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 · PHIL · MCAS

PHIL 1709

The Art of Creativity: Crisis and Transformation · 1 instructor on record · 1 section

What the course score is made of
91BC evaluations1 record · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2021
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
74thMore challenging than 74% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
94BC — “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.

The only instructor on record

1 section · nobody else has taught itFull record
InstructorOverallWorkloadChallengeRMP overall
Richard KearneyCharles Seelig Professor in Philosophy · Philosophy Provisional941 record25th74th9410 ratings · all classes

There is no ranking to read here: Richard Kearney is the only instructor with evaluation records for PHIL 1709, 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 Richard Kearney

6 other classes
ClassInstructorsCourse score
PHIL 5512Philosophy of Existence14 records91
PHIL 5518Philosophy of Imagination13 records91
PHIL 7820Phenomenology of Desire12 records93
PHIL 5009Hermeneutics of Film11 record93
PHIL 6687Philosophies of the Earth: Readings in Ecological Hospitality11 record88
PHIL 7260Hermeneutics of Hospitality11 record95

Other PHIL classes

All of them
ClassInstructorsCourse score
PHIL 1071Philosophy of the Person II71247 records84
PHIL 1070Philosophy of the Person I65207 records82
PHIL 1091Perspectives on Western Culture II/Perspectives II39144 records87
PHIL 1089Person and Social Responsibility II20104 records88
PHIL 1088Person and Social Responsibility I1969 records88
PHIL 1090Perspectives on Western Culture I/Perspectives I3067 records84

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.
9454th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
836th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
9138th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
100100th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
8935th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
9149th 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.
9473rd pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
8013th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
776th 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.
9474th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
100100th 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
Richard KearneyFall 202101949140

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.