Spring 2027

Introduction to the Field of Social Work

Introduction to the field of social work covering historical development, formation of social welfare policies, and the role of the social work professional.

offering recorded4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Stephanie Robert4.0/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Stephanie Robert

The class was considered easy if students attended lectures, as exam answers directly reflected the material covered in class.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Analyze the functions of the social work profession in American society and its role in promoting social justice and addressing systemic inequalities.

  • Assess the historical and contemporary dimensions of social welfare, particularly key policies and practices that have shaped the field.

  • Identify the core values and ethical principles of social work and explain how they guide professional social work practice.

  • Compare and contrast various social work practice settings, the diverse populations served, the levels of intervention utilized, and the systemic challenges addressed by generalist social work practitioners.

  • Evaluate the expectations, challenges, and rewards of a career in social work, the professional responsibilities, and articulate a personal commitment to social justice.

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
SOCWORK 205 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
  • None

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 5.00/5 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: 5.0/5 raw quality · 1.0/5 difficulty · 1 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Stephanie Robert

One student found Prof. Stephanie Robert’s class easy and caring, noting she always checked in on students. They reported that exams were easy if you attended lectures and listened, as the answers reflected the material. The student also enjoyed guest speakers in the second half of the semester and recommended the course.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2025: 3.73 GPA, 89.3% A/AB (n=75 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.57 GPA, 75.7% A/AB (n=70 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Maurice Gattis, Tracy Schroepfer

Maurice Gattis read directly from slides in lectures that students found boring, though exams were easy and attendance was mandatory. Tracy Schroepfer delivered passionate lectures filled with personal anecdotes that were interesting and easy to follow. She required attendance, and students noted the workload included only two tests and one discussion post per week, with no quizzes.

MAURICE GATTIS is recorded teaching in Fall 2011, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

STEPHANIE ROBERT is recorded teaching in Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

TRACY SCHROEPFER is recorded teaching in Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 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 / 750
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 250
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 250
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 250

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 · Stephanie Robert

Prof. Robert was described as caring and attentive, with guest speakers in the second half of the semester that students found interesting.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.82 GPA, 90.1% A/AB (n=71 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.73 GPA, 89.3% A/AB (n=75 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.57 GPA, 75.7% A/AB (n=70 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Stephanie Robert

The class was considered easy if students attended lectures, as exam answers directly reflected the material covered in class.

Past student reviews · Stephanie Robert

The instructor frequently checked in on students to see how they were doing, creating a supportive learning environment.

Topics

  • Historical development and formation of social welfare policies.
  • Functions of the social work profession in promoting social justice and addressing systemic inequalities.
  • Social work practice settings, diverse populations served, and levels of intervention.

Skills

  • Assess historical and contemporary dimensions of social welfare policies and practices.
  • Identify core values and ethical principles guiding professional social work practice.
  • Compare social work practice settings, populations served, and levels of intervention.
  • Evaluate career expectations, challenges, and rewards in social work.

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 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.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.12 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
SOCWORK 205 · Spring 2027

Introduction to the Field of Social Work

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": "1274:896:017339",
    "course_id": "SOCWORK 205",
    "course_uid": "course_a3353b9466001a6b4c7d794f",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "017339",
    "source_subject_id": "896",
    "title": "Introduction to the Field of Social Work",
    "credits_min": 4,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
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": "8769864b30823b02b9ac30b623bc10bbdd2aa23e8fa53d2d5c0a901f44c25e97",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}