Fall 2008 Chemistry 103 On-Line Course Syllabus

Instructor: Mark M. Nelson, PhD
e-mail: nelsonm@ulv.edu

Campus Office Phone and Location: (909) 593-3511 extension 4610 Founders Hall 214

Fax Number: (909) 392-2754 In order to use this as a means to communicate and/or turn in assignments, make sure you make your fax:
Attention: Mark Nelson and include your name and your 4-digit code on each page of your fax. I discuss 4-digit codes below; this is essentially your PIN for the course.

Mailing Address:
Mark M. Nelson, Associate Vice President for
Academic Affairs, Administration
University of La Verne
1950 Third Street
La Verne, CA 91750-4401

Barbara Colley is the Administrative Contact for On-Line Courses: At various times throughout this course you will need to contact Barbara Colley, La Verne Online Registrar. Barbara helps with the work that needs to be done behind the scenes for my on-line course.

Barbara Colley's Contact Information:
e-mail: bcolley@ulv.edu
Main Campus Office: (909) 593-3511 extension 5322 or
Main Campus Office: (800) 695-4858 extension 5322
Fax Number: (909) 971-2295 (Do not use this fax number to contact me. This one is for Barbara.)

Text for Chemistry 103: Basic Chemistry 6^th Edition, ISBN: 0-618-80330-0 D.C. Heath and Co., Zumdahl (Copyright 2008).

Note: The publisher recently released the sixth edition of this text. Read the second paragraph below (About the Textbook) regarding the different options you have with regard to the text for this course.

Course Description:

Introduction to Chemistry, Chemistry 103, is an undergraduate course for non-majors, and it is a great way to satisfy the University of La Verne's physical science general education requirement. It is a traditional introductory chemistry course, similar to any other introductory course in chemistry offered at institutions of higher education. This course is designed for students with no background in chemistry. However, if you had a good high school chemistry course or took an AP chemistry course, then you will be more than prepared for my course. However, as I stated above, past experience in chemistry is not needed for you to be successful in this course. This course will introduce you to the basic principles of Chemistry, which are informative and relative to everyday life. And, whenever possible, the author of the textbook and I give you examples of how you can apply what we are covering to your everyday life experiences. The Author includes "Chemistry in Focus" boxes in each chapter of the textbook, which describes current and interesting applications of chemistry. In particular, these special interest boxes help you to see how chemistry applies to you and your life. By the end of this course, you should have a fundamental understanding of chemical naming, problem solving, and reactions. The general problem solving skills obtained in this course will be useful long after you have finished this course. A basic knowledge of and appreciation for chemistry is vital in today's high-tech., interrelated world. Understanding of chemical aspects of life helps us give meaning and purpose to the world around us. For example, look at all of the current discussions going on about Global Warming, Carbon Footprints, etc. In Introductory Chemistry, I attempt to give you a foundation on which you can build and better understand the chemistry around you everyday and the impact of your actions on your surroundings and the environment.

About the Textbook: There are three versions of the text that will work for this course. The only difference is the number of chapters included in each. For the number of chapters we will cover in this course, the Basic Chemistry text listed above (or on the first page) will suffice. The Basic Chemistry text has chapters 1 to 16. However, if you are looking to purchase texts on-line, then you can use the 6^th edition Introductory Chemistry: A Foundation (chapters 1 to 21) or the 6^th edition Introductory Chemistry (chapters 1 to 19). If you order the text new from the ULV Book Store, then you will get other items you will not necessarily receive with a used text. What you receive really depends on what package was ordered with the text. I want you to be aware of the options you have regarding the text for this course. In addition, there are on-line resources provided to you through the textbook publisher's website. I will talk more about this later, but there is a link for the publisher's site on the Chemistry 103 Website.

The course and grading: In the past, students have told me they have put this course and/or this General Education requirement off until the end. I have heard various reasons for this, including, students had a bad high school chemistry experience, the math scares them, they perceive chemistry as being too hard and difficult, etc. The level of this course is that of an introductory course. Again, it is at the level of a good high school chemistry course and/or AP high school chemistry course. If you are worried about your grade in this course and that it may affect your GPA, then you may be able to sign up for the course with a credit/no-credit grading option. Some of you may not be able to use this option depending on whether you have used this option for other courses, or your employer provides educational reimbursement as a benefit, or... Please see the end of this syllabus for the weighting of homework, term paper, and exams for determining your final course grade. If you are interested in looking into other grading options, please talk to your University of La Verne advisor ASAP to see what the best is for your particular circumstances and what options you have. There is a very limited window after the term begins to make changes to your grading option for a course.

The pace of this course: I want to remind you that this course is a four-semester hour course, the same as it is in the traditional classroom setting. There is no difference in the material covered on-line versus in a traditional face-to-face classroom setting. I have the same expectations for my on-line students as I used to have for my classroom students. The same material and chapters are covered, and the same expectations with regard to homework assignments and exams. The main difference, other than being on-line, is this course is offered in an accelerated term. In particular, a on-line term is about 10 weeks long and a traditional classroom term is about 15 weeks long. Thus, we will be covering the material over a much shorter period of time. Though, to give you a rough idea of the pace, we will cover about one chapter per week. Please see the details and the dates listed below for chapter and lecture note reading, homework assignments and due dates, term paper date, as well as exam dates.

Chemistry 103 Website: The Blackboard shell for this course contains a brief message or two from me with some info with regard to this course and it also tells you how to access the Chemistry 103 Website. We will not use Blackboard for this course, communication, posting of scores, comments and/or any other purposes. I first started teaching this course on-line in the early 1990s before Blackboard was available. For this reason, over the years I created, designed, redesigned, developed, and maintained a website specifically for this course. You will find most everything you need for this course on the Chemistry 103 Website and we will be using University of La Verne (ULV) e-mail addresses for our communication. The Chemistry 103 Website contains the course syllabus, lab syllabus, some video clips for the first few chapters of the course, lecture notes for each of the chapters covered in this course, interactive practice exams, assigned homework problems for each chapter, lab safety rules, lab safety quiz, directions for each lab assignment, links, etc. I also use the website to post short video clips regarding items I want to discuss with you. For example, if I want to talk to you about the midterm exam, I might do so in a short video clip rather than in a long e-mail. Also, I will send out a note to all of you, using your La Verne e-mail addresses, prior to the first day of class to let you know how to access the website and other important information. In addition, there are DVD discs I created for this course. Please read below.

DVDs for this Course: I wanted to create and provide another tool for my tools and their success in this course. If you are having difficulties understanding the material from reading the text, and reading and solving the examples in the lecture notes posted on the Chemistry 103 Website, then the material on the DVD discs might be very useful for you. In addition, if you feel you are not going to have any problems, it still may be useful to view the material on the DVDs and see if I can provide you with more information or a different way of viewing and thinking about things. There are three DVD discs I created for this course and they are available for you to use while you are in this course. My goal in recording and producing the material on the DVD discs was to bridge the gap between the on-line versions of this course and the traditional classroom setting version. It is one thing to read the material in the textbook and the lecture notes I have posted on the Chemistry 103 Website. However, in my opinion, what is lacking is "seeing" the professor working examples on a blackboard and explaining what was done to solve the problem. In the lecture notes for the material for each chapter posted on the Chemistry 103 Website, there is (DVD) before each example I do on the accompanying chapter material on the course DVD discs. So, you can read and try the examples in the lecture notes for the course and then you can follow along and watch me solve the selected problems on the DVD material for that chapter. On the DVD discs it contains a short introduction to the course, a review and tour of the Chemistry 103 Website, a description of the material covered in each chapter, and selected examples out of my lecture notes, which are posted on the Chemistry 103 Website, for all of the chapters we will cover in this course. I strongly encourage you to order these discs and use them with this course. Read below, but in short, you can check-out the discs if you agree to return them in the same condition you received them in at the end of the course. I believe they will be very useful and will aid in your ability to understand the material and the problems, as well as help you succeed in this course. Students who took this on-line course have told me that the material available to them on the DVDs I made for the course were a great asset and really helped them with problem solving and understanding new concepts.

Ordering the DVD Discs: You may borrow the discs I created specifically for this course, just like you borrow a book from a library. To order the DVD discs for this course, you must complete and return the Media Guarantee Form. You can send this to Barbara Colley by faxing it to her at (909) 971-2295. You can contact Barbara if you have any questions: (909) 593-3511 extension 5322, (800) 695-4858 extension 5322, or at bcolley@ulv.edu and by filling out this form, you are agreeing to return the DVD discs in good condition within seven days of the end of the term. If you do not return the discs in good condition within the stated time, you agree to pay a $150 replacement fee. Click on the link below to download this form in Adobe file format and print it out. Then arrangements will be made to have the DVD discs sent to you once Barbara has the completed form. So, basically you may check the discs out, and you need to return them in good condition and within the time you are given.

What do you do while you are waiting for your discs? In some cases, there might be some lag time between the beginning of the course, filling out the form, and receiving the discs. In order to bridge this, I have some of the video available to you on the Chemistry 103 Website. On the homepage of the Chemistry 103 Website, you will see a button on the top menu bar "Video Clips." If you click this button, it will take you to the video clips for the introduction and website overview, as well as the material for Chapters 2, 3, and 4. These are the chapters we will cover in the first few weeks or so of the course. So, you may use this link to the video while you are waiting to receive your copy of the course DVDs. I had to make a choice on video format for the on-line video clips. I am using QuickTime. If you do not already have the QuickTime player on your computer, I have a link to the site where you may download a free copy. Also, the video available to you on-line is not as high quality as the DVD version. Primarily, this is due to compressing the video so the files are not so large and difficult to download. As a result, the video is not as smooth. So, when you get the DVDs, you will see an increase in the quality of the video. Again, the purpose for putting these on-line was to give you immediate access to the video clips, while you are waiting to receive your copy of the DVDs. It was not intended to replace the DVD. Make sure you fill out the Media Guarantee Form as soon as you can and get it turned in.

Communication via Video Clips: There are times when posting a video clip on the Chemistry 103 Website is a much better way to clearly communicate with you rather than trying to write a long and detailed e-mail. I am not saying that all of my communication with you will be through video clips. I will use e-mail communication 4 or 5 times a week, but there will certainly be times when me "talking" to you via a video clip will be a much better medium of communication than e-mail. So, from time to time, I will post a video clip under the Video Clips link listed above. I will always let you know via an e-mail message that I have a new video message posted for you to watch on the website.

Communication via E-Mail: Communication is key to success in an on-line course. Whether it is me reminding you about what you should be doing, when an exam is coming up, or when I have the grades posted and updated on the website. Though, this is a two-way street. You also need to e-mail me, let me know what problems you are having or questions you may have, or anything else we should be discussing. However, in the past there have been problems with communication due to inactive e-mail accounts, not having your e-mail accounts up to date in our system, changing e-mail accounts, etc. In order to avoid these problems and to give you the flexibility to use any account you wish and to change it at anytime, I will be using your University of La Verne E-Mail Address that was given to you when you became a students at La Verne for my communication with you in this course. That is, as a La Verne student, you have a La Verne e-mail account and this is the one I will always use to send all of my communications to you for this course. I will leave it up to you as to whether you want to use you La Verne account or if you want to setup your La Verne account and have your e-mail auto-forwarded to another account. In the end, I want to be assured you are receiving my e-mail communications I am sending to your La Verne account, and you have the flexibility to use any e-mail account you wish, to change accounts at anytime you wish, etc. So, I don't need to worry about which account you are using and all you need to do is to make sure you have your La Verne account setup properly if you are going to forward your e-mail to another account. In addition, if you are going to use your Webmail La Verne account, then make sure you pay attention to how full your account is. You do not have unlimited amounts of storage and if your e-mail account fills completely up, then you will no longer be able to receive new e-mail messages. I send out a lot of messages to you with attachments. So, if I send you an attachment, then download it, print it, and/or save it. Then, delete the e-mail message so your account does not fill up. This has been a problem in the past and I have had some students go a couple of weeks or so without receiving my e-mail messages. Again, I will typically write to you four or five times a week. If you go a few days without hearing from me, then there is probably something wrong with me, or with your e-mail account or the way it is being forwarded. So, make sure you stay on top of this so you do not miss any of my communications. Lastly, if you have any concerns about anything then you need to give me a call at (909) 593-3511 extension 4610.

The major objectives for this course are:

1. To introduce chemistry to you at a basic and fundamental level
2. To give you the tools needed to solve chemical problems
3. To illustrate the impact of chemistry on you personally, on society, and the global impact of actions/decisions

Goals:

In this Introductory Chemistry course, you are expected to be able to solve chemical problems through reading the lecture notes I have posted on the Chemistry 103 Website, working the problems with me and exploring new topics on the DVDs, and reading the chapters and working the examples in the text, working examples in lecture notes and on the DVD discs, and completing the homework assignments on the topics listed below and turning them in on or before the date they are due:

• Length, Volume, Mass, and Density
• Temperature Conversions and Heat Energy
• Naming Compounds
• Classifying, Describing, and Predicting Chemical Reactions
• Chemical Masses Needed in Reactions and/or the Amount of Products from a Chemical Reaction
• Empirical and Molecular Formulas for Chemical Compounds
• Molecular Structures
• Gases: Pressure, Volume, and Temperature Conditions and Calculations

Note: I realize some of you will have various things going on during the term, for example: Celebration of Thanksgiving with your family and friends. I leave it up to you as to how best to use your time and you have the schedule above and the due dates below. You have about a week to work on each chapter and turn in the corresponding homework assignment. I will let you decide how you arrange your personal obligations into this course schedule. All of you may work at a faster pace than I have listed in the syllabus. If you want to work ahead, take your exam earlier, or turn in your term paper early, then please let me know what your plans are so I can give you access to answer keys to the homework problems ahead of time.

4-Digit Code: I will post all of your grades, and any associated comments, for this course on the Chemistry 103 Website. This way you can see your grade and comments, as well as the grades and comments for all of the students in the course, and gauge how you are doing relative to the other students in the course. In order to protect your identity, I ask you to send me a 4-digit code I may use in posting your grades and comments on the Chemistry 103 Website. By sending your 4-digit code to me via an e-mail message, you agree to let me post your grades and my comments for you on the grade sheets on the website for this course. Only you and I will know what your 4-digit code is unless you give it to someone else.

Homework Assignments: There is additional information in the following paragraph, but let me summarize it here. The homework problems for this course are not the ones at the end of each chapter in the text, all of the homework problems for this course are posted on the Chemistry 103 Website. There is a link on the lower left-hand side of the Chemistry 103 Home Page, called "Homework Problem Sets" and if you click on this link, you will be taken to a page with links to the homework problems for each chapter we will cover in this course. You may use the problems at the end of each chapter in the text for practice, though the problems you will turn in and have graded are the ones listed on the Chemistry 103 Website for this course. I prefer it if you send in the problems with all of your work shown, though depending on how you are going to send your assignments to me, it may not be possible to send me all of your work. Again, I would really like to see all of your work, so I can better tell where you are having difficulties, if any, however if your circumstances are such that you can't turn in the entire assignment with all of your work shown, then you must send me at least your answers to the assigned homework problems no later than 5:00 p.m. on the date listed below for each assignment. The reason for the specific time and date is due to the fact that I will be posting the answer key for each assignment on the Chemistry 103 Website for the homework assignment around 5:00 p.m. The link for the answer keys is located on the lower left-hand corner of the Chemistry 103 Website homepage at around 5:00 p.m. on the date listed below. Since everyone in the class needs to have access to the answer keys, I will not be able to accept any late assignments. This way, you and I can address any problems you may have prior to an exam. If you have any questions on the homework assignments; don't hesitate to contact me. Also, a lot of the homework problems I have assigned are similar to or the same as the ones in the text. So, you can use the ones in the text for practice and check your answers for the even-numbered questions in the back of the textbook. Note: If you do not do the assigned homework problems, then you are probably not going to be able to do well on an exam. That is, if you have not tried the problems in the homework, lecture notes, and the textbook, then nothing magical is going to happen on the days you are going to take your exam that will suddenly allow you to solve problems that you have never solved before. Always make at least the old college try on all of the homework problems. And, again, if you have any questions; please make a note of them, send an e-mail to me asking for help, and continue moving forward until I am able to get back to you.

Turning in Homework Assignments: You may send me your homework assignments, and lab assignments for those enrolled in the lab section, in a variety of manners. You may attach a Word document (doc), WordPerfect, jpg, and/or Adobe (pdf) files to an e-mail message to me. I can extract the attached files and print them out. Most students choose to use a fax machine to send their homework to me so I can see how you did each problem. That is, they send me their work and circle the answer to each problem. I would really prefer this and there is no need to re-write your work. However, for those of you who really can't fax me your work, then just send me the answers to each problem and this is what I will grade. You will then have access to the answer key so you can check your work on your own while you are waiting for me to grade the problems and post the grades. After checking the answer key, if you are still having problems, please let me know so we can work them out and so you can move forward. E-mail may not always be the best way to handle this, so we may need to talk on the phone once in a while, or if you are close to the main campus, then you can always make an appointment to see me after hours. If you are going to fax me all of your work, please try to have it legible, in order, and it would be great if you circled your answer so I know where it is. Again, by sending me all of your work, I can see what you are doing and where mistakes are being made. And, students taking the lab portion of this course have found it easiest to send me their lab reports as an e-mail attachment, Word Document or Adobe File, since the lab reports must be typed. With regard to getting your assignments turned into me, you should always do whatever is the easiest for you, fax or e-mail. I have even had students scan their homework in and send it to me as a jpg file. Again, the fax number is at the top of the syllabus and it is (909) 392-2754. Since this fax machine is used and shared by all of the faculty members in the Natural Sciences Division, you need to make sure you make your fax to: Attention Mark Nelson, and include your name and your 4-digit code on each page.

Mid-Term Exam and the Final Exam: Prior to the Spring 2008 Term, I had students take three midterm exams and a final exam. There was no real reason for this, other than this is how I did the exams in a 15-week face-to-face classroom setting. What I have found over time is this does not serve the on-line students well. So, this is the second term where I will have you take a midterm exam, write a 2 tor 3 page term paper (more details on the term paper in a separate communication), and a final exam. What this will mean is that there will be more material covered on the first exam, but it will still be written such that it can be finished in 50 minutes or so. In addition, it will mean we will cover 5 chapters or so without having an exam covering this material except the final exam. However, I have practice exams up on my website from the past and these will show you the type of questions that I would ask on each of the prior three midterm exams. So, you will not be flying in the dark. And, after things settle down a little, I will talk to you about how best to prepare for the midterm and later the final exam. And, I will make the midterm exam from Spring 2008 available to you, as well as the answer key.

Proctored Exams: Due to the nature of the material and the exams, both the midterm and final exams will be taken in a proctored setting. That is, I could give my exams on-line, but I would feel the need to make them more difficult since you would have access to an immense amount of resources. In addition, I want to make sure the student enrolled in the class is also the student taking the exam. Given that this is an introductory course, it would be possible for someone other than the student enrolled in the course to take the exam and ace it. For example, my son just finished his high school chemistry class and I gave him a couple of my exams and he could solve the majority of the problems without any problem. So, to be fair to everyone in this class, I truly feel as though I have no other choice than to give proctored exams. You will take your exams in a private setting. You will be given formulas and equations, conversion factors, relationships, periodic table, table of elements and their names, etc., everything you will need to solve and answer the questions and problems on the exams. Note: You can look at the practice exams I have posted on the Chemistry 103 Website and you will see that I provide you with all of the equations and relationships that you will need in order to complete the exam. I do not expect you to memorize formulas. In addition to the information I provide you on the front page of the exam, you will be able to use your calculator, I give you a copy of the Periodic Table, and the Table of Elements (essentially the inside front cover of your textbook. Since I am providing you with everything you need in order to complete the exams, the exams will be closed notes and closed book. If you are not close to the Main Campus in La Verne or to one of the University's Regional Centers, then there are other arrangements that can be made to proctor your exams. Please read the next section for more information.

Scheduling Exams: The table given above lists the dates for you to take the midterm and final exam. You need to make the arrangements for the proctoring of your exams early on, especially if we need to find alternative arrangements. And, you will want to work out a time and day to take your exams so you can get it on your calendar and schedule to avoid conflicts with work and events down the road. Also, Barbara Colley and I need to make sure all of the material for taking your exam is sent to your proctor well in advance of the actual day and time of your exam. I realize life happens and we can make changes to them on an as-needed basis for emergencies.

Barbara Colley can assist you with making your arrangements for taking your exams. A lot of my students are able to go to their nearest ULV Regional Center to take their exams, some students have testing centers on-site at work and can use this resource, other students may have a supervisor that is qualified to proctor their exam, some have even used a public library Librarian, and I have even had students come to my office to take their exams. Barbara is pretty resourceful and has always been able to come up with a way a student can take a proctored exam. Sometimes, it is very easy to make the arrangements. However, in other cases, it may take more time. I gave you her contact info above, but here it is again. You may reach Barbara at barbara@ulv.edu or you may call her during normal business hours at (909) 593-3511 extension 5322 or (800) 695-4858 extension 5322. On the schedule above, I have the exams scheduled during a particular timeframe. You may always take the midterm and/or final exam early if you have arranged so with Barbara, but you may not take the exams late. If you do not take the exam during the time given, then you have made a choice to receive a zero for that exam.

Barbara needs some lead time to make sure the proctors have been picked, they have a copy of the exam, and the other items that you will be given with your exam. In order to get exams scheduled and ready for you to take, I am asking you to make the arrangements for taking your midterm exam and your final exam no later than Friday, October 24, 2008. This will give you approximately the first three weeks of the course to determine when and where you are taking your exams. In the past, we have had students just show up expecting to take an exam without making the arrangements ahead of time to do so. Again, make arrangements by October 24; I can't stress this enough

Homework Assignments Due Dates: The following table lists the due dates for your homework assignments. Remember that the homework problems you are doing and turning in for grading are the ones posted on the Chemistry 103 Website and not the ones at the end of each chapter in the textbook. The link for the homework problems is located on the lower left-hand side of the Chemistry 103 Website Homepage.

Course Evaluations: The feedback provided on the course evaluations is very important to me. In particular, the qualitative information you can provide me enables me to make improvements to my course. That is, you can tell me what worked for you in this course and then I can continue doing this. And, you can tell me where I can make improvements. I realize it takes time for you to fill out a course evaluation. So, if you fill out a course evaluation I will count this as extra credit towards your grade and it will be worth the same as a homework assignment.

The final grade will be computed using the following parameters:

Note: I do not determine the final course grades using a straight grading scale. I do take into account improvements from the midterm exam to the final exam, and if a student does really well on their final exam, then I will take this into account when I determine your final grade. In addition, I do not necessarily grade on a straight line and I do "curve" the final course grades. Thus, at this time the boundaries for letter grades are not known and cannot be predicted.