Class record · POLI · MCAS

POLI 1041

Fundamental Concepts of Politics · 10 instructors on record · 37 sections

How the curve score is built

65Teaching76 raw · 14th percentile of BC classes

±0Easiness adjustmenteasiness 78 · 56 raw workload · lighter than 54% of BC classes

65Curve scorethe teaching curve ±0 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 54% of BC classes.

What the course score is made of

76BC evaluations37 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2021 – 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

50thMore challenging than 50% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

90BC — “Intellectually Challenging”37 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

46thMore work than 46% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

56BC — “Workload”37 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.

Restricted to freshmen and sophomores only. This is an introduction to the study of politics through a consideration of some of the basic elements associated with governing: the political association, justice, constitutions, equality, liberty, conflict among citizens and between citizens and governments, conflict among governments. Each of the course instructors uses a different set of readings, drawing on a mix of political philosophy texts, works on international politics, novels, biographies. Emphasis is on interesting and important readings, discussion, and writing. NOTE: for academic-year students, this course is major restricted.

The board

10 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. 3 of the 10 rows carry a mark saying so.

Rank	Instructor	Curve	Easiness	Challenge	RMP overall
1	Hannes KerberAssistant Professor · Political Science Provisional	8695 raw · 1 record	68−2 to the score	82nd	1008 ratings · all classes
2	Sam BiasiPolitical Science Provisional	7990 raw · 1 record	—	—	1004 ratings · all classes
3	Susan ShellPolitical Science Provisional	6173 raw · 1 record	68−2 to the score	40th	—no page
4	Michael TangPolitical Science Provisional fewer records	5260 raw · 1 record	58−5 to the score	29th	—no page
5	Paul WilfordPolitical Science Provisional fewer records	6881 raw · 2 records	68−2 to the score	93rd	885 ratings · all classes
6	Kathleen BaileyProfessor of the Practice · Political Science	7084 raw · 5 records	68−2 to the score	52nd	8618 ratings · all classes
7	Candace HetznerVisiting Professor · Political Science	6982 raw · 9 records	73−1 to the score	57th	7813 ratings · all classes
8	Dennis HaleProfessor · Political Science fewer records	6372 raw · 6 records	78±0 to the score	20th	869 ratings · all classes
9	Alice BehnegarProfessor of the Practice · Political Science	6574 raw · 10 records	81+1 to the score	41st	6615 ratings · all classes
—	Nicholas AndersonPolitical Science Provisional	—— raw · 1 record	—	100th	—no page

6 of 10 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 RateMyProfessors column is an instructor's overall figure across everything they teach, not a figure about this class.

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.

That site has no course dimension, so its figure is shown for information and kept out of the ranking.

The line

All 13 items · means across 37 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

37 sections · newest first

Instructor	Term	Sec	Instr	Course	Work
Alice Behnegar	Spring 2026	01	65	64	40
Alice Behnegar	Spring 2026	02	74	73	60
Alice Behnegar	Fall 2025	01	75	71	60
Kathleen Bailey	Fall 2025	02	85	82	60
Alice Behnegar	Fall 2025	03	78	70	40
Hannes Kerber	Fall 2025	04	95	88	60
Michael Tang	Summer 2025	01	60	67	80
Candace Hetzner	Spring 2025	01	86	85	60
Alice Behnegar	Spring 2025	02	71	71	40
Candace Hetzner	Spring 2025	03	79	78	40
Alice Behnegar	Fall 2024	01	77	72	40
Kathleen Bailey	Fall 2024	02	87	85	60
Candace Hetzner	Fall 2024	03	83	83	60
Candace Hetzner	Spring 2024	01	76	70	60
Alice Behnegar	Spring 2024	02	78	74	40
Alice Behnegar	Fall 2023	01	62	58	—
Kathleen Bailey	Fall 2023	02	78	77	—
Dennis Hale	Fall 2023	03	64	67	—
Dennis Hale	Fall 2023	04	80	73	—
Candace Hetzner	Fall 2023	05	81	73	—
Sam Biasi	Summer 2023	01	90	80	—
Candace Hetzner	Spring 2023	01	89	84	60
Paul Wilford	Spring 2023	02	84	79	60
Alice Behnegar	Fall 2022	01	81	81	60
Kathleen Bailey	Fall 2022	02	88	83	60

Showing the first 25.

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.