Carney Curve

Boston College course evaluations · Fall 2021 through Spring 2026, ranked class by class

How this list is ordered

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 · NURS · CSON

NURS 9717

Methods of Advanced Scholarly Inquiry · 7 instructors on record · 17 sections

How the curve score is built
59Teaching68 raw · 5th percentile of BC classes
−2Easiness adjustmenteasiness 69 · 60 raw workload · lighter than 22% of BC classes
57Curve scorethe teaching curve −2 for the workload · at most ±6 either way

Boston College's ratings are bunched at the top — the median instructor averages about 88 out of 100 on the raw scale, and 44% of them clear 90 — so a raw score cannot separate anybody. Every figure here is ranked against BC classes and that rank is re-expressed out of 100, which is what turns a raw 88 — the middle of the university — into a figure that says where somebody actually stands. On this scale 77 is the median, 84 the top quarter and 91 the top tenth. Workload is then an adjustment on top of that, worth nothing at all for an ordinary one. Lighter work than 22% of BC classes.

What the course score is made of
68BC evaluations17 records · weight ×1.0 · Spring 2022 – Spring 2026
—Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute
—RateMyProfessorsno ratings — does not contribute

The class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it — who taught it is the board below.

How is this worked out?

That is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between: the board carries each instructor's own score for this class, and the score above is the class averaged across all of them.

What the challenge rank is made of
13thMore challenging than 13% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
82BC — “Intellectually Challenging”17 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question. It is not a measure of difficulty, grading or workload.

How is this worked out?

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
78thMore work than 78% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
60BC — “Workload”17 records · raw score out of 100

One of Boston College's five workload bands, not a number of hours. Higher means more work, not worse.

How is this worked out?

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 is the second of four courses to prepare DNP students to conduct an organization approved, scholarly inquiry project to improve health services and patient outcomes. Students critically evaluate the literature and related information to address a health care problem. Scholarly inquiry approaches are presented to enable students to identify a problem, plan change to improve a process or outcome, or develop innovative solutions related to health care delivery. Upon course completion, there will be a faculty and organization approved DNP project charter, which includes the problem, processes, and expected outcomes.

The board

7 instructors · ranked on this class onlyCompare the top 3

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. 1 of the 7 rows carry a mark saying so.

RankInstructorCurveEasinessChallenge
1Aimee MillikenNursing Provisional9898 raw · 1 record84+2 to the score3rd
2Sarah GivenNursing7690 raw · 5 records66−3 to the score27th
3Catherine ConahanNursing Provisional6780 raw · 1 record68−2 to the score33rd
4Elizabeth HowardNursing Provisional6578 raw · 2 records68−2 to the score2nd
5Stacey BaroneNursing Provisional fewer records6582 raw · 2 records58−5 to the score51st
6Patricia Reid PonteNursing6780 raw · 3 records68−2 to the score11th
7Corrine JurgensNursing6576 raw · 3 records78±0 to the score4th

4 of 7 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.

How this board is built and ordered

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. 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”. Curve is the instructor's score for THIS class only, ranked against every instructor we hold and printed back out of 100, with the raw BC average underneath it; nothing on this board is an average across the other things they teach. Easiness is an adjustment on top of it, worth up to about ±6 — BC's workload item, ranked and turned over, so a lighter section gains and a heavier one loses, while an ordinary one changes nothing — and each row prints the adjustment, signed. The board is ordered on the same figure it prints, adjusted for how many records back it. Challenge is BC's “intellectually challenging” item shown as a rank against every class we hold; students answer it positively about courses that stretched them, so it is not a measure of difficulty or grading, and it is never marked better or worse.

The line

All 13 items · means across 17 records
Instructor4
Course3
Feedback3
Workload & Challengenot ratings

Bars are ranks, not raw scores. Nothing here is graded good or bad.

What each item asks
Explains Clearly
The instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
Available
The instructor was available for help outside of class.
Motivating
The instructor motivated me to do my best work.
Sparks Interest
The course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
Organized
The course was well organized.
Clear Goals
The learning objectives for the course were clear.
Useful Later
What I learned is applicable beyond this course.
Assignments
Assignments and exams contributed to my learning.
Fast Feedback
I received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
Useful Feedback
The feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
Workload
How 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.
Challenge
The course was intellectually challenging.
Attendance
Attending class was necessary to do well in this course.
Why these numbers are curved

Both the number and the bar are the rank against every comparable record we hold, printed back out of 100. BC's questions all have a median around 4.5, so on the raw scale every cell here would read in the high eighties and every bar would be nearly full — thirteen numbers that tell you nothing. Each cell prints its raw BC figure and its percentile underneath, so nothing is hidden by the transform. 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

17 sections · newest first
InstructorTermSecInstrCourseWork
Sarah GivenSpring 202601897880
Stacey BaroneSpring 202601857880
Sarah GivenFall 2025019679—
Stacey BaroneFall 2025017979—
Catherine ConahanSpring 202501807860
Sarah GivenSpring 202501927860
Corrine JurgensFall 202401836760
Sarah GivenFall 202401906760
Elizabeth HowardSpring 202401826660
Sarah GivenSpring 202401836660
Patricia Reid PonteFall 2023018163—
Elizabeth HowardSpring 202301745660
Corrine JurgensSpring 202302715140
Aimee MillikenSpring 202303986640
Patricia Reid PonteFall 202201836860
Corrine JurgensSpring 2022017357—
Patricia Reid PonteSpring 2022017557—
How to read this board

Instructors 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.