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.

Instructor record · Theology · Fall 2022 – Spring 2023

Domenik Ackermann

Theology · 2 evaluation records across 1 class

On this class's board
THEO 143412th of 12 instructors Provisional
What the overall is made of
59BC evaluations2 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2022 – Spring 2023
60RateMyProfessors3 ratings · weight ×2.0 · 33% would take again
Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute

Sources are averaged by how much we trust each one and by how many records sit behind it, so a handful of reviews nudges the number rather than replacing it.

What the challenge rank is made of
10thMore challenging than 10% of BC instructorsranked against every one we hold
79BC — “Intellectually Challenging”2 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question — 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. RateMyProfessors separately rates this instructor 66 out of 100 for difficulty — that IS a difficulty measure, but it is about the person across everything they teach, not about any one class, so it is shown here rather than folded into the number above.

What the workload rank is made of
48thMore work than 48% of BC instructorsranked against every one we hold
50BC — “Workload”2 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College reports workload 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.

Ratings from outside BC

Not evaluation data

Collected from RateMyProfessors, not from Boston College: 3 ratings, 33% would take again, difficulty 66 out of 100. Difficulty is not a quality signal in either direction — a harder course is not a worse one.

Anyone can post there — no @bc.edu check and no enrolment check — so it is weighted alongside the evaluation data, never above it.

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.
734th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
774th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
671st pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
8110th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
714th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
733rd pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
776th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
734th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
747th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
745th 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.
5048th pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
7910th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
8427th 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.

Class by class

1 class · 2 sections

How each position is worked outPositions 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.

THEO 1434 Judaism and Christianity in DialogueOvr59Chal6thWork39th
On this class's board12th of 12 instructors Provisional

2 sections on record · course itself rated 57 out of 100. See the full board for THEO 1434.

TermSecInstrCourseWork
Spring 202301626260
Fall 202201565140
All 13 items for THEO 1434
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
731st pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
772nd pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
670th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
814th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
713rd pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
732nd pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
772nd pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
732nd pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
746th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
743rd 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.
796th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
8418th 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.

How to read this pageScores are out of 100 — Boston College's 1–5 agreement scale, ×20, the way these numbers were printed for years. Almost every class scores high on that scale (the median is about 90), so challenge and workload are shown as a rank against every instructor we hold rather than as a score; the raw figure is in the breakdown above. Neither describes quality, and neither is ever marked better or worse anywhere on this site. A dash means the question was not reported, and is never a zero. The position printed against each class is this instructor's place on that class's own board, computed from the same records the board itself is built from.