Carney Curve

Boston College course evaluations · every published number, ranked class by class

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 · COMM · MCAS

COMM 2250

Media Ethics in the Digital Age · 2 instructors on record · 5 sections

What the course score is made of
74BC evaluations5 records · weight ×1.0 · Spring 2022 – 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
14thMore challenging than 14% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
83BC — “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
29thMore work than 29% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
45BC — “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.

This course may be used to satisfy one of four electives required within the Communication major.This course gives students an understanding of the ethical dimensions of communication in an accelerating digital world. Drawing on philosophical principles that resonate with Jesuit values, students will learn to identify, evaluate, and where possible interpret moral conflicts in the media and communication environment, in the media industry, and between the industry and the public. Rather than look at ethical conflicts strictly from a Western lens, the course introduces the students to a variety of philosophical and cultural models. Using a case study approach, the course addresses various contemporary ethical concerns, such as social media and mental health, misinformation, hate speech, extremist content, documentaries, alternative business models for journalism, international and cross-cultural issues, commodity activism, guerilla marketing, entertainment, privacy, doxing, and copyright.

The board

2 instructors · ranked on this class onlyCompare the top 2

Scores are real averages. The order also accounts for how many records back each one — the count is under every score — so one perfect review does not outrank a semester of them.

RankInstructorOverallWorkloadChallengeRMP overall
1Kristin PetersonAssociate Professor · Communication Provisional911 record25th22nd1003 ratings · all classes
2Marcus BreenCommunication724 records30th12th664 ratings · all classes

How this board is orderedPositions 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. The comparison here is the class itself: a thin record is read against how this class was rated overall, not against the university.

Every instructor with an evaluation record for this class is on this board — it is not a top ten, and nothing is hidden behind a “show more”. Overall is the instructor's blended score for THIS class only, and its one contributing source is Boston College's evaluations for the sections in the row's record count — nothing on this board is an average across the other things they teach. Workload and Challenge are RANKS against every class we hold, not scores: BC's questions all sit near the top of the 1-5 scale, so a raw number would put almost every row in the high eighties and tell you nothing. Challenge is BC's “intellectually challenging” item, which students answer positively about courses that stretched them — it is not a measure of difficulty or grading. Neither column is ever marked better or worse. 1 of 2 rows are marked provisional: fewer than 3 records stand behind the number. That is thin evidence, not a bad instructor — the record count is in every row. The RateMyProfessors column is an instructor's overall figure across everything they teach; that site has no course dimension, so it is shown for information and kept out of the ranking.

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.
838th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
8714th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
8512th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
8610th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
788th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
809th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
9033rd pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
8622nd pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
9251st pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
8933rd 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.
4529th pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
8314th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
8213th 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
InstructorTermSecInstrCourseWork
Marcus BreenFall 202501706740
Marcus BreenFall 202401676840
Marcus BreenSpring 202401726960
Marcus BreenSpring 2023017977
Kristin PetersonSpring 202201918640

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.