Spring 2027

Introduction to Animal Development

Covers major stages of animal embryonic development, morphogenesis, cell differentiation, and genetic control of these processes.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Jeff Hardin4.1/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Jeff Hardin

The course involved quizzes, homework, and exams that some students found difficult. Grading was on a scale rather than curved, and one student noted that heavy reading was required to pass.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Explain and use key concepts in developmental biology.

  • Explain how developmental biologists study embryos and devise experiments to study developmental processes.

  • Explain the steps by which an animal embryo arises from a fertilized egg.

  • Explain the cellular mechanisms underlying morphogenesis.

  • Explain how gene expression, regulated by cell signaling and localized molecules, controls development.

  • Relate specific molecular pathways regulating development to specific graduate-level research topics.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY/​BOTANY 151,BOTANY/​BIOLOGY 130,ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY 101,BIOCORE 381, or graduate/professional standing

ZOOLOGY 470 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

Professors

Spring 2027

Jeff Hardin

Adjusted rating
RMP 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.

For this course: 4.2/5 raw quality · 3.4/5 difficulty · 5 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Jeff Hardin

Jeff Hardin taught engaging lectures and helpful slides, though students disagreed on difficulty. Some found exams hard and uncurved, while others noted he clarified exam material and adjusted grading if the class performed poorly. One student found lectures boring and required heavy reading, whereas another described the subject as extremely interesting with neat experiment examples.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.29 GPA, 54.8% A/AB (n=42 letter grades); Spring 2025: 2.99 GPA, 37.5% A/AB (n=48 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.20 GPA, 42.4% A/AB (n=33 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

JEFFREY HARDIN is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025, 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 / 750

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 · Jeff Hardin

Students found the developmental biology lectures engaging and effective, with Prof. Hardin using real-world experiment examples to illustrate concepts. Many described him as a supportive instructor who helps students master the material.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.29 GPA, 54.8% A/AB (n=42 letter grades); Spring 2025: 2.99 GPA, 37.5% A/AB (n=48 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.20 GPA, 42.4% A/AB (n=33 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Jeff Hardin

The course involved quizzes, homework, and exams that some students found difficult. Grading was on a scale rather than curved, and one student noted that heavy reading was required to pass.

Past student reviews · Jeff Hardin

Prof. Hardin provided helpful slides and clarified exam content, with some students noting he adjusted grading scales if the class struggled. Office hours and optional discussions were cited as valuable for additional support.

Topics

  • Major stages of early embryonic development
  • Morphogenesis and form acquisition
  • Cellular differentiation in embryos
  • Genetic control of development

Skills

  • Apply key concepts in developmental biology
  • Design experiments to study developmental processes
  • Analyze cellular mechanisms of morphogenesis
  • Interpret gene regulatory pathways in development

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
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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
ZOOLOGY 470 · Spring 2027

Introduction to Animal Development

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": "1274:970:019318",
    "course_id": "ZOOLOGY 470",
    "course_uid": "course_9c76839b7b3250ed3618eaf4",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "019318",
    "source_subject_id": "970",
    "title": "Introduction to Animal Development",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  }
]
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Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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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.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "57c9200cb9cfbde10bd02857ee7818466d016d51eb8f5f5fa8c3183801813767",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}