Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.69 GPA, 88.4% A/AB (n=43 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.34 GPA, 76.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.70 GPA, 86.4% A/AB (n=22 letter grades).
Spring 2027
Current Topics in Psychology
Advanced undergraduate special topics in psychology that allow students to evaluate research findings and explore key concepts in rotating areas of study.
offering recorded3 credits
Summary
1 / 6
Past student reviews · Rebecca Addington
The workload consisted of small weekly assignments, reasonable reading, and one big paper due at the end, with no exams.
What you’ll be able to do
Evaluate research findings in the current topic of psychology.
Explore and explain key research findings in the current topic of psychology.
Generate and present new research ideas relevant to the current topic of psychology.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗ average GPA
3,7043,704 letter grades
A70.0%70.0%
AB17.3%17.3%
B8.8%8.8%
BC2.2%2.2%
C0.8%0.8%
D0.4%0.4%
F0.4%0.4%
All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapProfessors
Spring 2027GL
Gary Lupyan
About this rating
Raw average: 4.58/5 from 12 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.
No course-specific feedback yet.
About this rating
Raw average: 4.58/5 from 12 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: 3.90 GPA, 96.2% A/AB (n=26 letter grades); Fall 2019: 3.88 GPA, 96.2% A/AB (n=26 letter grades); Spring 2023: 3.75 GPA, 81.8% A/AB (n=22 letter grades).
About this rating
Raw average: 4.25/5 from 16 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 2022: 3.56 GPA, 79.2% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.64 GPA, 72.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.74 GPA, 88.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades).
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.
No course-specific feedback yet.
About this rating
Raw average: 3.71/5 from 7 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: 3.0/5 raw quality · 4.0/5 difficulty · 1 reviews
RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.
Past student reviews · Gregory Van Rybroek
Gregory Van Rybroek taught this capstone course with one mandatory 2.5-hour weekly lecture. Students found the content interesting and noted his passion for the topic, but described him as unorganized and hard to follow. Grading was tough, with only a few students receiving A's.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 3.46 GPA, 72.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.08 GPA, 44.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.52 GPA, 72.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades).
BP
Brad Postle
About this rating
Raw average: 3.27/5 from 73 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.
No course-specific feedback yet.
About this rating
Raw average: 2.92/5 from 205 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: 4.0/5 raw quality · 3.0/5 difficulty · 3 reviews
RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.
Past student reviews · Rebecca Addington
Students found Rebecca Addington’s capstone relatively easy, featuring small weekly assignments, a final paper, and no exams. They described the lectures as fascinating and noted that she was caring, accommodating, and occasionally brought her dog to class.
One student felt Addington was an okay professor who knew human-animal interaction but was a slow, uninteresting lecturer. They noted that while the content was interesting to animal lovers, it could be obvious, and grading for the many assignments was slow.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.54 GPA, 70.8% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.72 GPA, 75.0% A/AB (n=16 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.45 GPA, 80.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades).
About this rating
Raw average: 2.35/5 from 173 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 2023: 3.36 GPA, 80.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.92 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.69 GPA, 92.6% A/AB (n=27 letter grades).
PH
Pearl Han Li
No course-specific feedback yet.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Past student reviews · James Li, Madeline Pflum
James Li taught behavioral genetics with homework that facilitated understanding, one group project, and two required oral presentations. Madeline Pflum taught an engaging capstone with only one exam and a few other assignments, which a student found excellent.
ANDREA KONZ is recorded teaching in Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
ANTHONY P AUGER is recorded teaching in Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
CHELSEA ANDREWS is recorded teaching in Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
CRAIG BERRIDGE is recorded teaching in Fall 2017. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
DIANE GOODING is recorded teaching in Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2025, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
EMILY DIX is recorded teaching in Fall 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
GREGORY VAN RYBROEK is recorded teaching in Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
HILARY GERSTEIN is recorded teaching in Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
JAMES LI is recorded teaching in Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2024, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
LYN ABRAMSON is recorded teaching in Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
MADELINE PFLUM is recorded teaching in Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
MARTHA ALIBALI is recorded teaching in Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Spring 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
MICHAEL CALDWELL is recorded teaching in Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
REBECCA ADDINGTON is recorded teaching in Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2024, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
RHONDA KAY REINHOLTZ is recorded teaching in Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020. 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 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 002 | Classroom Instruction | 0 / 25 | 0 |
| LEC 004 | Classroom Instruction | 0 / 25 | 0 |
| LEC 009 | Classroom Instruction | 0 / 25 | 0 |
| LEC 008 | Classroom Instruction | 0 / 25 | 0 |
| LEC 003 | Classroom Instruction | 0 / 25 | 0 |
| LEC 016 | Classroom Instruction | 0 / 25 | 0 |
| LEC 007 | Classroom Instruction | 0 / 25 | 0 |
| LEC 015 | Classroom Instruction | 0 / 25 | 0 |
| LEC 017 | Online Only | 0 / 25 | 0 |
| LEC 018 | Classroom Instruction | 0 / 25 | 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
Past student reviews · Rebecca Addington
Students described the class as interesting and relatively easy, with fascinating content and a supportive instructor who kept lectures engaging.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.71 GPA, 83.6% A/AB (n=304 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.74 GPA, 88.0% A/AB (n=209 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.68 GPA, 87.3% A/AB (n=213 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · Rebecca Addington
The workload consisted of small weekly assignments, reasonable reading, and one big paper due at the end, with no exams.
Past student reviews · Rebecca Addington
One student found the professor slow to grade homework and projects despite assigning many, and noted the lecturing style was not the most interesting.
Topics
- Rotating special topics in psychology.
- Key research findings in the selected psychology topic.
Skills
- Evaluate research findings in a specific area of psychology.
- Explore and explain key research findings in a specific area of psychology.
- Generate and present new research ideas relevant to a specific area of psychology.
Grades
Historical instructor
Spring 2027 · Projected
Before grades are releasedApproximate 80% prediction interval
0.04.0
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.
7 earlier forecasts · 0.06 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
Higher than
Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range
More recorded grades than
Typical course in this group:
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.
Selected offering source records
Current Topics in Psychology
Recorded 2026-10-14Neural basis - cogn control
Recorded 2026-10-14Psych of Human-Animal Interact
Recorded 2026-10-14Tech, Growth, & Change
Recorded 2026-10-14Nature Nurture MentalDisorders
Recorded 2026-10-14Intelligence: Cells,Brains&LMs
Recorded 2026-10-14Cognition, Dvlpmnt&Instruction
Recorded 2026-10-14HowWeSee:MaterialPerception
Recorded 2026-10-14Trust&SocialLearning-Childhood
Recorded 2026-10-14Topic:Psych of Juvenile Delinq
Recorded 2026-10-14Current Topics:Schizophrenia
Recorded 2026-10-14Legal Psych:Crim&Civil Issues
Recorded 2026-10-14Raw records
[
{
"run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
"semester": "1274",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"offering_id": "1274:820:016392",
"course_id": "PSYCH 601",
"course_uid": "course_4659324d93459bdfdda706a3",
"term_id": "1274",
"source_course_id": "016392",
"source_subject_id": "820",
"title": "Current Topics in Psychology",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
},
{
"run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
"semester": "1274",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"offering_id": "1274:820:016392.125",
"course_id": "PSYCH 601",
"course_uid": "course_4659324d93459bdfdda706a3",
"term_id": "1274",
"source_course_id": "016392.125",
"source_subject_id": "820",
"title": "Neural basis - cogn control",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
},
{
"run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
"semester": "1274",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"offering_id": "1274:820:016392.155",
"course_id": "PSYCH 601",
"course_uid": "course_4659324d93459bdfdda706a3",
"term_id": "1274",
"source_course_id": "016392.155",
"source_subject_id": "820",
"title": "Psych of Human-Animal Interact",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
},
{
"run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
"semester": "1274",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"offering_id": "1274:820:016392.190",
"course_id": "PSYCH 601",
"course_uid": "course_4659324d93459bdfdda706a3",
"term_id": "1274",
"source_course_id": "016392.190",
"source_subject_id": "820",
"title": "Tech, Growth, & Change",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
},
{
"run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
"semester": "1274",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"offering_id": "1274:820:016392.199",
"course_id": "PSYCH 601",
"course_uid": "course_4659324d93459bdfdda706a3",
"term_id": "1274",
"source_course_id": "016392.199",
"source_subject_id": "820",
"title": "Nature Nurture MentalDisorders",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
},
{
"run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
"semester": "1274",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"offering_id": "1274:820:016392.202",
"course_id": "PSYCH 601",
"course_uid": "course_4659324d93459bdfdda706a3",
"term_id": "1274",
"source_course_id": "016392.202",
"source_subject_id": "820",
"title": "Intelligence: Cells,Brains&LMs",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
},
{
"run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
"semester": "1274",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"offering_id": "1274:820:016392.204",
"course_id": "PSYCH 601",
"course_uid": "course_4659324d93459bdfdda706a3",
"term_id": "1274",
"source_course_id": "016392.204",
"source_subject_id": "820",
"title": "Cognition, Dvlpmnt&Instruction",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
},
{
"run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
"semester": "1274",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"offering_id": "1274:820:016392.205",
"course_id": "PSYCH 601",
"course_uid": "course_4659324d93459bdfdda706a3",
"term_id": "1274",
"source_course_id": "016392.205",
"source_subject_id": "820",
"title": "HowWeSee:MaterialPerception",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
},
{
"run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
"semester": "1274",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"offering_id": "1274:820:016392.206",
"course_id": "PSYCH 601",
"course_uid": "course_4659324d93459bdfdda706a3",
"term_id": "1274",
"source_course_id": "016392.206",
"source_subject_id": "820",
"title": "Trust&SocialLearning-Childhood",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
},
{
"run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
"semester": "1274",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"offering_id": "1274:820:016392.28",
"course_id": "PSYCH 601",
"course_uid": "course_4659324d93459bdfdda706a3",
"term_id": "1274",
"source_course_id": "016392.28",
"source_subject_id": "820",
"title": "Topic:Psych of Juvenile Delinq",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
},
{
"run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
"semester": "1274",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"offering_id": "1274:820:016392.8",
"course_id": "PSYCH 601",
"course_uid": "course_4659324d93459bdfdda706a3",
"term_id": "1274",
"source_course_id": "016392.8",
"source_subject_id": "820",
"title": "Current Topics:Schizophrenia",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
},
{
"run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
"semester": "1274",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"offering_id": "1274:820:016392.93",
"course_id": "PSYCH 601",
"course_uid": "course_4659324d93459bdfdda706a3",
"term_id": "1274",
"source_course_id": "016392.93",
"source_subject_id": "820",
"title": "Legal Psych:Crim&Civil Issues",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
}
]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 gradesDataset & model
View the dataset on Hugging Face Recorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
{
"model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
"model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
"task_version": "17",
"output_id": "b1bc9459b603101c871ec43b3f424dacd8e095a9cf24e9e71eb9d0e17fc8c000",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}