Spring 2027

Electronic AIDS to Measurement

Covers fundamentals of electronics, electronic elements, and basic circuits combined into measuring instruments. Students build circuit blocks like amplifiers, phase detectors, and logic gates.

offering recorded4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Mitch McNanna3.8/5Victor Brar3.5/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Dan McCammon

The course covered advanced topics rapidly, which some students found confusing due to the fast pace of instruction.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Use electronics to make sensitive measurements in the lab.

  • Build circuit blocks such as amplifiers, phase detectors, and logic gates using standard components.

  • Recognize unexpected circuit behavior and troubleshoot it systematically.

  • Understand the origins of circuit problems like noise, interference, and grounding issues and design circuits to minimize them.

  • Assemble custom-built circuit blocks and pre-made integrated circuit chips to carry out arbitrary logic.

  • Simulate and analyze complex logic circuits using dedicated software.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

(PHYSICS 202, 208, or 248) and (MATH 234 or 376), or graduate/professional standing

PHYSICS 623

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

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 5.00/5 from 3 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 — Spring 2024: 3.55 GPA, 81.8% A/AB (n=11 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.70 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Victor Brar

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.27/5 from 11 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 2018: 3.50 GPA, 61.1% A/AB (n=18 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

MITCH MCNANNA is recorded teaching in Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

VICTOR BRAR is recorded teaching in Fall 2018. 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

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 280
LAB 301Classroom Instruction0 / 140
LAB 302Classroom Instruction0 / 140

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

Past student reviews · Dan McCammon

Students found the graduate-level content challenging but noted that the instructor's office hours helped clarify difficult concepts.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 3.41 GPA, 62.5% A/AB (n=16 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.55 GPA, 81.8% A/AB (n=11 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.70 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Dan McCammon

The course covered advanced topics rapidly, which some students found confusing due to the fast pace of instruction.

Past student reviews · Dan McCammon

Despite the fast pace, students appreciated that the instructor was always ready to help during office hours, leading to significant learning.

Topics

  • Fundamentals of electronics, electronic elements, and basic circuits
  • Circuit blocks including amplifiers, phase detectors, and logic gates
  • Circuit problems: noise, interference, and grounding issues
  • Arbitrary logic using custom circuit blocks and integrated circuit chips

Skills

  • Making sensitive measurements in the lab using electronics
  • Building circuit blocks like amplifiers, phase detectors, and logic gates
  • Systematically troubleshooting unexpected circuit behavior
  • Designing circuits to minimize noise, interference, and grounding issues
  • Assembling custom circuit blocks and IC chips for arbitrary logic
  • Simulating and analyzing complex logic circuits with dedicated software

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

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

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 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.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
PHYSICS 623 · Spring 2027

Electronic Aids to Measurement

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:754:015661",
    "course_id": "PHYSICS 623",
    "course_uid": "course_3896d5f4d3f708994b298a89",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "015661",
    "source_subject_id": "754",
    "title": "Electronic Aids to Measurement",
    "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
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "a2523a8c24646b921e73f24263705f4499e0c7377df4ab543bdb87defd2898ab",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}