Fall 2026

A Modern Introduction to Physics

A continuation of PHYSICS 247 covering electromagnetism, circuits, optics, and modern physics with computational methods.

offering recorded5 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Robin ChisholmRogerio Cabete De Jesus Jorge

Summary

1 / 7

Historical reviews of Brian Rebel, Michael Winokur, Yibin Pan: Exams are described as incredibly difficult, though some instructors curve grades generously. The workload includes dense textbook chapters and substantial homework, requiring students to dedicate significant time to digesting the material and staying engaged with lectures.

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

PHYSICS 247 and (MATH 234 or concurrent enrollment or MATH 376 or concurrent enrollment)

PHYSICS 248 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
Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Current instructor Rogerio Cabete De Jesus Jorge has no reviews. Historical reviews for Yibin Pan describe a passionate but polarizing lecturer who uses demos and slides, with students disagreeing on his clarity and accessibility. Michael Winokur was caring but disorganized, while Brian Rebel was clear and helpful with dense material.

BRIAN REBEL is recorded teaching in Spring 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

DUNCAN CARLSMITH is recorded teaching in Spring 2011, Spring 2013, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MICHAEL WINOKUR is recorded teaching in Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

YIBIN PAN is recorded teaching in Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, 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

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction23 / 460
LAB 601Classroom Instruction23 / 240
DIS 301Classroom Instruction23 / 240
LAB 603Classroom Instruction0 / 00
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 00

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

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Historical reviews of Brian Rebel, Michael Winokur, Yibin Pan: Instructors like Rebel and Pan are praised for clear explanations and passion, while Winokur is noted for being caring but disorganized. Students generally find the material challenging but manageable with effort and supplemental resources.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.83 GPA, 94.3% A/AB (n=53 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.53 GPA, 78.1% A/AB (n=32 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.29 GPA, 51.1% A/AB (n=47 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of Brian Rebel, Michael Winokur, Yibin Pan: Exams are described as incredibly difficult, though some instructors curve grades generously. The workload includes dense textbook chapters and substantial homework, requiring students to dedicate significant time to digesting the material and staying engaged with lectures.

Historical reviews of Brian Rebel, Michael Winokur, Yibin Pan: Supportive instructors like Rebel and Pan are praised for caring about student success, though Pan's accessibility is mixed. Students find value in using textbooks and study resources, while others struggle with instructors who are inaccessible online or fail to respond to questions effectively.

Topics

  • Electromagnetism, circuits, optics, and modern physics.

Skills

  • Computational methods in physics.

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.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
PHYSICS 248 · Fall 2026

A Modern Introduction to Physics

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": "1272:754:021404",
    "course_id": "PHYSICS 248",
    "course_uid": "course_ac5b0db3a3b0f72a3723ac9e",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "021404",
    "source_subject_id": "754",
    "title": "A Modern Introduction to Physics",
    "credits_min": 5,
    "credits_max": 5,
    "typically_offered": "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 2026-09-07

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": "8b07471ce8c5f24301754461ae4e5038ea508333dca1cd50d433d2c31c4692de",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}