Class record · ARTH · MCAS

ARTH 4314

The Materials of Art and their Conservation · 1 instructor on record · 5 sections

What the course score is made of

89BC evaluations5 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2021 – Fall 2025

—Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute

—RateMyProfessorsno ratings — does not contribute

That is the class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it. Who taught it, and how each of them scored, is the board below — that is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between.

What the challenge rank is made of

30thMore challenging than 30% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

87BC — “Intellectually Challenging”5 records · raw score out of 100

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

25thMore work than 25% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

40BC — “Workload”5 records · raw score out of 100

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.

Preservation of a (traditional) work of art requires understanding the materials of which it is made up, their condition, determining a course of treatment, then carrying out a treatment. In this seminar, means by which the materials of art can be understood (historical documents and examination in a conservation lab) will be explored. A major focus will be on how conservators determine the 'state of preservation' that is the desired outcome of a particular treatment (which is rarely how the work of art looked when it was newly created). Other topics are conservation controversies (including cleaning of the Sistine Chapel), 'authenticity' (and authentication) of works of art, and preservation of art that may include highly perishable materials, digital media, or performance. Although some of the subjects are technical, no background in college science is required.

The only instructor on record

5 sections · nobody else has taught itFull record

Instructor	Overall	Workload	Challenge
Richard NewmanArt History	905 records	25th	30th

There is no ranking to read here: Richard Newman is the only instructor with evaluation records for ARTH 4314, so the number is a record, not a position.

Other ARTH classes

All of them

Class	Instructors	Course score
ARTH 1102Art: Renaissance to Modern Times	818 records	85
ARTH 2251Modern Architecture	110 records	82
ARTH 1101Art: Prehistoric to Middle Ages	68 records	76
ARTH 2205Early American Art	18 records	84
ARTH 4498Independent Study	56 records	100
ARTH 1107History of Architecture	15 records	81

The line

All 13 items · means across 5 records

The Professor4 items

Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.

9456th pctl

Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.

9029th pctl

Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.

9239th pctl

Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.

9232nd pctl

The Course3 items

Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.

8625th pctl

Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.

8933rd pctl

Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.

9566th pctl

Assignments & Feedback3 items

Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.

9367th pctl

Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.

8114th pctl

Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.

8416th pctl

Workload, difficulty & attendanceNot ratings

WorkloadHow 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.

4025th pctl

Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.

8730th pctl

Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.

9249th pctl

Bar length is the rank against every comparable record we hold, not the raw score: BC's questions all have a median around 4.5, so a raw-scale bar would be nearly full on every row and would tell you nothing. 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

5 sections · newest first

Instructor	Term	Sec	Instr	Course	Work
Richard Newman	Fall 2025	01	94	86	40
Richard Newman	Fall 2024	01	83	86	40
Richard Newman	Fall 2023	01	97	93	—
Richard Newman	Fall 2022	01	90	90	40
Richard Newman	Fall 2021	01	85	90	—

How to read this boardInstructors 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.