chapman@sou.edu
chapman@sou.edu
A passing grade (C- or better) in Ch 202 is a prerequisite for Ch 203. If you recieved a grade of D or below in Ch 202, you may not take Ch 203 until you have received a C- or better in Ch 202.
Please note that a grade of C- or better in Ch 203 is required in order for you to enroll in organic chemistry (Ch 334) next fall!
If you are a transfer student or a student from the Spring section of CH 202, welcome to my class! Please stop by my office (Sc 269) and introduce yourself and let's talk about how my class goes. You'll need to get up to speed quickly on the course notes and web site.
Class attendance and participation are expected, although roll will not be taken. Grades will be based upon the total number of points earned in the course. There will be two midterm exams worth 100 points each, and a comprehensive final exam worth 70 points.
Exam grading questions: You will have 72 hours from the time I return your midterms (usually the next morning) to ask questions about how a particular question was graded. Exam keys will be posted immediately after exams and you should consult the key when looking over your exam.
Class announcements will be made shortly after class starts, and will not be repeated. You are responsible for all information contained in the announcements, so please arrive at class on time.
I will also send information (about review sessions, etc.) to your SOU student email account. You are responsible for making sure that you receive instructor emails!
For each class session, there will be a set of lecture notes (available as optional material at the SOU Bookstore), assigned reading, and study problems. The assigned reading and study problems are shown on the Ch 203 lecture schedule. The study problems are found at the ends of the chapters in the Brown, LeMay text. The lecture schedule for Ch 203 is here . Please read it and print it out! Notice that, on the Ch 203 lecture schedule, each suggested study problem appears as a hypertext link - clicking on the problem will take you to a worked-out solution to the problem. These worked-out solutions are intended to be of help to you in developing your problem-solving and study skills. Use them primarily to get help on study problems at times when you can't get in for help (like evenings/weekends etc.) The online solutions are not meant to keep you from coming in for help!
Please note that the lecture schedule is an apporoximation of where we will be on any given day. If we have a lively discussion during a particular lecture (or I do a demo and blow something up) and we get a little behind (or ahead of) the lecture schedule, don't worry! You won't be tested on material which we haven't covered in class. Use the lecture schedule as a guide to which sections in the text to read and which study problems to work. I'm usually a lecture or two behind what is posted on the schedule, so just keep up on the study problems and reading for material which we cover in class.
Before coming to class, you should do the reading assignment and look over the lecture notes and study problems. This will insure that class time is beneficial to you. Applicable study problems shoud be attempted the day the material is discussed in class, and certainly no later than the next day. This allows you to get help on material which troubles you while it is still fresh in your mind.
The study problems are neither turned in nor are they graded. The problems are intended to give you practice in problem solving, and to help you develop effective study habits. They are intended to be a diagnostic tool to let you and I know what you need help with - they are a very important part of your success in this course. The study problems are the absolute MINIMUM that you need to know how to do in order to function in the course. If you can work the suggested study problems from a given day's lecture with your lecture notes out for reference, and understand what you are doing, and verify your results by checking the online solutions on the Ch 203 lecture schedule, then close your lecture notes and work the problems immediately above/below the suggested study problems in the text (the answers to these are in the back of the book.) If you get stuck on an 'extra' problem, by all means come and see me for help! Similarly, if you find that you're having difficulty working the study problems, then come and see me and get help as soon as you can! Try to see me no later than the next day after you get stuck so we can keep you up with the lecture material.
I'd recommend that you purchase a spiral notebook or 3-ring binder and work all of your study problems in it - make every effort to stay organized and it will help when you study for exams!
The most common reasons for lack of success in Ch 203 relate directly to (1) study skills and (2) level of math preparation. Not doing the study problems or waiting until the night before a midterm (and trying to work fifty problems that we covered two weeks prior) will almost guarantee that you learn very little, and this will be reflected in your exam scores. Try to work a few problems each day, immediately after that material is covered in lecture. We will spend a great deal of time working problems in class (including the study problems!) - if you'll try the study problems the night of/day after a lecture, and if you'll come in for help when you are stuck, you'll do well in the course. In other words, stay on top of the reading and the problems and attend class! As for the level of math preparation required, a working knowledge of College Algebra (Math 111) is assumed.
There will be a weekly help session (Ch 197, Chemical Problem Solving, CRN 6252) in Sc 275 each Friday from 1:30-2:20. The purpose of Ch 197 is to provide students with more help with problem solving in a smaller environment. Ch 196 is a 1-credit, pass/no pass course and attendance is strongly recommended. We work on problems and concepts from lecture, as well as calculations and problems from Ch 206 lab, so Ch 197 is a very valuable and productive investment of your time.
Please note that the final exam in the third term of the General Chemistry sequence (Ch 201/2/3) is comprehensive over the entire year of the course. The strategy of learning material the weekend before a midterm exam is clearly not the best policy for this course - make every effort to learn and retain the material for the long term. The material covered in Ch 202 uses material covered in Ch 201, and lays the foundation for Ch 203 in the spring term, and if you struggled in Ch 202 you will probably have a less than enjoyable spring term in Ch 203.
Classroom etiquette and Good Habits
Please turn cell phones, pagers, etc. OFF (or set them to silent or vibrate) during class. Cell phones MUST be off and stowed during exams.
Please do not send/receive text messages while in class. This is very distracting and discourteous to those around you (including me.) If you don't wish to pay attention in class, then don't attend. Just be aware that this carries it's own set of consequences. Please do not distract those around you.
While it is appropriate to take notes on your laptop computer during some classes, it isn't very appropriate during Ch 203. As mentioned above, you may purchase the course lecture notes if you so desire at the SOU Bookstore. These same notes will be projected on a large screen at the front of our classroom and you can use the notes as a template if you want. You can put comments and things that I say/write in the margins (there's lots of room in the notes for this.) The notes contain a lot of problems which we work in class, and I left room in the notes for you to write down what we're doing. The intent is that you write down the problems that we work in class, and you have your notes open when you're studying. Your notes contain problems which are very similar to the study problems, and your course notes are a very valuable study aid.
I usually work problems from the notes on the chalkboards in our classroom (and I'll also use an overhead projector to display material.) My point here is this: one learns to do chemistry and solve chemical problems at first by writing and following along - for example, when we're learning to write formulas for ionic compounds and balance chemical equations, you need to develop your 'muscle memory' by writing these formulas out. You can write formulas faster than you can type them, and additionally, you won't be typing your midterm exams - you'll be writing them. As another example, when we do Lewis structures for molecules, you'll need to draw these structures by hand - you'll be missing a large part of what is going on in lecture if you're distracted by what's going on with your laptop.
I strongly encourage questions during lecture! I'll ask the class lots of questions, and I enjoy answering questions from members of the class. However, I will insist on a certain measure of civility between members of our class. Yes, someone may be asking a question about something that you aren't having problems with, but there will be a time when you have a question, and someone else is comfortable with the topic. You wouldn't like to be belittled by your classmates, so don't belittle or mock them in return. Please refrain from heavy sighs, rolling eyes, and acting disinterested when someone asks a question. Participate, learn, and enjoy!
One last comment - you don't need to bring your lecture text from home every day for class. Do bring along your lecture notes - there are copies of the lecture text available at my office if you wish to do reading or problems during your breaks during the day. Please bring the extra texts back where you found them when you're finished with them! Please be courteous to others and don't take the extra texts home (or try to sell them back to the bookstore:)
The grading scheme is flexible, but the approximate grade cutoffs will be as follows:
| Grade | Final per cent score |
|---|---|
| A | 92 |
| A- | 90 |
| B+ | 88 |
| B | 82 |
| B- | 80 |
| C+ | 78 |
| C | 72 |
| C- | 70 |
| D+ | 68 |
| D | 62 |
| D- | 60 |
SOU academic support statement
If you are in need of academic support because of a documented disability (whether it is psychiatric, learning, mobility, health related, or sensory), you may be eligible for academic accommodations through disability services for students. Contact Disability Services for Students; Director, DSS; 552-6213; or schedule an appointment in person at the ACCESS Center, Stevenson Union, Lower Level.