HDFS
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Browse all Human Development and Family Studies courses →
Red: department · Gray: UW–Madison
GPA and percentages are weighted by recorded letter grades. UW comparisons use the same terms. Cross-listed courses count once within this department and once across UW; department totals should not be added together. Grade counts are not unique students. Offering counts reflect captured records, not a complete historical schedule.
Grades have not been recorded for this term. Historical results remain in the overview above.
No released grades for this term.
24 courses
Introductory course examining research at the intersection of family and poverty, focusing on socioeconomic influences on family behaviors, childrearing, and the role of policy.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2023–Spring 2026Introduction to racially and culturally diverse families, focusing on structural factors like demographic, economic, and historic trends that shape family similarities and distinctions.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Polina Levchenko
For an accelerated summer class, reading usually took no more than one hour per week, and the work was relevant and not difficult compared with other classes but required effort.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Examines careers in Human Ecology and human development/family studies through presentations by high-level leaders in related professions such as counseling, social work, and health care.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Kristy Burkholder
Assignment criteria were released close to deadlines, leaving little time to produce high-quality work, such as a final paper due within two days of release.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Development of the Young Child provides a basic foundation for understanding development from conception through middle childhood, covering theoretical foundations, research findings, and practical applications.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2023–Spring 2026Provides a basic foundation for understanding development from adolescence through old age, covering theoretical foundations, research findings, and practical applications.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2023–Spring 2026Examines family stress and resilience across the life cycle from psychological, sociological, and biosocial perspectives. Topics include parenting, poverty, violence, work-family balance, aging, and health.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Examines infant and child health through a socioecological lens, covering conceptual models and applications from individual clinical interventions to systems-level public health approaches.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2024–Spring 2026Research Methods in Human Development and Family Studies covers basics of research design for family studies and individual development, including quantitative, qualitative, participatory action, and evaluation research.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Janean Dilworth-Bart
Attendance and note-taking were essential for success, and students reported needing to dedicate significant time to studying and reading to perform well on exams.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Explores infant/toddler development milestones from conception to 36 months and evaluates child care access, quality, and real-time observation of infant development.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2024–Spring 2026Examines family and community influences on young children, focusing on child interaction in socialization settings and processes within the child-family-community system.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Polina Levchenko
Students reported a high volume of assignments with unclear expectations and tight deadlines, noting that daily in-class activities accounted for about 30% of the grade.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Explores parent-child relations, including parental programs and interactions with external institutions.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Kristy Burkholder
Grading focused on reflections, essays, and a group presentation, making the workload manageable despite the class structure being somewhat confusing.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2023–Fall 2025Examines diversity of family life and human development across racial ethnic groups in the U.S., focusing on race, culture, biculturalism, and social contexts like history and immigration.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Lauren Lewis
Students completed weekly discussion activities that significantly impacted grades, took online quizzes, and wrote papers with clearly outlined expectations.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026HDFS 501 covers specialized subject matter of current interest under the title SPECIAL TOPICS.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Amy Wagner
The course included weekly quizzes and two papers. Students found the class straightforward and suggested watching lecture videos was sufficient for quizzes, while noting lectures were often posted late.
No recorded grade history
Explores theoretical perspectives on how intimate relationships develop, thrive, or deteriorate, connecting relationship science to real-life experiences.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Polina Levchenko
Attendance was mandatory, and the instructor talked for the entire duration of class periods. Assignments were explained briefly before class ended, with points deducted for perceived errors despite the short instruction time.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Research experience under the supervision of a faculty member in Human Development and Family Studies.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Quentin Riser
One student noted that the course was informative and that few items counted toward the final grade.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Studies the purposes, contexts, and implementation of parenting support and education programs; some sections may include a service learning component.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Kristy Burkholder
The workload is manageable, and students report doing well as long as they attend class.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Developmental and Family Assessment introduces family-focused developmental assessment with infants and young children, covering family interviewing, developmental histories, child observation, and screening.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Julie Poehlmann
The workload was described as heavy on readings, with one student noting that completing them was sufficient for success. Another student found the homework assignments and readings to be a waste of time due to the self-paced format.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Senior thesis involving individual study arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Independent study for directed projects arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Introduction to research on families and poverty. Learn how family behaviors vary by socioeconomic status; how romantic relationships, childbearing, and childrearing may be implicated in poverty; what the consequences of poverty are for family functioning and children; and about the role of policy in influencing families and poverty.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Quentin Riser
The course received a low difficulty rating of 2 out of 5, indicating a relatively easy academic load according to student feedback.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2023–Fall 2025 · limited sampleCurrent Topics in Human Development and Family Studies examines specialized subject matter of current interests, including literature, research, and trends relevant to teaching and parent education.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2024–Spring 2026 · limited sampleFamily Theory I (Survey) examines current theories and models in family research, focusing on structure-functional, interactional, developmental, systems, and exchange theories for research and application.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2025 · limited sampleResearch and thesis individual study arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Independent study course offering directed study projects arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history