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 · SOCY · MCAS

SOCY 3131

Genetics and Society · 1 instructor on record · 2 sections

What the course score is made of
78BC evaluations2 records · weight ×1.0 · Spring 2022 – Fall 2024
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
19thMore challenging than 19% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
84BC — “Intellectually Challenging”2 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”2 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

2 sections · nobody else has taught itFull record
InstructorOverallWorkloadChallenge
Sharlene Hesse-BiberProfessor · Sociology Provisional742 records39th19th

There is no ranking to read here: Sharlene Hesse-Biber is the only instructor with evaluation records for SOCY 3131, so the number is a record, not a position. It rests on 2 records, which is thin — read it as provisional.

Also taught by Sharlene Hesse-Biber

4 other classes
ClassInstructorsCourse score
SOCY 1089Women and the Body25 records76
SOCY 1708Growing Up Gendered: Socio-Cultural Perspectives onto Gender in Contemporary Society13 records85
SOCY 5593Advanced Topics in Transnational Feminism12 records51
SOCY 5510Approaches to Mixed Methods Research11 record100

Other SOCY classes

All of them
ClassInstructorsCourse score
SOCY 1001Introductory Sociology2657 records82
SOCY 2210Research Methods723 records79
SOCY 1030Deviance and Social Control213 records74
SOCY 2215Social Theory313 records76
SOCY 2200Statistics311 records74
SOCY 1501Global Implications of Climate Change310 records78

The line

All 13 items · means across 2 records
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
838th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
9028th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
8925th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
859th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
8215th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
9146th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
9356th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
8727th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
693rd pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
8936th 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.
8419th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
8729th 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

2 sections · newest first
InstructorTermSecInstrCourseWork
Sharlene Hesse-BiberFall 202401929260
Sharlene Hesse-BiberSpring 202201556440

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.