We will be using WebCT to take eight multiple-choice quizzes, one at the end of each chapter. When we finish a chapter, an odd-numbered practice quiz will be posted, along with an even-numbered quiz that counts. You can take the practice quiz as many times as you want until you feel confident that you know how to do the questions on it. The quiz to be graded can only be taken once (without a time limit). They are worth 10 points each.
The Practice Quiz is offered for pedagogic reasons, so it will report which questions you have correct and which are not answered correctly. The Points Quiz, however, is meant to be an assessment tool, and thus will not report back to you that same information. You must take the Points Quiz in one sitting, and not leave existing windows or bring new ones up - this sometimes leads to lost submissions or non-grading of the quiz. After submitting the Points Quiz for grading, check your score under the My Scores tab of WebCT. If you experience a problem, notify me immediately so that there is a record of your having taken it within the allotted time.
In addition to these announced quizzes, we will have four unannounced quizzes taken during class time, each worth 5 points. They will be extremely brief, and can be thought of as, essentially, attendance quizzes. The total number of points earned for quizzes thus adds to 100.
Four exams will be given on Wednesday evenings, starting at 7:00 p.m. They are designed to be one-hour exams, but you may take the full two hours if you like. Our lecture room will also serve as the examinations room. The exams will occur at approximately equal intervals on the following days:
Each exam is worth 100 points, and your lowest score will be dropped (see “Course Grading” below). I will not give make-up exams. If you miss an exam for illness or any other reason, your zero will be thrown out in the tally as your low score. Any additional such absence will count as a zero. The only exception I will consider is for a serious illness requiring hospitalization. You must furnish me with appropriate contact information so that I can verify your absence. If you work in the evenings, please try to reschedule with your supervisor now.
Exams from last year’s Chem 32 course will be posted on the course web page. Clearly, the questions will not be identical (or even cover the same concept) but the length and level of difficulty will be similar. I tend to ask questions on the exam that are of the difficulty and complexity of the homework problems. Please do not just go over the practice exams and then think you will be prepared for the real one!!!
Attending the lab section you were assigned is mandatory. Permission to attend another lab will only be given by if there is a debilitating sickness, a family crisis, a scheduled sports competition, or a similarly unavoidable situation. You must contact your TA first, then the two of you must find a spot in someone else’s section. It is important that all three of the people involved (unless the other section is supervised by the same TA), so that you will get proper credit for all aspects of that week’s lab. These substitutions can only be done during the week that a particular lab is running (set-ups are prepared by the stockroom only on a week-to-week basis).
Chemistry is an experimental science. We consider the laboratory experience of paramount importance to the discipline of chemistry. Thus, if you miss more than two labs (even for legitimate reasons), you will get a failing grade for the entire course!
Labs will not be conducted in the first two weeks of classes. They will start the week starting with Monday, January 29.
| Week | Experiment # | Description |
| Jan 29 | 1 | Molecular Mass from Freezing Point Depression |
| Feb 5 | 2 | Iodination of Cyclohexanone |
| Feb 12 | 3 | Ksp of Fe(SCN)2+ Complex |
| Feb 19 | no lab | Monday is Presidents’ Day - no classes |
| Feb 26 | 4 | Acid Neutralization of Antacids |
| Mar 5 | no lab | Tuesday is Town Meeting Day - no classes |
| Mar 12 | no lab | Spring Break - experiments performed elsewhere |
| Mar 19 | 5 | Acid-Base Equilibria and Buffers |
| Mar 26 | 6 | Ksp of Copper(II) Tartrate |
| Apr 2 | 7 | Thermodynamics of Borax |
| Apr 9 | 8 | Oxidation of Bleaches |
| Apr 16 | 9 | Potentiometric Determination of Ka |
| Apr 23 | 10 | Electrolysis/Electroplating |
| April 30 | Check out of Laboratory |
For each laboratory experiment you can earn 20 points (for a total of 200 points). At the start of each laboratory, you will take a quiz administered by the Teaching Assistant, for which you can earn 6.5 points. Your TA will check whether you wrote the pre-lab outline before the experiment is started, and will also check whether you are entering data into your notebook; these accomplishments are worth 3 points. One week after the experiment you must turn in the calculations and associated questions on the lab report form; this is worth 8 points. Finally, your technique (care in collecting data, safe handling of chemicals, etc.) will be assessed by the TA, and can earn you 2.5 points.
| Quiz: | 6.5 |
| Notebook: | 3.0 |
| Lab Report: | 8.0 |
| Technique: | 2.5 |
| Total | 20.0 |
Each TA has the freedom to make up their own quizzes, and design their own grading scheme. But at the conclusion of the semester, all of the professors in the course will standardize the individual categories to the above point-totals scheme. Also, we will then standardize all of the points earned in each lab section to the same average of 80%. This will erase differences in grading standards among the large number of TA’s that we have for the course.
The entire course will be graded on 1000 points that you are able to garner from lecture (800 points) and from lab (200 points).
| Points | |
| Total possible for entire course | 1000 Points |
| 1. Four exams at 100 points, dropping the lowest score | 300 Points |
| 2. One final exam | 200 Points |
| These 500 points from exams will be multiplied by 1.4 | 700 Points |
| 3. Eight WebCT quizzes (@ 10 pts.) plus four in-class quizzes (@ 5 pts.) | 100 Points |
| 4. The lab score (details below) can generate a possible | 200 Points |
Assuming a large sample and a Gaussian distribution of scores, I am assigning the average grade to be exactly between a C and a C+. Grade cutoffs will come at equal intervals from the average, with a slight compression at the high end and at the low end of the distribution.
To use last year’s Chem 32 results as an example, out of 1000 points, the average score was 650. This thus became the border between a C and a C+. With 50 (and 40) points as the increment, we had the following grading scheme:
| >880 = A | 750-800 = B | 600-650 = C | 460-500 = D |
| 840-880 = A- | 700-750 = B- | 550-600 = C- | 420-460 = D- |
| 800-840 = B+ | 650-700 = C+ | 500-550 = D+ | <420 = F |
With this distribution the course grade average was 2.20 (close to the predetermined point). To be clear, the above is only a guideline based on last semester’s class performance. I reserve the right to adjust the grade divisions as the class performance dictates. The ultimate grading scheme that will be used will be constructed after the Final has been graded, and all lab grades are in.