Current instructor

Jacob Thebault-Spieker

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.48/5 from 31 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

LIS 201
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
He was a good professor and cared about the content that he taught, made lectures very interesting despite being at 8 am.
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LIS 201
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
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.
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COMPSCI 570
Quality 4/5Difficulty 1/5
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.
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COMPSCI 570
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Very nice guy, also responds to emails and requests to meet/questions quickly, which is super great to have in a professor!
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COMPSCI 570
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
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.
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LIS 201
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
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.
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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 2026

Examines 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 2026

LIS 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 sample

Recorded teaching history

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Fall 2026COMPSCI 570Introduction to Human-computer Interaction
Fall 2026COMPSCI 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026COMPSCI 692Senior Thesis
Fall 2026COMPSCI 702Graduate Cooperative Education
Fall 2026COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2026LIS 201The Information Society
Fall 2026LIS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2026LIS 999Independent Reading and Research

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

Instructor identity & provenance
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