Spring 2027

Depth Topic in Biological Science

In-depth treatment of a specific topic in psychology and biology with emphasis on biological sciences.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Ali Mohebi3.7/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Brad Postle

The course was described as very lecture and textbook-heavy, requiring students to be ready to read a lot.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Think critically about an important topic with an emphasis in the biological sciences.

  • Evaluate the main research questions of that topic.

  • Analyze the theoretical approaches to studying that topic.

  • Discuss the research literature and generate new ideas related to the topic.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

PSYCH 202, (ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY 101 and 102),ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY/​BOTANY 151, or (BIOCORE 381 and 382)

PSYCH 505

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 1 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 2026: 3.82 GPA, 92.6% A/AB (n=68 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ALI MOHEBI is recorded teaching in Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ALLYSON BENNETT is recorded teaching in Spring 2018, Spring 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

BRADLEY POSTLE is recorded teaching in Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

STEPHEN FERRIGNO is recorded teaching in Fall 2023, Fall 2024. 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 / 870
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 180
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 180
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 180
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 180
DIS 305Classroom 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 · Stephen Ferrigno

Past students described the lectures as engaging and clear, noting that the class involves a fair amount of work but avoids busywork.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.45 GPA, 72.7% A/AB (n=77 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.23 GPA, 47.2% A/AB (n=53 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.82 GPA, 92.6% A/AB (n=68 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Brad Postle

The course was described as very lecture and textbook-heavy, requiring students to be ready to read a lot.

Past student reviews · Brad Postle

A student found the material challenging but noted that attending lectures, reading the textbook, and studying assigned questions helped them succeed on difficult exams.

Topics

  • Specific topics in psychology and biology
  • Biological sciences

Skills

  • Critical thinking and evaluation of research questions in biological sciences.
  • Analysis of theoretical approaches and discussion of research literature.

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

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.

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Selected offering source records
PSYCH 505 · Spring 2027

Depth Topic in Biological Science

Recorded 2026-10-14
PSYCH 505 · Spring 2027

Learning and Decision-Making

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
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    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:820:024912",
    "course_id": "PSYCH 505",
    "course_uid": "course_c88d1c382acde7401ca0fe3d",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "024912",
    "source_subject_id": "820",
    "title": "Depth Topic in Biological Science",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:820:024912.3",
    "course_id": "PSYCH 505",
    "course_uid": "course_c88d1c382acde7401ca0fe3d",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "024912.3",
    "source_subject_id": "820",
    "title": "Learning and Decision-Making",
    "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": "9037d15b411842de2c6477cc256257c3503a379403e60ae51833646aac5879f6",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}