Spring 2027

Evidence-based Policy Making

This course builds skills for using research and evidence in policymaking, covering how to judge research rigor, communicate findings via written and oral formats, and distinguish education-based from advocacy-based approaches.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Sarah Strochak

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Mariel Barnes

The workload consisted of assigned readings and four projects, including a group presentation and paper, with no tests or homework.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Identify and utilize high quality sources of policy research information

  • Engage in discussions of policy issues with researchers and policymakers using an education (vs. advocacy) approach

  • Translate policy research into accessible written deliverables for policymakers (e.g., issue briefs)

  • Develop accessible, useful verbal presentations of policy research for policymakers.

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

None

  • None
PUBAFFR 240

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Spring 2027
Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ERIC BOLLAND is recorded teaching in Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MARIEL BARNES is recorded teaching in Fall 2021, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2026. 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 / 500
LEC 002Classroom Instruction0 / 420

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 · Mariel Barnes

Students described the class as super chill, with grades based on four projects rather than tests or homework.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.59 GPA, 88.0% A/AB (n=75 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.78 GPA, 97.1% A/AB (n=105 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.45 GPA, 65.2% A/AB (n=46 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Mariel Barnes

The workload consisted of assigned readings and four projects, including a group presentation and paper, with no tests or homework.

Past student reviews · Eric Bolland

Past students found lectures disconnected from the course content, often featuring unrelated tangents, and noted that assignment rubrics were vague or missing.

Topics

  • Definition of evidence-based policy, types of evidence, and strategies for judging research rigor
  • Education-based versus advocacy-based approaches to working with policymakers
  • Strategies for communicating research to policymakers, including data visualizations
  • Limits of using research in policymaking

Skills

  • Identifying and utilizing high-quality sources of policy research information
  • Engaging in policy discussions using an education-based approach rather than advocacy
  • Translating policy research into accessible written deliverables like issue briefs
  • Developing accessible verbal presentations of policy research for policymakers

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
PUBAFFR 240 · Spring 2027

Evidence-Based Policy Making

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": "1274:826:025247",
    "course_id": "PUBAFFR 240",
    "course_uid": "course_1eee5617c5757e07c197a310",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "025247",
    "source_subject_id": "826",
    "title": "Evidence-Based Policy Making",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Not Applicable"
  }
]
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": "f49f00733d5591add144e4d19422924ce01055a139bf9cd8f720238210e621dd",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}