describe advanced material and difficult exams, often requiring mandatory attendance and navigating buggy online tools. One student noted a light workload with simple discussion posts.

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

Not open to students with credit forMICROBIO 101 or 303.

MICROBIO 100

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

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Fall 2026

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews of Timothy Paustian: Timothy Paustian teaches MICROBIO 100 with highly polarized outcomes. Most reviewers describe the course as unexpectedly difficult, citing confusing exams, mandatory attendance, and a self-published textbook with technical issues. One student found the class easy with clear grading, though this view is an outlier among the majority of negative feedback.

TIMOTHY PAUSTIAN is recorded teaching in Fall 2023, 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

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

Meeting source records

No records available.

Student experience

the class

Historical reviews of Timothy Paustian: Timothy Paustian's MICROBIO 100 reviews are sharply divided. Most students report a challenging course with confusing assessments, while one reviewer found the class straightforward and easy.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.60 GPA, 76.8% A/AB (n=233 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.56 GPA, 75.8% A/AB (n=326 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.38 GPA, 65.3% A/AB (n=308 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of Timothy Paustian: Reviewers describe advanced material and difficult exams, often requiring mandatory attendance and navigating buggy online tools. One student noted a light workload with simple discussion posts.

Historical reviews of Timothy Paustian: Students frequently criticize Paustian for rambling lectures, rudeness, and requiring his own textbook. Others note he is funny but uses strict proctoring, while one appreciated his accessible teaching style.

Topics

  • Roles of microorganisms and viruses in nature, health, agriculture, pollution control and ecology
  • Principles of disease production, epidemiology and body defense mechanisms
  • Biotechnology and the genetic engineering revolution

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
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

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.

Selected offering source records

No offering records for the selected term.

Raw records
[]
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Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "dfc4581d47945bc2e22fb79339c9e0affbf47c54a631c220a3a04b2840ca5cf5",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}