Class record · PHIL · MCAS

PHIL 2444

The Vegetative Soul: The Hidden Life of Plants · 1 instructor on record · 3 sections

What the course score is made of

91BC evaluations3 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2022 – Fall 2025

—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

25thMore challenging than 25% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

86BC — “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

39thMore work than 39% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

50BC — “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
Holly VandewallProfessor of the Practice · Philosophy	933 records	39th	25th	8011 ratings · all classes

There is no ranking to read here: Holly Vandewall is the only instructor with evaluation records for PHIL 2444, 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 Holly Vandewall

6 other classes

Class	Instructors	Course score
PHIL 1723Faith, Ethics, and the Sciences in the 21st Century	417 records	74
PHIL 1119New Scientific Visions I/Perspectives IV	216 records	91
PHIL 1121New Scientific Visions II/Perspectives IV	216 records	93
THEO 1723Faith, Ethics, and the Sciences in the 21st Century	312 records	78
UNAS 1122New Scientific Visions II/Perspectives IV	210 records	95
UNAS 1120New Scientific Visions I/Perspectives IV	28 records	93

Other PHIL classes

All of them

Class	Instructors	Course score
PHIL 1071Philosophy of the Person II	71247 records	84
PHIL 1070Philosophy of the Person I	65207 records	82
PHIL 1091Perspectives on Western Culture II/Perspectives II	39144 records	87
PHIL 1089Person and Social Responsibility II	20104 records	88
PHIL 1088Person and Social Responsibility I	1969 records	88
PHIL 1090Perspectives on Western Culture I/Perspectives I	3067 records	84

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.

9670th pctl

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

9779th pctl

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

9457th pctl

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

9985th pctl

The Course3 items

Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.

9464th pctl

Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.

9253rd pctl

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

9570th pctl

Assignments & Feedback3 items

Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.

9153rd pctl

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

9253rd pctl

Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.

9251st 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.

5039th pctl

Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.

8625th pctl

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

9355th 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
Holly Vandewall	Fall 2025	01	94	96	60
Holly Vandewall	Fall 2023	01	96	91	—
Holly Vandewall	Fall 2022	01	89	86	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.