Carney Curve

Boston College course evaluations · Fall 2021 through Spring 2026, ranked class by class

How this list is ordered

Positions account for how many records stand behind each number, so one perfect review does not outrank a semester of them. Every score shown is the real average — only the ordering is adjusted.

Class record · ADCO · ADV

ADCO 3041

Persuasive Communication · 1 instructor on record · 4 sections

How the curve score is built
70Teaching80 raw · 26th percentile of BC classes
−3Easiness adjustmenteasiness 66 · 70 raw workload · lighter than 15% of BC classes
67Curve scorethe teaching curve −3 for the workload · at most ±6 either way

Boston College's ratings are bunched at the top — the median instructor averages about 88 out of 100 on the raw scale, and 44% of them clear 90 — so a raw score cannot separate anybody. Every figure here is ranked against BC classes and that rank is re-expressed out of 100, which is what turns a raw 88 — the middle of the university — into a figure that says where somebody actually stands. On this scale 77 is the median, 84 the top quarter and 91 the top tenth. Workload is then an adjustment on top of that, worth nothing at all for an ordinary one. Lighter work than 15% of BC classes.

What the course score is made of
80BC evaluations4 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2023 – Fall 2025
—Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute
—RateMyProfessorsno ratings — does not contribute

The class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it — who taught it is the board below.

How is this worked out?

That is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between: the board carries each instructor's own score for this class, and the score above is the class averaged across all of them.

What the challenge rank is made of
19thMore challenging than 19% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
84BC — “Intellectually Challenging”4 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question. It is not a measure of difficulty, grading or workload.

How is this worked out?

Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question for this class only — students answer it positively about courses that stretched them, so it measures intellectual challenge and NOT grading, workload or quality. Almost every BC class scores high on it, which is why it is shown as a rank rather than a score.

What the workload rank is made of
85thMore work than 85% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
70BC — “Workload”4 records · raw score out of 100

One of Boston College's five workload bands, not a number of hours. Higher means more work, not worse.

How is this worked out?

Boston College reports workload for this class only as one of five bands, not as a number of hours, and it does not publish what the bands mean — so this site will not translate it into hours. Higher means more work, which is not the same as worse.

In our culture, image is about conveying success. It is what makes us want to buy a brand or vote for a candidate. Course explores the powerful role of imaging, the use of trademarks as a vehicle to convey a corporate image, and how a "marketable personality" (for a product, service, organization, or individual) is defined, developed, and communicated. Examines strategies for balancing the emotional and rational factors of a message, finding a position with "soul," and using research to full advantage in relation to image failure and crisis management. A look at how imaging is affected by the exploding world of media and how it influences the corporate bottom line. Video and audio presentations and case studies provide stimulating examples. Students will better understand the imaging process and develop the know-how to evaluate and use it.

The only instructor on record

4 sections · nobody else has taught itFull record
InstructorCurveEasinessChallenge
Martha WhalenAdvancing Studies6984 raw · 4 records63−3 to the score19th

There is no ranking to read here: Martha Whalen is the only instructor with evaluation records for ADCO 3041, so the number is a record, not a position.

Also taught by Martha Whalen

4 other classes
ClassInstructorsCourse score
ELHE 7726Organizational Theory620 records88
ADET 2650Entrepreneurship311 records93
ADBM 1430Corporate Communications18 records83
ADCO 1143Corporate Communication11 record84

Other ADCO classes

All of them
ClassInstructorsCourse score
ADCO 1005Introduction to Communications14 records79
ADCO 1020Survey of Mass Communication24 records87
ADCO 1771Applied Data Analysis and Interpretation12 records61
ADCO 2001Writing for the Digital Space12 records78
ADCO 2002Digital Storytelling12 records85
ADCO 2240Public Relations12 records89

The line

All 13 items · means across 4 records
Instructor4
Course3
Feedback3
Workload & Challengenot ratings

Bars are ranks, not raw scores. Nothing here is graded good or bad.

What each item asks
Explains Clearly
The instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
Available
The instructor was available for help outside of class.
Motivating
The instructor motivated me to do my best work.
Sparks Interest
The course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
Organized
The course was well organized.
Clear Goals
The learning objectives for the course were clear.
Useful Later
What I learned is applicable beyond this course.
Assignments
Assignments and exams contributed to my learning.
Fast Feedback
I received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
Useful Feedback
The feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
Workload
How much work the course took outside class, on Boston College's five-band scale — the band boundaries are not published, so this is not a number of hours.
Challenge
The course was intellectually challenging.
Attendance
Attending class was necessary to do well in this course.
Why these numbers are curved

Both the number and the bar are the rank against every comparable record we hold, printed back out of 100. BC's questions all have a median around 4.5, so on the raw scale every cell here would read in the high eighties and every bar would be nearly full — thirteen numbers that tell you nothing. Each cell prints its raw BC figure and its percentile underneath, so nothing is hidden by the transform. Every bar is one ink colour — nothing here is graded green or red. The hatched bars are not ratings at all: a higher number on either describes a different course, not a better one.

Game log

4 sections · newest first
InstructorTermSecInstrCourseWork
Martha WhalenFall 202501888280
Martha WhalenFall 202401787760
Martha WhalenFall 2024028580—
Martha WhalenFall 2023018482—
How to read this board

Instructors are ranked on their record in this class only, never on their average across everything they teach. Scores are out of 100 — Boston College's 1–5 agreement scale, ×20, the way these numbers were printed for years. Workload is BC's own five-band figure, not a number of hours, and is shown as a rank. A dash means the question was not reported, and is never a zero.