Recent recorded grades — Fall 2012: 3.15 GPA, 48.1% A/AB (n=27 letter grades); Fall 2018: 3.24 GPA, 55.8% A/AB (n=43 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.
Fall 2026
A Modern Introduction to Physics
A modern physics course covering quantum mechanics, nuclear, particle, condensed matter, and atomic physics.
Summary
1 / 7
Historical reviews of Jeffrey Schmidt, Peter Timbie: Peter Timbie’s exams were described as incredibly difficult and unrelated to homework, while Jeffrey Schmidt’s course required copying formulas from practice exams to succeed.
Grade history
↗ average GPA
letter grades
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F
All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapPHYSICS 248
“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 2026No course-specific feedback yet.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Historical reviews for Duncan Carlsmith describe a teaching-oriented instructor who supports student projects and provides fair exams. While some students found his engaging style and career mentorship highly motivating, others reported wasting their time in his course.
DUNCAN CARLSMITH is recorded teaching in Fall 2011, Fall 2013, Fall 2014. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
JEFFREY SCHMIDT is recorded teaching in Fall 2023, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
MATTHEW F HERNDON is recorded teaching in Fall 2012, Fall 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
PETER TIMBIE is recorded teaching in Fall 2015. 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 2026Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | Classroom Instruction | 33 / 46 | 0 |
| DIS 302 | Classroom Instruction | 22 / 23 | 0 |
| DIS 303 | Classroom Instruction | 11 / 23 | 0 |
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Historical reviews of Jeffrey Schmidt: Jeffrey Schmidt is highly rated for his engaging lectures and helpfulness, though some students find the fast pace and unclear grading challenging.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.33 GPA, 60.9% A/AB (n=23 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.39 GPA, 62.5% A/AB (n=40 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.18 GPA, 32.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Historical reviews of Jeffrey Schmidt, Peter Timbie: Peter Timbie’s exams were described as incredibly difficult and unrelated to homework, while Jeffrey Schmidt’s course required copying formulas from practice exams to succeed.
Historical reviews of Duncan Carlsmith: Duncan Carlsmith was praised for his teaching orientation, career mentorship, and engaging style, with students noting his willingness to help and discuss physics careers.
Topics
Skills
Grades
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.
6 earlier forecasts · 0.09 GPA average error.
Grades over time
Through Fall 2026
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Fall 2026 in UW–Madison.
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
A Modern Introduction to Physics
Recorded 2026-09-07Raw records
[
{
"run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
"semester": "1272",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"offering_id": "1272:754:021497",
"course_id": "PHYSICS 249",
"course_uid": "course_e8cfa648b149ecdf80de2aa5",
"term_id": "1272",
"source_course_id": "021497",
"source_subject_id": "754",
"title": "A Modern Introduction to Physics",
"credits_min": 4,
"credits_max": 4,
"typically_offered": "Fall"
}
]Rate My Professors
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 gradesModel 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": "55873813d47a5eec5e7532be1feb338301ba7b0b1e92cfd638ca6b07d9d44e1e",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}