He was a good professor and cared about the content that he taught, made lectures very interesting despite being at 8 am.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
Jacob Thebault-Spieker
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
The lectures were very interesting to listen to. He cares about the topic which makes it very engaging. There was Tophat and discussion attendance grades. Overall, cool class.Rate My Professors ↗
Can't really speak too much on the lectures as they are hardly valuable for the projects, but are probably pretty good if you have a genuine interest in HCI. Very, very easy 500 level CS class and is a great GPA booster. I took it in FA24 though so not sure if this has changed. Recommend.Rate My Professors ↗
Very nice guy, also responds to emails and requests to meet/questions quickly, which is super great to have in a professor!Rate My Professors ↗
Prof TS is nice enough. He gives clear lectures that correlate directly with the assignments. Attendance and slides are both on TopHat. He is not the most responsive and you likely won't receive feedback on assignments until it's too late to fix things, so be sure to stay on top of questions if they are time sensitive or go in person to ask them.Rate My Professors ↗
Good enough lectures, tough grader on papers or at least the TA was, but gave good feedback to help you improve over the course. Discussion and lecture attendance grades.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with Jacob Thebault-Spieker
Introduction to human-computer interaction focusing on user-centered design, prototyping, and usability evaluation through group projects.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Jacob Thebault-Spieker receives criticism for unclear assignment instructions and vague lectures that lack coding practice. Reviewers report confusion regarding project requirements and describe the instruction as unhelpful or disorganized.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026Senior Honors Thesis
3 creditsCOMPSCI 681 is an individual study course for senior Computer Science majors to complete honors theses under faculty supervision.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Senior Thesis
2–3 creditsCOMPSCI 692 is a senior thesis course involving individual study and research arranged with a faculty member, serving as a continuation of COMPSCI 691.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Graduate Cooperative Education
1–2 creditsCOMPSCI 702 is a Graduate Cooperative Education course where students apply computer science principles in a hands-on, professional setting.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Pre-dissertator Research
1–9 creditsCOMPSCI 899 is a pre-dissertator research course for master's graduates preparing for doctoral dissertation work under faculty supervision.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
The Information Society
4 creditsExamines the social, legal, and historical contexts of information technologies and the moral questions surrounding them.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Jacob Thebault-Spieker is praised for passion and student care, accommodating circumstances and making material understandable. Reviews highlight fascinating lectures, especially for CS majors, though some view him as merely good rather than exceptional.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026Research and Thesis
1–9 creditsLIS 990 provides dissertation credits for research and thesis work.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Independent Reading and Research
1–4 creditsLIS 999 is an independent reading and research course where students conduct concentrated work on a self-selected subject and submit a final product.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=2 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2025 · limited sampleRecorded teaching history
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 570 | Introduction to Human-computer Interaction |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 681 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 692 | Senior Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 702 | Graduate Cooperative Education |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 899 | Pre-dissertator Research |
| Fall 2026 | LIS 201 | The Information Society |
| Fall 2026 | LIS 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | LIS 999 | Independent Reading and Research |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
{
"instructor_uid": "instructor_69958c07a786a7fcb4b1c429",
"source": "enrollment",
"source_instructor_id": "thebaultspie",
"identity_basis": "netid",
"identity_status": "source_identified",
"name": "Jacob Thebault-Spieker",
"email": "JACOB.THEBAULTSPIEKER@WISC.EDU",
"first_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"last_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"ratings": {
"review_count": 31,
"quality": 3.48,
"difficulty": 1.94,
"quality_count": 31,
"difficulty_count": 31,
"profile_id": "rmp:2658929",
"source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2658929",
"match_basis": "exact_name",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:35:10.549399+00:00",
"courses": {
"course_0f3c5b46df0c6f3e2fd183c1": {
"review_count": 13,
"quality": 4.31,
"difficulty": 1.69,
"quality_count": 13,
"difficulty_count": 13
},
"course_8e330bc7deed0164dc8f9e2b": {
"review_count": 18,
"quality": 2.89,
"difficulty": 2.11,
"quality_count": 18,
"difficulty_count": 18
}
},
"bayesian_quality": 3.5504650131555273,
"prior_mean": 3.6596857835465957,
"prior_weight": 20
},
"current": true,
"courses": [
{
"course_uid": "course_059395ab1bb5e9c017244fe2",
"course_id": "COMPSCI 899",
"title": "PRE-DISSERTATOR RESEARCH",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 9,
"gpa": null
},
{
"course_uid": "course_0f3c5b46df0c6f3e2fd183c1",
"course_id": "LIS 201",
"title": "THE INFORMATION SOCIETY",
"credits_min": 4,
"credits_max": 4,
"gpa": 3.698
},
{
"course_uid": "course_111b951ac305e01ce3af20df",
"course_id": "COMPSCI 692",
"title": "SENIOR THESIS",
"credits_min": 2,
"credits_max": 3,
"gpa": null
},
{
"course_uid": "course_6df6c8e6318f10aeab318e00",
"course_id": "COMPSCI 702",
"title": "GRADUATE COOPERATIVE EDUCATION",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 2,
"gpa": null
},
{
"course_uid": "course_730ad6ca8428d73a51450780",
"course_id": "LIS 999",
"title": "INDEPENDENT READING AND RESEARCH",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 4,
"gpa": 3.986
},
{
"course_uid": "course_8e330bc7deed0164dc8f9e2b",
"course_id": "COMPSCI 570",
"title": "INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"gpa": 3.806
},
{
"course_uid": "course_a495c0d9f6ed226e1fc144ee",
"course_id": "COMPSCI 681",
"title": "SENIOR HONORS THESIS",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"gpa": null
},
{
"course_uid": "course_cd6ed5ee34c7f48cd4702c2d",
"course_id": "LIS 990",
"title": "RESEARCH AND THESIS",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 9,
"gpa": null
}
],
"revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"instructor_url": "/instructors/JACOB_THEBAULT-SPIEKER"
}