Class record · COMM · MCAS

COMM 4452

News Media/Democracy · 1 instructor on record · 4 sections

What the course score is made of

93BC evaluations4 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2022 – Fall 2024

—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

89thMore challenging than 89% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

97BC — “Intellectually Challenging”4 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

81stMore work than 81% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

65BC — “Workload”4 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.

Satisfies one of two required writing-intensive courses for Communication majorsThe press plays an essential role in America and the world. This course aims to equip students to become critical news consumers with both a skilled understanding of how journalism works and political literacy about the big issues of our time. Through classic scholarly reflections as well as contemporary punditry examples, we will tackle the news media critically across three dimensions: learning about its indispensable function in mediating politics and democracy throughout history and today; studying and practicing the craft of opining writing and social advocacy; and evaluating and critiquing the performance of the press across these fronts.

The only instructor on record

4 sections · nobody else has taught itFull record

Instructor	Overall	Workload	Challenge
Michael SerazioProfessor · Communication	994 records	81st	89th

There is no ranking to read here: Michael Serazio is the only instructor with evaluation records for COMM 4452, so the number is a record, not a position.

Also taught by Michael Serazio

3 other classes

Class	Instructors	Course score
COMM 1060Anti-Social Media	217 records	95
COMM 2184Sports, Media, Culture	317 records	87
COMM 3372Media Theory	313 records	91

Other COMM classes

All of them

Class	Instructors	Course score
COMM 1030Public Speaking	1166 records	83
COMM 1065Fundamentals of Creative Communication	746 records	79
COMM 1010The Rhetorical Tradition	320 records	83
COMM 1020Introduction to Media Studies	220 records	83
COMM 2213Fundamentals of Audio I	120 records	85
COMM 1060Anti-Social Media	217 records	95

The line

All 13 items · means across 4 records

The Professor4 items

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

9988th pctl

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

9886th pctl

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

9885th pctl

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

9985th pctl

The Course3 items

Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.

9888th pctl

Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.

9785th pctl

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

9783rd pctl

Assignments & Feedback3 items

Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.

9470th pctl

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

9677th pctl

Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.

9677th 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.

6581st pctl

Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.

9789th pctl

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

9463rd 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

4 sections · newest first

Instructor	Term	Sec	Instr	Course	Work
Michael Serazio	Fall 2024	01	100	91	60
Michael Serazio	Spring 2024	01	98	93	60
Michael Serazio	Fall 2022	01	100	95	60
Michael Serazio	Fall 2022	02	96	93	80

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.