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 2024 – Fall 2025

Vivian Pham

Social Work · 2 evaluation records across 1 class

On this class's board
SCWK 880010th of 19 instructors Provisional
What the overall is made of
93BC evaluations2 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2024 – Fall 2025
Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute
RateMyProfessorsno ratings — 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
84thMore challenging than 84% of BC instructorsranked against every one we hold
93BC — “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.

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.

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.
9680th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
9464th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
9575th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
9787th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
9478th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
9586th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
9257th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
9590th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
9476th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
9792nd 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.
9384th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
9482nd 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.

SCWK 8800 Basic Skills in Macro PracticeOvr93Chal66thWork39th
On this class's board10th of 19 instructors Provisional

2 sections on record · course itself rated 89 out of 100. See the full board for SCWK 8800.

TermSecInstrCourseWork
Fall 202505958860
Fall 202405929140
All 13 items for SCWK 8800
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
9669th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
9452nd pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
9560th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
9773rd pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
9468th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
9575th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
9242nd pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
9576th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
9467th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
9782nd 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.
9366th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
9466th 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.