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 · Social Work · Fall 2021 – Fall 2025

Elaine Gatewood

Social Work · 8 evaluation records across 2 classes

On each class's board
SCWK 772317th of 17 instructorsSCWK 776223rd of 23 instructors Provisional
What the overall is made of
66BC evaluations8 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2021 – Fall 2025
20RateMyProfessors2 ratings · weight ×2.0 · 0% 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
3rdMore challenging than 3% of BC instructorsranked against every one we hold
73BC — “Intellectually Challenging”8 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 90 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
31stMore work than 31% of BC instructorsranked against every one we hold
44BC — “Workload”8 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: 2 ratings, 0% would take again, difficulty 90 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 8 records
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
713rd pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
721st pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
723rd pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
765th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
745th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
8010th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
8624th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
8012th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
683rd pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
703rd 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.
4431st pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
733rd pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
758th 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

2 classes · 8 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.

SCWK 7723 Re-thinking Diversity: Systems of Oppression and PrivilegeOvr71Chal3rdWork28th
On this class's board17th of 17 instructors

7 sections on record · course itself rated 71 out of 100. See the full board for SCWK 7723.

TermSecInstrCourseWork
Fall 202501686640
Fall 202403576160
Fall 2023017779
Fall 202203777740
Fall 202206535340
Fall 2021068378
Fall 202109838240
All 13 items for SCWK 7723
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
762nd pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
782nd pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
773rd pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
814th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
776th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
8414th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
8822nd pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
819th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
735th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
754th 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.
4428th pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
763rd pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
787th 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.

SCWK 7762 Basic Skills in Clinical Social WorkOvr32Chal0thWork
On this class's board23rd of 23 instructors Provisional

1 section on record · course itself rated 43 out of 100. See the full board for SCWK 7762.

TermSecInstrCourseWork
Fall 2024113243
All 13 items for SCWK 7762
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
420th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
420th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
430th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
430th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
550th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
580th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
731st 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.
370th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
400th pctl
Workload, difficulty & attendanceNot ratings
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
530th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
570th 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. 1 of 13 questions were not reported and are left out rather than shown as zero.

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.