Spring 2027

Child Development

Covers biological and behavioral foundations of human development, emphasizing experiments and data-driven approaches across prenatal, cognitive, social, and atypical domains.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Jenny Saffran4.4/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Jenny Saffran

Assessment included three multiple-choice exams and a quiz. While textbook readings were assigned, students reported they were primarily needed for specific papers and projects rather than all exams.

What you’ll be able to do

  • identify and summarize major theories in the area of child development

  • interpret commonly-used research designs in developmental psychology

  • critique conclusions drawn from research studies

  • Collect and analyze data related to real-world child research

  • link research on child development to policy and practice

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

PSYCH 202

PSYCH 460 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

Spring 2027

Jenny Saffran

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.83/5 from 30 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: 4.9/5 raw quality · 2.6/5 difficulty · 10 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Jenny Saffran

Jenny Saffran taught three multiple-choice exams, a quiz, and an easy project, with assessments focusing on applying concepts rather than memorization. Students found the exams fair and noted she held review sessions before each one. The course offered several extra credit opportunities to boost grades, though lecture slides were not posted.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2018: 3.20 GPA, 50.8% A/AB (n=193 letter grades); Spring 2020: 3.77 GPA, 87.2% A/AB (n=180 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.20 GPA, 51.3% A/AB (n=187 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Ronald Pomper, Eren Fukuda

Past students described Ronald Pomper and Eren Fukuda as engaging lecturers. Pomper provided detailed study guides for exams and required minimal work outside of class, while Fukuda emphasized assigned textbook readings and offered opportunities for extra points. Fukuda was noted for being caring and accessible outside of class, with reviewers finding her structured slides easy to follow. Both instructors were highly recommended by students who found their teaching styles effective for the course material.

CHELSEA ANDREWS is recorded teaching in Fall 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

EREN FUKUDA is recorded teaching in Fall 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JENNY SAFFRAN is recorded teaching in Spring 2018, Spring 2020, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

KARL ROSENGREN is recorded teaching in Fall 2017, Fall 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

LILIA RISSMAN is recorded teaching in Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

RONALD POMPER is recorded teaching in Spring 2019. 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 / 2850
LEC 002Classroom Instruction0 / 150
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 150

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

Past student reviews · Jenny Saffran

Jenny Saffran taught with evident passion, keeping lectures engaging and clearly outlining assessment expectations. Students found her approachable and supportive throughout the semester.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.20 GPA, 51.3% A/AB (n=187 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.85 GPA, 89.6% A/AB (n=173 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.54 GPA, 74.3% A/AB (n=292 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Jenny Saffran

Assessment included three multiple-choice exams and a quiz. While textbook readings were assigned, students reported they were primarily needed for specific papers and projects rather than all exams.

Past student reviews · Jenny Saffran

Students appreciated the multiple extra credit opportunities available to boost grades. Assignments were described as interesting and manageable, with fair exams and helpful review sessions before testing.

Topics

  • Prenatal development, behavior genetics, motor development, and perceptual development
  • Language, cognitive, emotional, and social development
  • Atypical development

Skills

  • Identify and summarize major theories in child development
  • Interpret commonly-used research designs in developmental psychology
  • Critique conclusions drawn from research studies
  • Collect and analyze data related to real-world child research
  • Link research on child development to policy and practice

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · 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 4 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 · 0.30 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

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

1280 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
PSYCH 460 · Spring 2027

Child Development

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": "1274:820:016444",
    "course_id": "PSYCH 460",
    "course_uid": "course_a899f2064c95f886680fa00c",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "016444",
    "source_subject_id": "820",
    "title": "Child Development",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  }
]
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": "a64a386552aaaffcb658edb4b43d63c2af366629fc827264f4ab70f30773aaf0",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}