Humboldt State University ® Department of Chemistry

Richard A. Paselk

Chem 107
Fundamentals of Chemistry

TR 0800-0920 KBR

Tentative Syllabus - Fall 2009

Office: SA 560a & GH 122
Office Hours: TRF 1100-1150; W 1400-1550 other times by appointment
Phone: x 5719 & x 5136
Home: 822-1116
e-mail: rap1@humboldt.edu

Course Information & Learning Outcome Goals

Catalog Description:

CHEM 107. Fundamentals of Chemistry (4). Terminal course. Fundamental concepts/applications of general and inorganic chemistry. Letter grade only. Prereq: math code 30. Weekly: 3 hrs lec, 3 hrs lab.

Learning Outcomes:

CHEM 107 addresses the following Department of Chemistry learner outcomes. Successful students will be able to demonstrate:

CHEM 107 also addresses the following Humboldt State University learner outcomes at low intensity, in which the learner outcome is included implicitly or occasionally:

Chemistry 107 is an Area B Lower Division General Education course. The GE goals for Chem 107 include:

General Information

My attitude towards texts is that they are references to repeat, expand, clarify (or confuse!), and otherwise aid you in your endeavor to understand chemistry. I do not "require" that you buy a text - you're an adult, you should know what you require to "get through" a course. It's your decision. However, I strongly recommend purchasing the eBook. Bauer will be the central text for most of this course. Bauer and I may sometimes disagree. In such cases of disagreement between a text and myself, I am the "ultimate authority" and you must "do it my way." This doesn't mean that I am right, but rather that we need a common, defined set of knowledge for effective communication.

I am trying two "new" learning aids this semester:

Supplemental Instruction course

There are two supplemental sections (Chem 199) scheduled for Chem 107 this semester. Enrollment occurs after school starts. The supplemental instruction sections for our section of Chem 107 ....

Lecture Notes

I will post copies of my lecture notes on the course web site after each lecture. (If you want to "look ahead" you can get a good idea of what is next by looking at my archive for the Fall 2005 Chem 107 notes.) These notes are intended to help you amplify and correct your own notes. It is generally a bad idea to use my notes instead of taking your own! Taking notes is an essential learning mode for most students. You should be very critical when using the posted lecture notes - it is incredibly easy to screw up and enter small errors into these notes. If you use the notes and think you've found an error please tell me via e-mail so I may correct them immediately rather than forgetting your comments on the way to my office!

This course has an emphasis on problem solving. I will attempt to put all of the lecture examples (and links to others) into my web notes to help you out.

Recommended Learning Strategies

Time Commitment:

Most students find chemistry to be a challenging and time consuming experience. An average student should expect to spend two hours out of class for each hour in class for a "C" grade, that is about 12 hours a week in study, homework and lab write-ups.

Calendars

Lecture Calendar: See Fundamentals of Chemistry on my Web Page (http://www.humboldt.edu/~rap1)

Laboratory Calendar: See Fundamentals of Chemistry on my Web Page (http://www.humboldt.edu/~rap1)

Grading Information

Attendance:

Lecture: Attendance in lecture will taken via clicker use, and will make a small contribution (<10%) towards your grade. You are most strongly urged to attend every lecture and to take thorough notes to aid your learning. Historically this approach has worked better than missing classes and taking sketchy notes.

Lab: Laboratory attendance is mandatory. Missing three or more laboratory sessions will result in an automatic "F" for the course! Failure to turn in a lab report or 2 "U"s will count as a missed lab. Unless you are informed otherwise, the written report for each lab exercise will be due at the beginning of the following lab. Late reports will not be accepted, except when they are necessitated by illness or some other unavoidable circumstance. Your lab reports will be graded "S" (satisfactory), "U" (unsatisfactory). Your course grade will be lowered by one or more letter grades for three or more "U" (unsatisfactory) reports. Lab reports will not be graded thoroughly, but will be superficially checked for completeness. It is impossible to overestimate the potential value of the lab and of the preparation of the lab reports in helping you to learn chemistry. The work you put in on the preparation of your lab reports will have a direct effect on your quiz and examination scores.

Bring a scientific calculator to every laboratory. Come prepared to the labs - i.e., know what you are about to do in lab. Part of the quiz may be related to the lab for that day. It is expected that you will work on the problem set for a given discussion several days in advance of the laboratory period and be prepared to participate in some discussion.

Be punctual. There is a quiz at the beginning of almost every meeting. Coming in late will only reduce the amount of time you have to do the quiz.

Exams: Note the in-class exam dates and be certain you can make them:

Exam II (Weeks 7-11) - Thursday,

Final Exam (Comprehensive): Thursday 17 December 0800-0950

Quizzes

There will generally be a quiz at the beginning of each lab period. If you are late you will have less time or get a zero! The dates for the quizzes are available on the Lab Schedule. The subject areas covered on each quiz will be posted on the Lab Schedule by the Friday before each quiz.

I do not generally give make-up exams or quizzes, but can often make an accommodation if notified in advance. So if you think you can't make an exam or quiz, please call me in advance. If you can't reach me, leave a message with the Chemistry Department secretary or on my voice mail.

Lecture Points

Grading Rubric

Withdrawal/Drop Policy (from HSU Academic Senate):

You may drop this course for any reason without record up through the fourth week. After the 4th weekand until the 13th week withdrawal requires a "serious and compelling reason (see below) and will be recorded as a "W." After the 13th week only catastrophic withdrawals (see below) will be given - a grade of "WC" will be recorded.

• "Serious and compelling" reason for withdrawal: Examples include psychological problems, loss of care for dependents, inappropriate behavior of someone else in the classroom, and serious reversal in the student's financial situation. Documentation must be provided. (Note: reasons such as doing poorly in a class, taking too many units, being too busy to do the work, not liking the class, not knowing how or when to drop are not considered to be “serious and compelling.”) In considering serious and compelling reasons, faculty and department chairs should give careful consideration to a student’s extenuating circumstances while also following this rigorous definition of “serious and compelling.”
• Catastrophic Withdrawal (WC): Disenrollment from a course or from the campus after the census date due to catastrophic events clearly beyond a student's control, such as severe illness or injury, being called to military service, consequences of the death of a close family member. Formal documentation of the event must be provided, and requests must be approved by the faculty member teaching the course, the department chair, and the appropriate college Dean or designee. If granted, a grade of "WC" appears on the student's transcript. Catastrophic Withdrawals do not count toward the 18-unit limit for withdrawals. This is the only category of disenrollment permitted during the last 20% of instruction (the beginning of the 13th week of classes in the regular semester).

When contemplating a Withdrawal, you should also be aware of the new CSU policies (Executive Order 1037; August 1, 2009) that place significant new restrictions on course repeats and withdrawals for undergraduate students. As a summary:

Incompletes (from CSU Executive Order 1037)

"The “I” symbol shall be used only when the faculty member concludes that a clearly identifiable portion of course requirements cannot be met within the academic term for unforeseen reasons. An Incomplete shall not be assigned when it is necessary for the student to attend a major portion of the class when it is next offered."

"A student may not re-enroll in a course for which he or she has received an “I” until that “I” has been converted to a grade other than “I”; e.g., A-F, IC."

Campus Resources for Students

Disabilities may interfere with your success in this class. If you need accommodations for a disability, please contact our campus Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) and follow up with me as soon as possible. Our campus SDRC can assist you with the accommodation process and can be reached at (707) 826-5392 (TDD). The SDRC is located in House 71 (Little Apartments) off Library Circle.

Students with Disabilities

Student Support organizations

• The Indian Natural Resource, Science and Engineering Program (INRSEP) is a student support program designed for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students pursuing degrees in the natural resource and science disciplines under the College of Natural Resources and Sciences (CNRS) at Humboldt State University (HSU). <http://www.humboldt.edu/~inrsep/>

HSU Add/Drop Policy

Emergency Evacuation

Academic Honesty

Attendance and Disruptive Behavior

C107 Laboratory

C107 Home

C107 Lecture Notes

© R A Paselk

Last modified 5 November 2009