Looking for a gentler semester? Start with courses where students have earned higher grades.
Highest historical GPA first. At least 100 letter grades over the five years through the selected term. Grades reflect past outcomes, not workload or a guaranteed result.
23 courses
Ranked courses have at least 100 recorded letter grades.
Introduction to Qualitative Research provides an overview of qualitative inquiry, examining assumptions, standards, and methods for generating and communicating interpretations.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Study theories and practices of educating for social justice using participatory methodologies, focusing on critical pedagogy and transformative educators like Paulo Freire and bell hooks.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Reynaldo Morales
The class was very lecture and quiz heavy, and the content tended to drift off topic occasionally.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Education and Public Policy examines educational policies, practices, and issues in social, cultural, historical, and political economic contexts in the U.S. and globally.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · David O'Brien
Readings were described as hard, but the professor explained them very well during class.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026An interdisciplinary course that explores youth through theoretical, historical, social, and cultural perspectives with a focus on Minoritized Youth and the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Anthony Hernandez
The class required a good amount of writing, though assignments were not too hefty. Students reported lots of readings, though some felt they could skip articles most weeks.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Law and Public Education examines legal issues related to policy decisions and delivery of public elementary and secondary education in the United States.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Examines policy issues surrounding the education of children from immigrant families in K-16 settings, exploring economic, social, political, and ideological contexts through readings, discussions, and assignments.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Edgar Valles
The workload included 2-4 readings per week and a response paper, which one student found manageable and easily doable.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Fall 2025Examines the interplay between schools and society, focusing on how societal and cultural influences shape school processes, policies, and pedagogy, and how schools reciprocally shape society.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Edgar Valles
Most work for the course was graded in discussions or essays completed outside of class. Lectures were interesting but felt unnecessary at times, as content in lectures and readings seemed optional.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Introduction to quantitative methods in education policy, focusing on using quantitative reasoning to analyze and interpret data in visual and numerical forms.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Introduction to Education examines fundamental educational questions, concepts, and perspectives to assess proposed and existing educational policies and practices.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Mark Johnson, Emily Miller
Under Mark Johnson, main grades were three papers or projects with flexible due dates, plus attendance. Under Emily Miller, assignments were not hard if readings were completed, with pop quizzes and extra credit.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Gender and Education examines how schools reproduce gender identities using critical and feminist perspectives to analyze intersections with race, class, and sexuality.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Explores the value of an education/social sciences major for education-related careers in the contemporary workplace.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Fall 2025Explores race, ethnicity, and inequality in U.S. public education through theoretical, historical, social, and cultural frameworks, focusing on K-12 and multicultural contexts.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Linn Posey
The class was reading-heavy, requiring over 40 pages per week. Students completed three major papers and short assignments, with participation in discussions being a critical component of the workload.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Topics in Education Studies examines contemporary topics and debates in education studies while developing research and analytical skills for education careers.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Mary Michaud
Homework was primarily reading-heavy, with minimal other assignments, though students noted the workload was manageable.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2023–Spring 2026This course examines the socio-cultural, political, and economic forces shaping education worldwide, including in the U.S., focusing on purposes of schooling, inequality, and global reform.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Jennifer Otting
The course included readings, videos, three essays, and a project. While assignments were substantial, students reported having ample time to complete them, and one found the overall content easy to grasp.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Global Education Through Film introduces global educational issues, policies, and practices through films, encouraging critical thinking about education's role in society.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2024–Spring 2026Human Rights and Education explores the relationship between human rights and education globally, investigating tensions within the human rights framework to reduce social inequality through educational case studies.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Mary Michaud
Homework involved significant reading, and students were expected to be prepared to discuss these materials in class.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Overview of human-earth relations theories and climate crisis causes/consequences, centering ecological justice and providing tools like Traditional Ecological Knowledge for responding to climate change.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Matthew Wolfgram
Grading was not harsh, and TAs handled all grading tasks. Assignments were described as easy and engaging, contributing to a lower overall difficulty rating from recent students.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Explores the forms of education in democracies and U.S. controversies, examining mass schooling history and evaluating issues via democratic criteria like equality, liberty, and justice.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Anthony Hernandez
The course was structured with some weeks being extremely writing-heavy, a feature attributed to the specific summer term context.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Introduction to K-12 education policy, policy processes, and school governance in the U.S., examining goals, discourses, research, and lenses across historical and global contexts.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026An interdisciplinary course examining the link between education and global political, economic, and social contexts. It uses a place-based approach to explore topics like migration, marketization, and youth culture.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Elise Ahn
Readings were dense and long, with grades based on a case study built over the semester.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Examines the history of American education from colonization to the present, focusing on education as individual development and cultural transmission.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · William Reese
One student reported the class required a lot of work, with grading based on two exams and a 12-page paper, alongside a heavy volume of reading.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Examines how metropolitan change, economic transformation, and race construction shaped mass incarceration, inequality, and minority experiences in urban America.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Walter Stern
One student found the workload light, stating that readings were supplemental rather than primary, and appreciated the creative freedom available for the final project.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Traces the development of higher education and the university in the United States and Europe since the Middle Ages, focusing on its intellectual, political, and social history.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Matthew Farrelly
The workload was described as manageable, typically involving one homework assignment per week plus a final paper and slideshow.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Fall 2025