Kate Deline’s suggestions for a successful semester in chemistry

Keys to success

• Attend every lecture, lab lecture and lab awake, prepared and on time.
• Rewrite your lecture notes and lab lecture notes the same day you take them.
• Do at least 45 minutes of homework EVERY night. You have to practice to get it to sink in. Trying to do your chemistry homework for more than two hours at a time is counter-productive. Take breaks. Work on homework from other classes. Do not work on one type of problem for too long. Work on other types of problems. Come to office hours or talk to someone in class about the problems you are getting stuck on.
• As the semester progresses, the material becomes more difficult to master. That means more time will be necessary to complete the homework and study the information. Be careful to not take on too much at the beginning of the semester only to find out you cannot do all of it when the homework starts to take more of your time. I strongly suggest that you do NOT give up sleep to get everything done.
• Exchange phone numbers/ e-mail addresses with classmates and form a study group.
• Remind yourself that this information will be needed in the future.

Attendance

            You are responsible for everything that is covered and handed out in lecture and in lab. If you discover that you are missing a handout, check the three-ringed notebook in the Integrated Science Center (36-110) labeled Deline Chem 192. It contains my copy of each handout. You may hand copy or photocopy the handout but you may not remove the notebook and/or its contents from the ISC.

Homework

Homework assignments are a crucial part of this course. The study of chemistry requires a DAILY commitment to problem solving and disciplined study of the new vocabulary and concepts. Photocopy the homework and carry it with you. That way when you have ten minutes you can take it out and get a problem done.

Working together on homework assignments is highly recommended as long as everyone involved is participating. It is amazing how trying to explain a concept to your peer will help you to solidify it in your mind.

            Also remember to redo any of the problems done in class without looking at the answer to make sure you understood what we were doing.

Class Questions

            These are pop quizzes during lecture. There is no way to make these up. You must be present in lecture and get the correct answer to receive credit. They are worth one point. Yet another reason to make sure you come to every lecture.

Content Checks

Content checks are very useful to make sure you understand the topics before the exam. There will be 11 content checks. Your top ten scores will be used in determining your course grade. Late ones will not be graded and you will receive a grade of zero. Make sure you try every content check.

Exams

Three intra-term exams will be given. The use of dictionaries during exams is prohibited. The general dates for the exams are included in the lab schedule handout. Any changes in the exam schedule will be announced in lecture. A non-graphing scientific calculator is required. Graphing calculators are NOT allowed on exams. There will be no exceptions.

Make-up exams are not automatic. I reserve the right to decide whether a make-up exam may be taken on a case-by-case basis. If you are permitted to take a make-up exam, 25 points will be subtracted from your score as the penalty for taking the exam late.