Current instructor

Ellen Zweibel

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.00/5 from 1 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.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

PHYS109 · course not matched
Quality 2/5Difficulty 3/5
Ellen doesn't know how to teach. She is very knowledgeable in the field of physics, but I wouldn't have known it by attending her lectures alone. She attempts to provide demos that never work out correctly, and she doesn't check to see if students have questions. When she does try to answer student questions, she usually ends up confusing the class
Rate My Professors ↗

Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Ellen Zweibel

Directed Study is an introductory mentored independent study course in Astronomy, arranged individually with faculty.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=1 letter grades).

No recorded grade history

Basic Astrophysics II introduces physical concepts for analyzing astrophysical dynamics, covering particle and fluid dynamics, gravitational dynamics, and magneto-hydrodynamics.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2019: 3.55 GPA, 70.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades); Spring 2020: 3.69 GPA, 87.5% A/AB (n=8 letter grades); Spring 2022: 3.12 GPA, 25.0% A/AB (n=4 letter grades).

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2024 · limited sample
PHYSICS 990

Research

1–12 credits

Research supervised by individual faculty members. Students formulate and plan original research, creating work that contributes to the field of physics.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

No recorded grade history

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2027ASTRON 199Directed Study
Spring 2027ASTRON 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2027ASTRON 702Basic Astrophysics II
Spring 2027ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2027PHYSICS 499Directed Study
Spring 2027PHYSICS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2027PHYSICS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2027PHYSICS 691Senior Thesis
Spring 2027PHYSICS 692Senior Thesis
Spring 2027PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2026ASTRON 199Directed Study
Fall 2026ASTRON 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026ASTRON 699Directed Study
Fall 2026ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2026PHYSICS 406Special Topics in Physics
Fall 2026PHYSICS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026PHYSICS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026PHYSICS 990Research

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance
{
  "instructor_uid": "instructor_d578df90e3c96f783c76bf3f",
  "source": "enrollment",
  "source_instructor_id": "egzweibel",
  "identity_basis": "netid",
  "identity_status": "source_identified",
  "name": "Ellen Zweibel",
  "email": "ZWEIBEL@ASTRO.WISC.EDU",
  "first_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
  "last_observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
  "ratings": {
    "review_count": 1,
    "quality": 2,
    "difficulty": 3,
    "quality_count": 1,
    "difficulty_count": 1,
    "profile_id": "rmp:1444172",
    "source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/1444172",
    "match_basis": "exact_name",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 19:14:39.304256+00:00",
    "courses": {},
    "bayesian_quality": 3.58018436237759,
    "prior_mean": 3.65919358049647,
    "prior_weight": 20
  },
  "current": true,
  "courses": [
    {
      "course_uid": "course_11ca6b2588608c9b32506d53",
      "course_id": "PHYSICS 692",
      "title": "SENIOR THESIS",
      "credits_min": 2,
      "credits_max": 3,
      "gpa": 4
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_16307ae57e658f9d9bd29fd9",
      "course_id": "ASTRON 682",
      "title": "SENIOR HONORS THESIS",
      "credits_min": 3,
      "credits_max": 3,
      "gpa": 4
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_478c9473f982809f4cde8cec",
      "course_id": "PHYSICS 499",
      "title": "DIRECTED STUDY",
      "credits_min": 1,
      "credits_max": 3,
      "gpa": 4
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_543dcc107458b8f7cacca29d",
      "course_id": "PHYSICS 691",
      "title": "SENIOR THESIS",
      "credits_min": 2,
      "credits_max": 3,
      "gpa": null
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_6bdb43fa4ad7d835066b602c",
      "course_id": "PHYSICS 990",
      "title": "RESEARCH",
      "credits_min": 1,
      "credits_max": 12,
      "gpa": null
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_8253125a80812597c402ea47",
      "course_id": "ASTRON 702",
      "title": "BASIC ASTROPHYSICS II",
      "credits_min": 3,
      "credits_max": 3,
      "gpa": 3.583
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_bf60eeaf8405d6fec7ab9391",
      "course_id": "PHYSICS 681",
      "title": "SENIOR HONORS THESIS",
      "credits_min": 3,
      "credits_max": 3,
      "gpa": null
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_c54ed008ad2f762dd2c76f55",
      "course_id": "ASTRON 199",
      "title": "DIRECTED STUDY",
      "credits_min": 1,
      "credits_max": 3,
      "gpa": 4
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_e19d71d263531331e5fe2734",
      "course_id": "ASTRON 990",
      "title": "RESEARCH AND THESIS",
      "credits_min": 1,
      "credits_max": 12,
      "gpa": null
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_ef30c98738891e8e37379887",
      "course_id": "PHYSICS 682",
      "title": "SENIOR HONORS THESIS",
      "credits_min": 3,
      "credits_max": 3,
      "gpa": 3.5
    }
  ],
  "revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "instructor_url": "/instructors/ELLEN_ZWEIBEL"
}