Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Very good class. Readings are hard, but he explains them very well. Class discussion feel relaxed and you hear a lot of viewpoints.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
David O'Brien
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Overall, Professor O'Brien is a kind & knowledgeable. However, I felt like the class skipped a lot of fundamental basics of philosophy and education that would've been useful. There are few activities & projects it's nearly all lecture and papers. There could have been more teacher to class engagement, there was no sense of community building.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
This guy is the best, I loved him. He lowkey cold calls, but makes it seem not stressful, and will take what you said and make it seem super smart. He is super friendly and helpful with the papers if you go to office hours. Just the nicest guy ever, and a great intro to philosophy/ed course.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Amazing professor who genuinely cares about his students! His lectures are very interactive and discussion-based, so you will be expected to participate; however, he is fantastic at facilitating and makes even the dumbest responses or questions sound brilliant!Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Hands down my favorite professor in my 3.5 years so far. His lectures are engaging and he explains concepts very well. Participation is expected/hoped for in his lectures, but he respects every student's opinion and actually makes you feel pretty brilliant when you speak up. A decent amount of homework/work, but totally worth it.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
One of the best professors I've had at UW Madison. Not an easy A class but if you think you'd be interested in philosophy and want a good idea of what it looks like to be a good moral citizen I'd definitely take his class.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with David O'Brien
EDPOL 147
Ethics and Education
3 creditsExamines ethical questions in education, including justification, equity, and decision-making authority, while introducing analytic tools used by educational ethicists.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2026: 3.76 GPA, 93.1% A/AB (n=29 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2026–Spring 2026 · limited sampleExamines conceptions of teaching and learning in classical philosophical works and contemporary literature on the philosophy of education.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.90 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=15 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Fall 2024 · limited sampleRecorded teaching history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2027 | EDPOL 147 | Ethics and Education |
| Spring 2027 | EDPOL/PHILOS 545 | Philosophical Conceptions of Teaching and Learning |
| Fall 2026 | EDPOL 399 | Independent Reading |
| Fall 2026 | EDPOL/PHILOS 540 | Egalitarianism and Educational Justice |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
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