Chemistry 211 (Sect. 1890) Schedule - Spring 2009

Text: Organic Chemistry (7th Edition) - Francis Carey
Study Guide: Organic Chemistry (7th Edition) - Atkins and Carey
Lab Guide: The Organic Chem Lab Survival Guide (any Edition) - James W. Zubrick

Homework Problems:

Miscellaneous Information:

Special Needs: A student with a verified disability may be entitled to appropriate academic accommodations.  Please contact your instructor and/or the Disabled Students Program & Services Office at (760)795-6658, or the office of the ADA Coordinator at (760)795-6866.  Additionally, students at the San Elijo Campus may contact Alketa Wojcik at (760)994-4449, extension 7768, and students at the Community Learning Center may contact Denise Plant at (760)795-8709 or Raquel Chavarria at (760)795-8746. Some lead time will be necessary, so please make arrangements as early as possible, preferably during the first two weeks of classes.

Office Hours:  Office hours are 1:00-2:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday in OC4502 (my office is inside OC4505).  Please come in if you have questions about the class lecture, laboratory, anything related to chemistry or just to chat.  You can come in unannounced during my regular office hours (if the door to OC4505 is locked, just knock).  I will be available at other times, but you will need to make an appointment.

Chemistry 211 is the second semester of a two-semester organic chemistry course for science majors. The lab consists of experiments designed to teach you standard organic chemistry procedures and reactions.  You are expected to read the assigned material prior to attending lecture.

Homework Problems: Problems from the end of each chapter should be solved. You don't need to solve all assigned problems, but you should solve at least some for each section to obtain an understanding of the concepts. Homework is not graded but you are given credit for handing it in on time.  Homework is due the lecture period after the lecture for that chapter was completed.  Homework handed in late will receive no credit.

Lab Attendance: You need to print your Experimental Protocol  for each experiment from the Internet prior to coming to lab (you cannot use the lab printer).  Please read the protocol before coming to lab.  Chemistry is an experimental science, and lab attendance is mandatory.  The laboratory section must be passed in order to pass the course. If you miss two or more labs, you are subject to dismissal from the class. You need to hand in your completed lab notebook for every experiment to receive credit for that experiment.  Prepare your notebook before coming to class and fill in data as you perform the experiment.  Do not take notes and then transfer data to your lab notebook later.  Lab notebooks are due one week after the experiment was completed (based on the syllabus). Lab reports turned in late will be deducted 20%, if turned in within one-week of when they were due.  Lab reports turned in after this date will be deducted 50% as a late penalty, but lab reports cannot be turned in for credit later than one week after it was originally due (that is, two weeks after the lab was completed). Format for your Laboratory Notebooks and the Formal Written Lab Reports is online.

Additional Lab Information:

1. Chemical splash goggles must be worn whenever anyone in the lab is working with chemicals. If you don’t have goggles with you and cannot borrow a pair you have two options–go to the bookstore and buy a pair or don’t do the lab that day.
2. All students must sign a copy of the Lab Safety Rules before being allowed to work in the lab.
3. Come to lab prepared with chemical splash goggles, lab book (or handout), pen or pencil and calculator. Lab experiments must be read and understood before you come to lab.
4. Any Prelaboratory Questions must be solved prior to coming to lab.
5. You will often work with another person, who will be your lab partner. Experiments that are done in pairs will be done with that person. Some experiments may be done solo.
6. There will be no makeup labs. If you miss one lab, it will be the one dropped. If you miss more than one lab, you will forfeit the points.
7. Students who are absent for more than two lab periods any time during the semester may be dropped from the course or be assigned a failing grade.
8. During the lab you will fill out data and observations on the report sheets included with the experiment. Your data and observation sheets must be checked by the instructor and stamped before you leave lab for the day.
9. Each week’s lab and lab report is worth a total of fifty points. The minimum score for collecting and recording the data but not doing the rest of the lab report  is twenty points.  You are also graded on your lab notebook.
   
   • Lab reports are turned in on the report sheets included with each experiment. They may be done in pencil or pen. Please show your calculations, with units, to get full credit. Lab reports will usually be due at the next lab meeting following the experiment.
   • You cannot write your lab reports with your lab partner.  You must show the data that you personally collected. Do not share your actual data and observations with anyone other than your lab partner, unless you also want to share (split) your score. Both the sharer and the sharee will be penalized.
   • Write your lab partner’s name under yours on the report. Your partner is the person with whom you actually performed the experiment that day.
   • Some of the experiments include post lab questions. Please answer these and turn them in with your report. They will be worth ten points. Most points on lab reports are lost as a result of missing or incomplete information. Check over your report before you turn it in to make sure that it is complete.
   • Late reports will be accepted up to one week after the experiment was due, with a penalty of 50%. No late reports will be accepted for the last lab.

Cheating: You are expected to abide by the MiraCosta College Honor Code.  Cheating includes the copying or exchanging of information during exams or quizzes or plagiarism (copying another's work and turning it in as your own). If you are caught cheating you will be removed from class, disciplined by the Dean of Students and you may fail the course.

Student Learning Outcomes: As part of an ongoing program here at MiraCosta College, we are asked to determine at least one (out of many possible) measureable outcome that each student should learn exceedingly well while taking a particular course.  For chemistry, we are basing our outcome on the following: "Analyze and Interpret the periodic table to predict and explain an element's physical and chemical properties." So, as we go through the semester, think about anything that we do that relates to the above statement.  Hopefully you will be a better student learning to think critically, logically and objectively.

Course Grading Policy:

Exams (450 pts):  Four exams will be given, but only three of these exams will be counted towards your final grade. If you miss an exam, that will be the exam you drop.  Missed exams cannot be made up or taken at a different time (a missed exam due to medical emergency, or other legitimate causes, may be made up at the discretion of Dr. Robertson).  If you believe the exam is missed for a legitimate reason, please contact Dr. Robertson before the exam. Dr. Robertson will be the only judge of whether the exam can be made up. Exams will include material covered in lecture. There may be times when a specific question was not covered in class, but if you learn to apply what you know from lecture, the application of this knowledge to these questions will allow you to answer these questions. If you have concerns about exam grades, please return it to me and I may regrade it, but I have the option to regrade the entire exam.

Quizzes (100 pts): Quizzes will be given usually during weeks that no exam is scheduled and may be unannounced.  Some of the quizzes will cover material recently discussed in lecture.  An additional set of quizzes covering organic molecules, nomenclature, and reactions will be given.  Information for these quizzes is available for study from the Online Organic Quiz Webpage [click to view]  information, and may be material not otherwise covered in lecture.  Quizzes cannot be taken late or made up.  At least one quiz will be dropped, and this will be the lowest score, or your missed quiz.

Homework (25 pts): Homework problems are not graded, but you will be given credit for doing at least some (not all) assigned problems.  Homework will be turned in at the beginning of lab period it is due.  Homework is due on the day of the first class period after the lecture for the chapter was completed (e.g., if the chapter is completed on a Monday, the homework is due at the beginning of the Wednesday lab).  Late homework will receive no credit.

Lab (225 pts): You must pass the lab in order to pass the course. Your lab grade will depend on your preparedness, technique, safety, lab notebook and your written reports, including any assigned problems. You can drop one lab, but you cannot drop either Experiment II or X, since each of these is a required lab.  Since labs cannot be made up, a missed lab will be the one dropped.  If you miss other labs, you will forfeit the points for those labs.   Grading of your lab notebook and doing the experiments will be worth 75 points total.  In order to receive credit for your notebook, you must turn it in for grading within one week of the date the experiment was completed.  There will be mid-term and final  lab exams covering experiments and techniques performed in the lab.  The lab exams together are worth 75 points total.  Three written lab reports, using approved formal report format, will be graded.  Two of these reports must include Experiments II and X.  The other report can be for Experiments III, V, VI, VII or VIII.  Lab reports are due one week after the experiment was completed (no exceptions will be made).  These formal written lab reports, all together, will be worth a total of 75 points (the formal report for Experiment X will be worth double the other reports).  Format for the written reports is available online (pay particular attention to the required format, including proper grammar, verb tense, and layout).

Final Exam (200 pts): A comprehensive final exam covering all lecture material must be taken to pass course.

Final Grade: Your course grade will be based on the weighting described above.  Letter grades are assigned according to the percentages shown here.

A 90% B 80% C 70% D 60% F <60%

If your Total Score at the end of the semester is within one percent (1%) of the cutoff (you have 89% and 90% is required for an "A" grade), I will use your Final Exam percentage to determine your grade. For example, if your Final Exam score is 90% or higher, you will get an "A" grade.  If your Final Exam is below 90%, you will receive a "B" grade.  (Similar comparisons will be made for "B" or "C" grades, near 80% or 70%, respectively.)

Preparation and Study Time Required: Depending on your background, how easily you grasp the material and how effectively you listen, take notes, and study, the time you will need to spend outside the class will vary. A good estimate is at least 1-2 hours outside studying for each hour in lecture. The amount of time you need to spend depends upon how well you use your time, and your preparation. If you are struggling, you probably need more study time.  I look forward to teaching you. I hope you enjoy learning chemistry. I'll be glad to discuss concerns or suggestions regarding this class or related topics. I encourage you to set goals for yourself, stay current in the class. Be sure to read the assigned chapter prior to lecture.

Attendance and Drops:  It is your responsibility to drop the class if you do not wish to continue enrollment.  If you do not officially drop the class, but just stop attending, you will receive an "F" when grades are turned in.

Online Course Information: Important class information, including grades, review information, sample quizzes and exams, and other useful chemical information is online at http://home.pacbell.net/doninla or http://www.miracosta.edu/home/dlr/ .  If you forget this URL, you can go to my web pages from the MCC Chemistry Homepage, or the online MiraCosta College full-time faculty directory. You can E-mail me at: DONinLA@pacbell.net or DonRobertson@miracosta.edu.

Extra Credit information: You will get credit for one quiz (50 points) when you submit your responses to an online questionaire.  This questionaire will be posted online after 5 pm Thursday January 22.  You can use this form for submission (and to receive credit for one quiz) for a period of one week (until January 29). Therefore, in order to recieve credit for this exercise, you must fill out this form, and submit a picture of you at that same time.  Please follow the instructions with the form but in order to receive credit, in addition to answering a series of questions about you, you must be prepared to submit a picture.  If you do not have a picture of you (in jpeg format), please arrange to have a pic taken before filling out the form.  Thank you.

Thanks for being in the class.

Copyright © Donald L. Robertson (Date last modified: 06/02/2009)