Class record · EESC · MCAS

EESC 1187

Geoscience and Public Policy · 1 instructor on record · 3 sections

What the course score is made of

58BC evaluations3 records · weight ×1.0 · Spring 2022 – Spring 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

1stMore challenging than 1% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

71BC — “Intellectually Challenging”3 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”3 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.

The only instructor on record

3 sections · nobody else has taught itFull record

Instructor	Overall	Workload	Challenge	RMP overall
Alan KafkaEarth and Environmental Sciences	633 records	25th	1st	5014 ratings · all classes

There is no ranking to read here: Alan Kafka is the only instructor with evaluation records for EESC 1187, so the number is a record, not a position. The RateMyProfessors figure is their overall score across everything they teach, not their score in this class.

Also taught by Alan Kafka

5 other classes

Class	Instructors	Course score
EESC 2201Environmental Systems: The Human Footprint	516 records	72
EESC 6691Earth Systems Seminar	49 records	79
EESC 2207Environmental Systems: Earthquakes	36 records	60
EESC 3398Statistical Analysis of Scientific Data	13 records	73
EESC 5398Statistical Analysis of Scientific Data	13 records	60

Other EESC classes

All of them

Class	Instructors	Course score
EESC 1720Crisis and Storytelling in the Age of Climate Change	532 records	74
EESC 2201Environmental Systems: The Human Footprint	516 records	72
EESC 1717Making the Modern World: Design, Ethics, and Engineering	315 records	82
EESC 1507Powering America: The Past and Future of Energy, Technology, and the Environment	314 records	80
EESC 1146Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth	113 records	77
EESC 1180The Living Earth I	313 records	67

The line

All 13 items · means across 3 records

The Professor4 items

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

731st pctl

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

762nd pctl

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

701st pctl

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

761st pctl

The Course3 items

Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.

682nd pctl

Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.

764th pctl

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

690th pctl

Assignments & Feedback3 items

Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.

600th pctl

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

683rd pctl

Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.

651st 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.

711st pctl

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

580th 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

3 sections · newest first

Instructor	Term	Sec	Instr	Course	Work
Alan Kafka	Spring 2024	01	66	60	40
Alan Kafka	Spring 2023	01	65	59	40
Alan Kafka	Spring 2022	01	59	55	40

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.