Fall 2026

General Microbiology

GENERAL MICROBIOLOGY surveys microorganisms, covering their structure, function, ecology, and applied aspects in medical and industrial fields.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Katrina Forest3.6/5Briana Burton3.6/5Collin Kieffer

Summary

1 / 6

Students must read the textbook extensively because slides lack content, and exams test deep knowledge of topics covered only briefly or not at all in class.

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

CHEM 103, 108, 109, or 115. Not open to students with credit forMICROBIO 303

MICROBIO 101 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

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.56/5 from 9 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: 2.3/5 raw quality · 5.0/5 difficulty · 3 reviews

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

Katrina Forest is praised for her passion and clear lecturing style, with one reviewer calling her the best lecturer in the course. However, she is criticized for providing minimal content in slides and expecting heavy textbook reading.

Reviewers consistently report that her exams are extremely challenging and difficult, often covering material not discussed in class or presented in confusing ways. This disconnect between lectures and assessments leads to poor student performance despite her engaging teaching.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2025: 3.05 GPA, 44.3% A/AB (n=370 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.09 GPA, 46.7% A/AB (n=353 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.50/5 from 6 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 — Fall 2025: 3.05 GPA, 44.3% A/AB (n=370 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.09 GPA, 46.7% A/AB (n=353 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews for Betty Slinger highlight her as a passionate and effective lecturer who aligns learning objectives clearly with exams. Students value her efficiency and willingness to meet outside of class, describing her teaching as clear and helpful.

BETTY SLINGER is recorded teaching in Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

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

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

MICHELLE RONDON is recorded teaching in Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

TIMOTHY PAUSTIAN 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

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction405 / 4201

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

Katrina Forest is described as a passionate lecturer with an engaging style, but her exams are reported to be significantly harder than the lectures suggest.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.27 GPA, 52.8% A/AB (n=301 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.05 GPA, 44.3% A/AB (n=370 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.09 GPA, 46.7% A/AB (n=353 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Students must read the textbook extensively because slides lack content, and exams test deep knowledge of topics covered only briefly or not at all in class.

One reviewer found exam questions confusingly worded and suggested other professors are fairer, while another appreciated the lecture style despite the grading difficulty.

Topics

  • Microbial structure, function, ecology, nutrition, physiology, and genetics.
  • Applied microbiology including medical, agricultural, food, and industrial applications.

Skills

  • Understanding applied microbiology in medical, agricultural, food, and industrial contexts.

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · 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 · 0.10 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 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.

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Selected offering source records
MICROBIO 101 · Fall 2026

General Microbiology

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": "1272:192:001593",
    "course_id": "MICROBIO 101",
    "course_uid": "course_33598f09781fa5dbdd045075",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "001593",
    "source_subject_id": "192",
    "title": "General Microbiology",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  }
]
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

Download the original dataset
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": "addcd7225f73d1cbcd9d5a295d97b9d98aa6c968546665a4a978abe316fe532d",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}