Class record · POLI · MCAS

POLI 1021

How to Rule the World: Introduction to Political Theory · 6 instructors on record · 45 sections

What the course score is made of

82BC evaluations45 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2021 – 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

57thMore challenging than 57% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

92BC — “Intellectually Challenging”45 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

47thMore work than 47% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

57BC — “Workload”45 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.

This introductory course in political theory will be devoted to exploring what may well be the highest political theme: the requirements of great political rule. What must we do in order to govern well? Even more important, what must we know? With these and related questions in mind, you will be asked to read, reflect on, and write carefully about a handful of foundational texts that all deal, in very different ways, with the question of the requirements of great political leadership.

The board

6 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.

Rank	Instructor	Overall	Workload	Challenge
1	Robert BartlettPolitical Science	9035 records	47th	57th
2	Yiyang ZhugePolitical Science Provisional	892 records	25th	75th
3	Michael TangPolitical Science Provisional	852 records	39th	52nd
4	Samuel HelyarPolitical Science Provisional	832 records	78th	64th
5	Peter Donald WilkinPolitical Science Provisional	822 records	85th	53rd
6	John LoebsPolitical Science Provisional	812 records	—	—

How this board is orderedPositions 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”. Overall is the instructor's blended score for THIS class only, and its one contributing source is Boston College's evaluations for the sections in the row's record count — nothing on this board is an average across the other things they teach. Workload and Challenge are RANKS against every class we hold, not scores: BC's questions all sit near the top of the 1-5 scale, so a raw number would put almost every row in the high eighties and tell you nothing. Challenge is BC's “intellectually challenging” item, which students answer positively about courses that stretched them — it is not a measure of difficulty or grading. Neither column is ever marked better or worse. 5 of 6 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.

The line

All 13 items · means across 45 records

The Professor4 items

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

9136th pctl

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

8921st pctl

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

9032nd pctl

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

9235th pctl

The Course3 items

Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.

9043rd pctl

Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.

8830th pctl

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

8717th pctl

Assignments & Feedback3 items

Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.

8728th pctl

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

8833rd pctl

Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.

8727th 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.

5747th pctl

Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.

9257th pctl

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

9148th 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

45 sections · newest first

Instructor	Term	Sec	Instr	Course	Work
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2025	01	93	88	60
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2025	02	96	90	—
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2025	03	92	88	60
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2025	04	89	77	60
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2025	05	98	87	60
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2025	06	92	80	60
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2025	07	94	88	—
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2024	01	90	83	60
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2024	02	88	80	60
Michael Tang	Fall 2024	03	86	84	60
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2024	03	94	84	60
Michael Tang	Fall 2024	04	85	80	40
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2024	04	85	80	40
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2024	05	83	75	—
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2024	06	87	84	60
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2024	07	98	93	60
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2023	01	91	84	—
John Loebs	Fall 2023	02	81	84	—
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2023	02	95	84	—
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2023	03	85	71	—
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2023	04	85	55	—
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2023	05	97	95	—
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2023	06	89	85	—
John Loebs	Fall 2023	07	80	75	—
Robert Bartlett	Fall 2023	07	87	75	—

Showing the first 25.

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.