Dr.
Ron Rusay
Office: PS 235, tel. 685-1230 x 2508; Office
Hours: MTWTh 10:00-11:00, Friday
by appointment, plus daily on-line, virtual office hours
E-mail:
rrusay@chemconnections.org
or rrusay@dvc.edu
This course is a continuation of Chemistry 120, General College
Chemistry. Subject matter includes, but is not limited to: buffers,
titration curves, solubility products, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, kinetics,
molecular
orbital theory, coordination complexes, nuclear chemistry,
organic chemistry, spectroscopy, quantitative experiments, and qualitative analysis.
Prerequisites: Completion of CHEM 120 or equivalent with
a C or better.
PLEASE CONSIDER CAREFULLY: The
teaching style of these two Chem 121 sections incorporates many innovations
in undergraduate teaching methods and technological materials, which depart
from, but are built upon traditional textbook-lecture centered science courses.
The organization and approach are likely quite different from other courses
that you are experienced in and comfortable with. The material will not be
treated linearly as simple page turning in relation to the course textbook.
You will be challenged personally and collectively. You will be asked to
find and access a variety of information, to appraise its value, and to use
it
constructively
to answer
questions,
to solve problems, and to build knowledge. You will have various assets and
tools available that go well beyond the textbook and lecture notes. You will
need to decide how to use them effectively, and to develop your own personal
learning plan accordingly. Not all knowledge in chemistry will be provided
to you to repeat back accurately for a grade as you are accustomed to in
most courses. Your plan will most likely be different than anyone else's.
Without a plan that you can use productively and adjust as the course progresses,
you will likely not meet your personal objectives. This metacognitive approach
to teaching-learning will translate to any of your other courses and more
importantly empower you to effectively address any topic in any discipline
at anytime in your careers.
1. Class Meetings: TTh 11:00-12:15 PS275
Lab Meetings: Sec. 2604, MW 11:00-1:50 PS213
Sec. 2611, MW 2:30-5:20 PS213
Attendance is required in both class
and laboratory.
Classes begin: 8/12; Holidays: 9/4, 10/23,
11/11, 11/24-11/25;
Last drop date w/o W on transcript 8/25, Last date
to withdraw 11/18, Last date to drop w/ a refund 8/25
Tentative in-class Exam dates: 9/20, 10/25, 12/6
Final Exam: Week of 12/12 Exact Date & Time TBA
2. References and Equipment:
1: TEXT: Chemistry
7/e. Zumdahl & Zumdahl (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED); ALTERNATIVE: http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu PLEASE
CONSIDER YOUR CHOICE CAREFULLY: Unless you are highly
organized, disciplined, and can easily adapt to informational gaps, the
Chem 121 ChemWiki, which is a work-in-progress and not completely finished,
is not recommended as a stand-alone textbook. In this case, you should
rely on the Zumdahl text as your primary resource with the ChemWiki as
a supporting resource.
2: i<clicker (REQUIRED/MUST
HAVE) http://www.iclicker.com/dnn/Products/iclicker/tabid/151/Default.aspx
3. LAB MANUAL: "Chemistry 121
Experiments", 2nd Edition, Diablo Valley College Chemistry Department
(7/2010 14) (REQUIRED)
4. ALEKS Online
Homework/Tutorials/Self Assessment: http://www.aleks.com/sign_up Course
Code: D6PY6-LTPHG (REQUIRED/MUST
REGISTER) FREE to all Chem 121 sec.
2604 and sec. 2611 students. Must
be used through the Internet and the latest version of a Web Browser.
If you use a Mac, Safari is highly recommended.
5. A lab notebook with
numbered pages and tear out copy sheets. (Staples or Bookstore) (REQUIRED)
6. Lab safety
glasses with side shields
or goggles. (REQUIRED)
Scientific Calculator.
Qualitative Analysis & Properties Of Ions, Etc, Slowinski
ISBN 0-03-031234-5 Copyright 90 Publisher Saund CollEdition (REQUIRED)
See:
http://chemconnnections.org/general/chem121/assign11.html
http://chemconnections.org/general/chem121/CHEM-121.cor.pdf
http://chemconnections.org/general/chem121/CHEM-121.slos.pdf
4. Class Preparation & Homework: Practice
and staying current with the course content on a daily basis are essential
to your success in this course of study. The amount of preparation, practice
and time required will differ for each of you. A scientific study of students
at Notre Dame University has shown that final grades in general chemistry
are directly related to the amount of time students invest. In order to score
well on exams & quizzzes, the questions to ask yourself while going through
this experience are, "Can I teach this concept to someone else? And,
can I recognize and correctly answer questions that are similar to the ones
contained in the in-class clicker response questions, the worksheets, the
on-line/textbook problems, and the class/lab activities?". Correlating the
time related to your answer to these questions will provide an estimate of
what you will likely need to invest. Exams will be designed to test content & concepts
based on these materials. There will be periodic chapter/topic quizzes that
will also be based on these materials. Recommended order of emphasis is: 1)
Read the on-line class slides & i-clicker questions linked from the calendar
before coming to each class 2) Collaboratively complete
all worksheets in a group with 1-3 partners [ No more than 4 per group.]
3) Individually complete
all on-line homework questions, 4) as time allows and your proficiency may
require
do
as many
end of chapter textbook problems
as possible; refer to the course assignments page and calendar
page.
5. Grading:
Attendance/ Class Participation and Homework
are valued at 10% of the TOTAL grade. The class portion
of the grade is worth 65% of the total grade. It will be comprised of
quizzes and worksheets, (which in total equal one exam),
3 in-class exams and a final exam, which is equal to two hour exams. A laboratory
grade worth 25% will account for the remainder of the total grade. Final
letter grades will be assigned based on: 90-100 A; 80-89 B; 65-79 C; 50-64
D;<50 F,
using a normalized class average. NOTE: The
DVC Code of Conduct will be strictly enforced. Cheating
and plagiarism are unacceptable and will unconditionally result in a failing
grade. [Cell
phones will not be allowed in rooms during exams and quizzes.]
SEE:
DVC Academic College Policies
6. Attendance & Absences:
On-time attendance at all scheduled class and lab meetings is unconditionally
expected. If
you arrive late for class or lab, points will be deducted. Two late arrivals
will be excused provided that you see Dr. R. immediately after class or lab.
Since arriving late disrupts the class, repeated tardiness may result in
you being suspended or dropped from the course. If you are to miss a class,
quiz, exam or lab due to illness or other legitimate reason,
you
must
advise
Dr.
R.
prior
to,
or
on
the day
that
it
is scheduled.
If you do not do so, there will be no possibility of making up any missed
work or of being excused from assignments, activities or the material presented.
Notifying Dr. R. can be done by calling: 685-1230, ext. 2508 or leaving a
message with the department secretary (ext. 2423) or sending an e-mail to
Dr. R. If you miss a cumulative total
of 4 laboratories or 6 lectures regardless of the reasons, you may be dropped
from the course. [College
policy provides for a student being dropped from a course if the student
misses a cumulative total of two weeks of class/lab meetings.]
7. Laboratory:
The laboratory will consist of a set of experiments and activities relating
to qualitative analysis, which is ~25-30% of the overall lab. These will
involve hands-on in lab identification of unknown cations based on the differences
in the solubilities of certain of their salts. The remaining experiments
will parallel the class/lecture topics. Some experiments
and
activities will
be
done on
a group
or team basis, others indivdually. For
each experiment, accurate records must be kept in your laboratory
notebook. You will be advised of the format for record keeping and
reporting for the qualitative analyses experiments.
For experiments that are non-qualitative analysis you are required
to prepare a pre-lab report prior to beginning the lab and submit a finished
report on completion of the lab. The bold information must be completed in
the notebook prior to the experiment and shown to Dr. R. for signature prior
to starting the experiment. Data tables are to be left blank for the pre-lab
and the experimental data entered as it is acquired.
A finished,
complete lab report must include all pertinent information including
unknown numbers where unknowns are part of the experiment. Finished
copies of the report will be collected. Lab Reports must be neat, legible
and submitted in the following format:
Title
Purpose:
A brief statement of the experiment's objective: Answer the question...what
is your aim?
Procedure:
Include what you actually did so that someone else could repeat your
work. The directions can be an outline of the actual conduct of the experiment
in your own words. This section should be written in the past tense. Refer
to the Lab Text's instructions but do not copy them word for word.
Chemical Reaction(s):
In experiments with chemical reactions include: complete, balanced chemical
equation(s); as many as appropriate.
Data:
All physical-chemical data used in the experiment (molecular
weights, density, etc.) Should be provided in neat, well organized Tables
of labeled experimental data with correct units and appropriate number of
significant figures. If tables are provided in the Lab text, they can be
appended. Raw data & observations should be included in this section.
Calculations:
Show how the numerical data was handled (i.e.
the general mathematics): algorithms (formulas and equations), unit factor
method, etc. and include one example. Do not include calculations for all
trials, but do show average(s) and average deviation(s) for multi-trial experiments
as required. Be as neat and concise as possible.
Results and Conclusions:
Re-state in one or two short sentences the results and your conclusions
versus the intended purpose of the experiment. Use tables if appropriate.
Questions:
Answer any pre-lab and/or post-lab assigned questions.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The laboratory component of the course is essential to the
overall course. A
failling grade in the lab portion will result in a failing grade
for the course.
Safety:
Laboratory safety is of the utmost importance to your well being
and to your lab mates. Chemical exposure must be minimized through good
lab practices.
All wastes must be properly disposed of. eye protection must be worn at all
times. No one can work in the lab without an instructor being present.
Only scheduled
experiments are allowed. Bare feet, food, drink, eating, and conduct which
places anyone at risk are unacceptable. Violation
of safety standards can result in being dropped from the course.
Internet use and
related:
The course will employ the Internet and Information Technologies
in a variety of ways. This is NOT a course which teaches the Internet.
The course
is designed
to use the Internet with its wealth of resources as a transparent tool
to teach chemistry. Combined with good study practices, it will help you,
the
student, to better and more easily understand concepts and to make your
learning experience broader and more successful.
Students are not required to have a computer or off campus
access to a computer.
Free e-mail accounts are available. Each
student MUST have
their own e-mail account for class communication.
See Dr. R. if you need assistance in obtaining an e-mail account.
There will be no charges for the use of the Internet, computers
or course related software.
The course will employ the Internet and Information Technologies
in a variety of ways. The class will need the latest version of a Net browser
for the
Internet as well as other computer programs. All of these programs will
be free for student use. Since it is
realized
that not every student has a computer or off-campus access to a computer,
computer related assignments are devised and time budgeted so that these
assignments can be done while on the DVC campus by accessing the Internet
from the Physical Science building's computers or other computers on the
DVC campus that are available to DVC students.
Students are expected to visit the
course Homepage regularly. The Homepage is the main tool for communicating
information to the class. It includes all information on the course in
addition to
providing Internet links to many useful Web sites and materials for the
course. The Homepage is a living course document. Information will be added
as the course proceeds and past information will be archived.
CHEMISTRY
121 /Fall 2011: SYLLABUS 
