Chem 112

 Academic year 2009-2010

Syllabus Index                                          

Course Outline:

Lecturers:

Course Materials:

Text:

General Chemistry; Principles and Modern applications (9th Ed),
Petrucci, Harwood, Herring & Madura
Person/Prentice Hall
Also used by APSC 131/132. 
Note that New textbook purchases include the price of the access code for the "Mastering Chemistry" website so if you purchase a used book you will need to purchase the access code separately.

http://www.campusbookstore.com/Textbooks/Course/CHEM112-FW09  

Lab Supplies Package:

Lab manual, goggles and lab coat

Purchase from Chemical Stores (NOT from the bookstore) Starting Monday morning,
Date: 14-SEP-09 to 25-SEP-09
Time: 9:00-12:00h and 13:30-15:00h.

112 Manual - $25.00 Goggles - $15.00 Lab Coats - $22.00 WHMIS Manual - $3.00 UG Safety Manual - $5.00

Package - $70.00 CASH ONLY

 

Chemistry Lab Notebook:

Purchase from Stores $15.  (or from Book store)

 "Student Lab Notebook" by Hayden McNeil
Required for your lab write-ups.

 

Safety Goggles (not safety glasses):

Supplied as part of the Lab Supplies Package
Required for entry into the labs.  Other brands must be approved by Lab coordinator
(M. Mombourquette) prior to entering the labs.

 

Clothing:

The chemical laboratories contain many hazards both seen and unseen.  Dress to protect yourself from these hazards by wearing clothes that cover all skin except for your head (from the neck up) and hands (from the wrists down). This means you MUST wear full-length pants, closed shoes and Lab Coats.  Sandals, shorts, skirts, tank tops, short cropped tops or halter tops etc. are not allowed in any chemistry lab at any time. If you show up with inappropriate clothing, you will not be admitted into the laboratory (NOTE:). Week 1 Safety Training is the only time you will be admitted to the labs without the proper clothing.

 

Headphones :  

The state-of-the-art undergraduate labs have computer workstations available for use by the students for data acquisition, web-searching and for viewing pre-lab videos.  These videos require headphones so you can hear them.  While we have headphones available to borrow, their quality, comfort and cleanliness cannot be guaranteed.  We recommend you bring a regular set of audio headphones to every experiment.

Labs/Tutorials

The CHEM 112  laboratory/tutorial  program consists of two distinct components:

(i) Experimental laboratory (CHE 206)

(ii) Classroom tutorials (various rooms around campus)

Students will alternate between labs and tutorials, i.e., lab in Week 1 and tutorial in Week 2, or vice-versa.

*ALL STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND AND COMPLETE THE LAB AND TUTORIAL COMPONENTS OF THE COURSE. Absence due to illness, death of a relative, family crisis, and other exceptional circumstances require written supporting documentation.  If you miss a lab for any reason, you must make up the missed lab during the "makeup week" for the given term.  See the lab manual schedule page for more details.  Any unexcused absences will result in a final grade of 47, irrespective of your performance on the rest of the course. 

Note that there will be one week for each term in which you can makeup one (and only one) lab that you missed during the term.

Student Evaluation

The course consists of a laboratory and a lecture/tutorial component. 

• The lab mark component consists of the average of all the lab-report grades you receive.  

You must score an average of at least 7.5/15 on this component to pass the course.

• The lecture/tutorial component score is taken as the sum of the (weighted) scores you received on:
  • a midyear exam in December,
  • a final exam in April,
  • four quarterly exam,
  • all MGC assignments.

You must score a total of at least 42.5/85 and pass either the midyear or the final on this component to pass the course.

Students must pass both components in order to receive a credit in the course.  Anyone who passes only one of these components will receive a final grade of 47% or your actual overall average grade, whichever is lower. (This is departmental policy for all Chemistry courses)

Laboratories:

Laboratories are used primarily as a teaching tool and as such their main benefit to students is the practice and experience they afford.  The labs are designed to familiarize the students with certain Chemical Practices, Safety Regimes, Chemical Techniques, Chemical Principles.  They also allow the students to see first-hand some of the reactions and relationships that are discussed in classes.  Labs are not designed to follow lecture material directly although lab experiences generally coincide (within a few weeks) with material taken in class.

Read your lab manual closely to understand what is required of you before you attend your first lab.  Each lab requires a prelab, worth 20% of the overall mark, to be completed before entering the lab.  DO NOT go to your first lab without being prepared.  

Tutorials

Tutorials will consist of small group work, large group interaction and lots of new questions found nowhere else.  Group reports will be collected for marks.  The goal of group work is to foster the interaction and multi-faceted roles that comprise learning.  We learn by hearing, seeing, touching, speaking.  We will get to experience each of these modes of learning and practice lots of questions that will help develop key concepts and prepare for the exams.

Mastering General Chemistry assignments:

Students will be required to complete a set of assignments (approximately one assignment every week)  from the "Mastering General Chemistry" (MGC) web site, http://www.masteringgenchem.com/ .  This site is designed to allow for immediate and individual feedback.  You must submit the assignment by the due date or loose marks.  Some assignments will have questions that are given a weight of zero (i.e., they are for practice) and others that are for marks.  Each will be clearly specified.  Look for the value of the question to decide.  If you submit an assignment and have not completed the practice questions but you have completed all the questions that have marks assigned to them you will not be penalized.

Midterm exams:

Two Midterm exams will be held in Various rooms around campus near the middle of each semester.  These will be multiple choice exams (Like the midyear and finals).  They will be worth 10% each on your final grade..

Mid-year exam:

You will be required to write one midyear exam.  Administered by the university exams office.  The exact time and place will be published by them some time in October.  Don't make travel plans until you have checked the Exam Timetable through the exams office website. http://www.queensu.ca/registrar/exams/

Final exam:

You will be required to write one final exam in April.  Administered by the university exams office.  The exact time and place will be published by them some time in February.   Don't make travel plans until you have checked the Exam Timetable through the exams office website. http://www.queensu.ca/registrar/currentstudents/exams.html  

Mark weightings:

Repeat of requirements for a passing grade:

1. Students must pass one of either the midyear or the final exam and must not fail the final with a grade worse than 35%. 
2. Students must pass BOTH the lecture/tutorial and the laboratory components to pass the course. 
3. Failure to meet either of these first two requirements will result in a grade of 47 or your actual raw score, whichever is lower. 
4. Students MUST attend all lab sessions. 
   • Any unexcused absences WILL result in an assigned grade of (47) and the student will be required to attend and pass the missed lab(s) the following year before the full grade is restored. 

Simply getting an overall average of 50% is not good enough.  You must satisfy each of the above three conditions to pass the course.  For example, if you get a final raw score of 55% but you failed both midyear and final exams or scored only 30% on the final exam, your final grade will be recorded as 47. 

A bit of advice for those who are always calculating grades, etc.; do not use lab scores or MGC scores to decide for yourself how you are doing in the course since everyone gets high grades for those.

Last updated: 10 Jun 2008 03:23 PM