No course-specific feedback yet.
Fall 2026
Thermal Physics
Introduces thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, covering phase equilibrium, kinetic theory, and classical and quantum statistical mechanics.
Summary
1 / 7
Historical reviews of Vladimir Zhdankin: Exams are difficult but assignments prepare students well, with one review noting reasonable exam difficulty and another citing difficult exams.
Grade history
↗ average GPA
letter grades
letter grades
A
AB
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course map(PHYSICS 205, 241, 249, or PHYSICS/E C E 235) and PHYSICS 311, or graduate/professional standing
- take all
- graduate/professional standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Any of
- All of
- graduate/professional standing
Professors
Fall 2026No course-specific feedback yet.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Joshua Foster is the current instructor for PHYSICS 415. Historical reviews for Vladimir Zhdankin describe clear lectures and helpful office hours, though reviewers disagree on whether exams were difficult or reasonable.
MARK ERIKSSON is recorded teaching in Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
MARK RZCHOWSKI is recorded teaching in Spring 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
STEFAN WESTERHOFF is recorded teaching in Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2017. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
VLADIMIR ZHDANKIN is recorded teaching in 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
Fall 2026Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | Classroom Instruction | 30 / 46 | 0 |
| DIS 301 | Classroom Instruction | 18 / 23 | 0 |
| DIS 302 | Classroom Instruction | 12 / 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 Vladimir Zhdankin: Vladimir Zhdankin provides clear lectures and helpful notes, making the course accessible despite difficult exams that assignments prepare students for.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.16 GPA, 50.9% A/AB (n=57 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.12 GPA, 43.9% A/AB (n=41 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.14 GPA, 47.8% A/AB (n=46 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Historical reviews of Vladimir Zhdankin: Exams are difficult but assignments prepare students well, with one review noting reasonable exam difficulty and another citing difficult exams.
Historical reviews of Vladimir Zhdankin: Students value Zhdankin's office hours and practice exams, finding the support helpful for navigating the challenging material and exam preparation.
Topics
Skills
Grades
Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Fall 2026.
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
Thermal 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": "1272:754:015627",
"course_id": "PHYSICS 415",
"course_uid": "course_d1341e0b9824e63e21c5b17b",
"term_id": "1272",
"source_course_id": "015627",
"source_subject_id": "754",
"title": "Thermal Physics",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
}
]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": "80b3f025bc2e9dd5063b2ec93f09adeb3707d976e32952eeecceefc01e9309e2",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}