Carney Curve

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

Top of the board1.ECON 9902962.LAWS 8856973.PRTO 3300984.BSLW 2299975.PHIL 4932986.LAWS 8308987.SCWK 9960998.EESC 99011009.MUSP 16609610.UGMG 10109811.UNCP 55119712.SCWK 883197

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 · MUSA · MCAS

MUSA 2320

Music and America · 1 instructor on record · 1 section

What the course score is made of
78BC evaluations1 record · weight ×1.0 · Spring 2022
—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
9thMore challenging than 9% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
80BC — “Intellectually Challenging”1 record · 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”1 record · 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.

A survey of the musical heritage of the United States in the broadest historical and stylistic terms possible: from before the Puritans past punk. Included are religious and secular music as well as popular and elite genres, such as Native American pow-wow music, Puritan hymnody and colonial singing schools, minstrelsy and parlor music, the rise of nationalism and its rejection in art music, music in the theater and in films, jazz and gospel, popular music as social enforcer and as social critic. Important figures include William Billings, Stephen Foster, Charles Ives, Louis Armstrong, Aaron Copland, Elvis Presley, and Jimi Hendrix.

The only instructor on record

1 section · nobody else has taught itFull record
InstructorOverallWorkloadChallengeRMP overall
Donald JamesMusic Provisional841 record25th9th802 ratings · all classes

There is no ranking to read here: Donald James is the only instructor with evaluation records for MUSA 2320, so the number is a record, not a position. It rests on 1 record, which is thin — read it as provisional. The RateMyProfessors figure is their overall score across everything they teach, not their score in this class.

Also taught by Donald James

3 other classes
ClassInstructorsCourse score
MUSA 1300History of Popular Music529 records79
MUSA 3350The Beatles: From "Yesterday" to "Tomorrow Never Knows"24 records83
MUSA 2410The Music Industry11 record84

Other MUSA classes

All of them
ClassInstructorsCourse score
MUSA 1100Fundamentals of Music Theory1087 records82
MUSA 1200Introduction to Music1163 records80
MUSA 2100Harmony536 records87
MUSA 3100Chromatic Harmony432 records72
MUSA 1300History of Popular Music529 records79
MUSA 1320Introduction to Musics of the World529 records73

The line

All 13 items · means across 1 record
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
9135th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
9134th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
9137th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
9130th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
713rd pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
8211th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
8411th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
8725th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
672nd pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
8935th 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.
809th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
8935th 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

1 section · newest first
InstructorTermSecInstrCourseWork
Donald JamesSpring 202201847840

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.