Student Success

This course is essentially a flipped class. You are expected to "engage" with the material before you come to class, and we will use class time to practice and expand upon the concepts.

Here's how to engage.

At least one week before every class, check the Schedule of Topics to see what we will be "covering" that day. This gives you a week to get ready.

Read the text, correctly (see the Study Tips page). Do this ASAP to allow yourself time to get help with the concepts.

Check the appropriate Resource page (Ch01 Resources, Ch02 Resources, etc.) for additional assignments, comments, links to videos and suggested problems. Links to these pages can be found on the dropdown menu.

In the resources, I might include some “Questions to think about.” Think about them. Try to answer them, as you wrestle with this material, both before class and after we cover the stuff in more detail. It is the process of thinking about these issues, relating these questions to stuff you already know, formulating and refining your mental models, that will benefit you. The answers, not so much. See the “Metacognition” page for details.

Once you have done the reading and watched the videos, try the Chem101 Class Prep assignment. If you have difficulties, seek help! Allow plenty of time before class to do so. You will be allowed lots of tries on these ClassPrep assignments, but don't just dive in and keep trying different approaches until you get the right answer. You need to know how to do these problems in order to make sense of the class.

DANGER WILL ROBINSON! The ClassPrep assignments set the bar very low. DO NOT assume that you have an adequate understanding of the material just because you can do the ClassPrep assignment.

Then, come to class. Students who attend class do better than students who do not. Focus on following the discussion rather than on taking perfect notes.

On days that we do groupwork, PARTICIPATE. Even if you just contribute "Hey, how did you do that?", it will help. Stay engaged, try to follow (or lead!) the discussion, and you will find it is the most beneficial component of the course.

After class, review the material. It can be very helpful to take 20 minutes when you get home and try to write down everything that you remember from the class. Then, try any problems that you had difficulty with. The next day, do more challenging problems with this material. Try the Chem101 Problem Set.

And finally, revisit this material after you've had a chance to sort of forget it.

Use ALL of the resources available! Don't skip the reading because you're a visual learner - check this out if you find yourself thinking along these lines.