Fall 2026

Introductory Biology

ZOOLOGY 153 covers introductory biology topics like cell function, genetics, and physiology for engineering majors without a lab.

offering recorded3 credits

Summary

1 / 4

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 2.60 GPA, 25.0% A/AB (n=40 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.02 GPA, 33.3% A/AB (n=66 letter grades); Spring 2026: 2.98 GPA, 44.4% A/AB (n=45 letter grades).

Grade history

average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Not open to students with credit forBIOLOGY/​ZOOLOGY 101, 102 or BIOLOGY/​BOTANY 130

“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

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.43/5 from 87 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 2008: 2.82 GPA, 32.3% A/AB (n=31 letter grades); Fall 2009: 2.91 GPA, 39.1% A/AB (n=23 letter grades); Fall 2011: 2.71 GPA, 23.1% A/AB (n=26 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.24/5 from 50 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.

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.67/5 from 6 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.

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.15/5 from 13 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 2023: 2.93 GPA, 29.4% A/AB (n=51 letter grades); Fall 2024: 2.67 GPA, 21.4% A/AB (n=56 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

DAVID BAUM is recorded teaching in Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2011. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

FARRAH MADISON 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

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction24 / 242
LEC 002Classroom Instruction47 / 485
DIS 301Classroom Instruction24 / 242
DIS 401Classroom Instruction23 / 240
DIS 402Classroom Instruction24 / 245

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

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 2.60 GPA, 25.0% A/AB (n=40 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.02 GPA, 33.3% A/AB (n=66 letter grades); Spring 2026: 2.98 GPA, 44.4% A/AB (n=45 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

No workload feedback recorded.

Topics

  • Cell structure and function
  • Cellular metabolism
  • Information flow
  • Principles of genetics
  • Animal physiology

Skills

  • Understanding cell structure, metabolism, and information flow
  • Applying principles of genetics and animal physiology

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · 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 · 0.21 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 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

1283 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
ZOOLOGY 153 · Fall 2026

Introductory Biology

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:970:022935",
    "course_id": "ZOOLOGY 153",
    "course_uid": "course_8dc975c82ac47d1f105908b4",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "022935",
    "source_subject_id": "970",
    "title": "Introductory Biology",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews

No records available.

Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "db4bb40d89389b71247bf66ea1009c9a24cb9402a18872593fadffecc1d6ef2f",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}