Chemistry 122-02 -- General Chemistry II (Spring 2000)
Welcome to a continuing investigation of the fundamentals of chemistry! This syllabus should help you prepare for what I hope will be an exciting and challenging exploration.
Contact information:
Instructor: Peter Kuhlman
Office: Ebaugh 105
Phone: 587-6698
E-mail: kuhlman@denison.edu
Office hours:
- Monday and Wednesday mornings from 10:30 to 11:30
- Wednesday afternoons from 3:30 to 4:30
- ...or by prior appointment...
Course material:
Text: Chemistry: The Central Science, by Brown, LeMay, and Bursten (Eight edition).
Laboratory Manual: Guide to Experimental Chemistry, Denison University faculty (2000 edition).
Course meeting time:
We will met on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9:30 until 10:20 a.m. in Herrick Hall. Exams will be administered on Tuesday mornings at 8:30, also in Herrick.
Help with general chemistry problems -- both conceptual and computational -- is available five days a week. Check out the online help-room schedule to find a time that works for you!
Course calendar:
A "live" html version of the calendar for this course is available online. The online version will be updated with changes to the schedule of lectures, reading assignments, and quiz/demos. It will also list assigned homework problems.
What I want to achieve in this course this semester:
- My goals for this course are primarily practical: I want to facilitate your understanding of chemical concepts and help you to improve your skill in applying chemical techniques to the analysis of your world.
- Beyond that, however, I want to share with you, and hopefully pass on to you, my passion for the explanatory power of chemistry and its relevance to our daily lives, and the excitement of delving beneath the observable landscape to the fascinating molecular world that forms its fabric.
- I also want to guide you towards a working familiarity with the logical approach to asking questions about your world that we term "the scientific method". This methodology is far more than a set of steps for designing laboratory experiments. It is truly a way of interacting with life and with information. It is the lens through which I view my world.
- Finally, it is my goal to help you acquire tools and motivation that you will need to make the search for scientific knowledge an integral part of the rest of your life. Once you leave this class, I cannot "teach" you anymore, but I hope to empower you to continue to teach yourself!
Class format:
It is my experience that the best way to learn is to think and discuss. Because I intend to help you think chemistry and learn chemistry together with your classmates, most of our class meetings will not be conventional lectures. Fundamentally, I am making the assumption that you, as an experienced student, have learned to read textbooks in a fairly sophisticated fashion, and I will therefore NOT simply re-phrase the material in your readings from the text. Rather, I will expect you to read assigned passages from the text BEFORE coming to class, and I will structure our class time in ways intended to help you review, reinforce, and synthesize the material in the text. I will do some lecturing, we will have both large and small group discussions, and I will at times ask probing questions. There will also be seven "Quiz/demo"s over the course of the term, giving you opportunities to practice making observations and reaching conclusions on the basis of those observations. Throughout, I will be looking more for evidence that you are trying to learn and to think than for evidence that you have the "right" answers. I do this not to be cruel or "tough", but rather because I believe it is my job to help you learn to learn and learn to think critically. Even though I believe that this is one of the most effective ways to help you learn, I am also aware that different people learn best in different ways, so please let me know if you feel uncomfortable with this approach to classroom learning!
Because of this class format, to ensure that the whole class is participating equally, I will keep track of your participation in the class discussion. That doesn't mean that every comment or answer you give has to be "right". On the contrary, we often learn much more from our mistaken answers than from our correct ones. Accordingly, I will note only whether your comments and answers indicate (a) that you are doing the readings and (b) that you are thinking. Of course, this also means that you must be present in class (and you must arrive on time), for if you aren't there, it will be difficult for you to show me that you're reading and thinking.
More generally, if you must be absent from any class or laboratory or exam, see me beforehand if at all possible, and in any case be prepared to rigorously justify your absence (for example, with supporting documentation from Student Health or the Academic Support office). Unexcused absence on an exam or quiz/demo date will result in a score of zero for that exercise. Excused absences from quiz/demos will result in a score equal to the average of your other quiz/demo performances.
If you have any questions about the course material, you should not hesitate to seek me out after class, during my office hours, or by appointment at another time.
Homework:
I will assign homework problems during most class periods. These assignments will be designed to help you apply the material that we have covered in class and/or to encourage you to think beyond what you have encountered thus far in the course. Please hand in your homework assignments at the beginning of the class period immediately after the one in which it is assigned, being sure to write your name, section number, and Slayter Box number in the upper right-hand corner of each page.
Homework will be graded on a scale of 0 (not handed in or wrong assignment handed in), 1 (unsatisfactory), or 2 (satisfactory). Please note that this grading scale does not discriminate between perfect answers and incorrect answers, but rather between a responsible effort and an inadequate effort. My intent is to have you engage the material, to explore it and to struggle with the answers. That said, your ability to profit from the homework depends on your learning the difference between right and wrong answers. Accordingly, the graders and I will make a sincere effort to provide you with as much feedback as we can. To ensure that your homework receives the credit that it deserves, please take care to see that it is legible; if the grader cannot read your work, then it will receive a score of 1. Late homework exercises will not be graded.
Seminar critiques (extra credit)
There is far more to chemistry than what you encounter in Chem 121 and 122. In order to encourage you to experience some of the greater world of chemistry, I will give up to 24 points of extra course credit for critiques you submit of up to 4 departmental seminars. Some of these seminars will be announced in class and all will be described in postings in Ebaugh. To receive credit, you must attend the seminar and then submit a short critique describing what the speaker discussed, how successful the speaker was in convincing you of the meaning of the data, and how effective the presentation was. Critiques will be due at the beginning of the class immediately following the seminar. I will grade each critique on a scale of 0 to 6 points.
Laboratory:
Participation -- The laboratory component of this course is an integral part of it. It is your chance to explore with your hands and your senses some of the things you will be exploring with your mind in the classroom. Moreover, the laboratory periods will be an opportunity for you to learn how to test ideas through the design and critical analysis of experiments. As such, the lab is in many ways more important to my goals for the course than is the classroom. And as a result, to pass this course, you MUST complete all laboratory work. Period.
Course grading scheme:
There will be a variety of opportunities (in addition to class discussions) for you to demonstrate to me your mastery of course concepts:
| Homework problems |
2 points x 40 = | 80 pts |
| Quiz/demos |
20 pts x 7 = |
140 pts |
| Laboratory |
|
300 pts |
| Four short exams |
100 pts x 4 = |
400 pts |
| Final exam |
|
200 pts |
| Subjective evaluation of attitude and performance |
|
80 pts |
| TOTAL |
|
1200 pts |
Grades will be assigned roughly according to the scale below. Note that I may change the scale so that it more accurately reflects what I feel to be the performance of members of the class. For instance, if everyone does poorly on the tests because I wrote lousy tests, then I will likely lower the scale (i.e., raise the grades) accordingly. On the other hand, if everyone does very well and is earning "A" marks, then I will be pleased as punch and am unlikely to change the scale. For the most part, you may consider this to be the most demanding standards that I might apply.
90% and up A
87 to 89% A-
83 to 86% B+
79 to 82% B
75 to 78% B-
70 to 74% C+
66 to 69% C
62 to 65% C-
50 to 61% flavors of D
below 50% F
Finally, I wish to make clear my interpretation of letter grades.
I view an "F" as a strong condemnation of the effort and commitment put forth by a student. I hope not to give your class any "F"s.
I view a "D" as an indication that a student was performing well below my standards and well below the studentŐs abilities. I hope not to give your class any "D"s.
I view a "C" as notice that the student is present but not really motivated or engaged. A "C" student is doing adequately but has not committed the personal resources to the class to truly learn.
I view a "B" as a pretty respectable grade. The student to whom I give a "B" may be trying very hard but still struggling with mastery of the material, or may be working less hard and stopping short of achieving excellence.
I view a "B+" as an indication that a student is doing a good job. This grade indicates to me that the student is expending significant care and effort to ensure that s/he is learning the material.
I view an "A-" as a very good grade. I do not give this grade lightly or without evidence that a student is truly approaching mastery of the material, for this grade indicates that a student has met my expectations for the course.
I view an "A" as an indication of true excellence. In order to achieve an "A" in my course, a student must demonstrate to me that s/he has not only committed the necessary resources to master the material, but also that s/he is aggressively engaging the questions that we explore. This is a grade to be proud of, a grade to be earned by serious work and mental sharpness.
The page you are viewing, http://www.denison.edu/~kuhlman/courses/general_chem/122.2000.syl.html, was last modified on January 26, 2000.
This page is the creation and intellectual property of Peter L. Kuhlman.
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