Lecture Policy & Syllabus - Summer, 2010

Time & location

9:30 - 10:50 an, M-F, Rm 101 Mills Godwin Bldg. 

CHEM 115N students must also register for and attend laboratory/ recitation (offered as one combined 3-hour session per week).  Check your course schedule for the time and location of your recitation and laboratory. 

Instructor

Dr. Patricia Pleban:   Office: Room 203, Alfriend Chemistry Laboratories. Telephone: (757) 683-4085. E-mail: ppleban@odu.edu. Office Hours: 11 am - 12 pm M - R or by appointment.

Course Information & Prerequisites:

CHEM 115N is a 4 credit lecture and laboratory course intended for science and engineering majors.  Chemistry 115N students must be registered for both lecture & laboratory.  Prerequisite: Math 102

Blackboard

 I will use blackboard to communicate with you - so you MUST activate and use your university e-mail account . Any updates to the lecture schedule and lecture notes, sample exams, important announcements, etc. will all be found on Blackboard.  Your grades will be posted on Blackboard.

If you are having trouble accessing your account, please contact OCCS at occshelp@odu.edu or call 683-3192.

Textbook and Materials

Principles of Chemistry, a Molecular Approach. Nivaldo J. Tro, Prentice-Hall Publishing, 2009. The textbook package available at the Old Dominion University Bookstore and the Dominion Village Bookstore also contains a 2-semester access code for Mastering Chemistry online homework.  You may also purchase a new or used textbook at various online textbook sites such as Textbooks.com and Amazon.com. If you do not purchase the textbook package which includes the Mastering Chemistry homework access code, a code may purchased online at the Mastering Chemistry web site, http://www.masteringchemistry.com .

eInstruction i-clickers (formerly PRS) will be used to answer questions during lecture.  These radio frequency transmitters may be purchased new or used at the university bookstore.  You must register your i-clicker on the course Blackboard site. 

Non-programmable calculators:  No programmable calculator will be allowed during any of the exams. Non-programmable calculators cannot store text or formulas.  Most non-programmable calculators are available at local discount stores for less than $15.  Only the following non-programmable calculators are acceptable:

Texas Instruments:  Models TI-30X IIB, 30XA, 30IIS, 34series, and 36X - all models in 30 - 36 series.

Hewlett Packard:  Models 9S, 30S

Sharp:  Models EL-501WBBK, EL-501WBBL, EL-520-WBBK, EL-531-WBBK, EL-531-WBBL.  The 509 series.  Model EL-506-WBBL is not allowed.

Casio:  Models FX 115MSPlus, FX-250HC, FX-260 Solar, FX 300 series

If you have a non-programmable calculator which is not listed above, please see your instructor before the first unit exam, so that the calculator can be added to list of acceptable models. 

Optional: A study guide for your final exam is published by the American Chemical Society. The order form for the study guide can be found on the Course Documents Page of your lecture course Blackboard site.  It takes about 10 business days for delivery. The guide covers test information for both the 1st (CHEM 115N) and 2nd semester (CHEM 116N/117) freshman chemistry courses. A copy of the study guide is available for limited check-out at the ODU Library Reserve Desk under CHEM 115N.

*Check the CHEM 115N Lab Schedule & Policy for a list of the materials needed for laboratory.

Chemistry Tutoring

 In addition to your lecture and laboratory instructors,  tutoring is available for chemisty.  The location and tutoring availability will be published in the near future.  Please stop by if you need help.

You must have a computer account or access to the internet in order to do your homework (which counts for 12% of your grade). If you don't currently have an account, you may obtain a student account at the OCCS site in Web Center (across from Starbuck's) or online at http://web.odu.edu/af/occs/stu_accounts.html . Sample problems, similar to those assigned for the course homework, can be found at the end of each chapter. Try these first and once you can work them successfully, go to the Mastering Chemistry internet site, login and do the assigned homework problems.

You must enroll in the class at http://www.masteringchemistry.com .   You  will have 1 to 10 attempts to correctly answer the assigned problems. Mastering Chemistry will grade your problems & give you your score immediately. If you want to improve this score, you can access the last problem submission and re-do the problems which were incorrect. All homework must be completed by the due date listed on the homework set.

Attendance

Good attendance is expected. Attendance is important; and those who don't attend will miss handouts, visual aids, and a description of what material will be emphasized on the test. You are responsible for all material covered in lecture .  The power point lecture notes will be available on your course Blackboard site (link on the sidebar menu is a set of sample lecture notes).  These notes are meant to serve as a guide to the material covered and may not include everything discussed in lecture. 

We will have in-class quizzes and you can earn 3% credit toward your grade by successfully participating in the eInstruction (i-clicker) questions asked in class. 

Attendance will also be taken in recitation and laboratory - you will receive a "0" for the quizzes or labs missed if you do not have an excused absence. YOU MUST RECEIVE A LABORATORY GRADE OF 50% OR HIGHER TO PASS CHEM 115N!

Exams

Please bring a non-programmable calculator to every exam - Back-up calculators are not available so please be sure that your calculator is working prior to coming to the exam (suggestion - bring a back-up battery). You must present your Student ID and time registration receipt  for the Unit Exams, so please remember to bring these items. Failure to bring your ID will mean that you cannot take the exam. The exams are computer-graded, so you will record your answers on a blue scantron answer sheet.  You can purchase blue scantron answer sheets in the Monarch Market, the Old Dominion University Bookstore, the Dominion Village Bookstore, or the Learning Assessment Lab.   Please bring two No. 2 pencils with you. The answer on the scantron sheet is your final answer and takes precedence over the answer written on the test. You may not have cell phones, Personal Digital Assistants, or any other electronic devices (other than a non-programmable calculator) during the exams.

All Unit Exams will be administered in the Learning Assessment Lab.  Before you can take your exam, you must make an appointment to take it.  Normally, you can make your appointment a week in advance of the exam.  Appointments cannot be made on the day of the exam.  Instructions for registering for your exam can be found on the Course Information page.

It is best to register several days prior to the exam.  Please make sure that you have the time available to take your exam BEFORE you register. No online registrations are permitted after 5 pm on the day BEFORE the exam.  If you fail to register to take the exam, you will be able take your exam only if space is available, and on a "first come, first serve" basis.  Failure to register for an exam, or missing an exam without a valid excuse means that you may receive a zero for the exam. 

In order to take your exam, you must arrive at the Learning Assessment Lab at the time listed on your exam registration receipt. If you are late, it is likely that you will not be able to take your exam.   Please refer to the lecture schedule table for the dates of the Unit exams.

There will be three unit exams covering the material indicated in Lecture Schedule.  Please refer to the updated schedule for the material to be covered on each exam. 

The comprehensive Final Exam will be given in Rm 101 MGB. Please refer to the lecture schedule table for the date and time of the final exam.

Make-Up Exams

Make-up exams will be given only when you have a documented emergency (illness or accident, death in the immediate family, etc.). Should an emergency arise, you must notify your lecture instructor (preferably by e-mail) BEFORE the test. If you notify your instructor after the test, then whether or not a make-up exam is given will be at the instructor's discretion. In the case of illness, you must bring your instructor a written statement from your physician stating that you were too sick to take the exam. Proof of involvement in an automobile accident (accident report) or death in the family will also be required. This must be done BEFORE you will be given the make-up exam. Missed make-up exams will not be re-scheduled.

Honor Code

Students registered for CHEM 115N are expected to adhere to the Old Dominion University Honor Code. ALL work for credit must be YOUR WORK ALONE. For further information on the University Honor Code, please consult your University Catalog or the Honor Council website:  http://orgs.odu.edu/hc/pages/DisciplinaryProcedures.shtml

Grading

Your class grade will be based on the average of your unit exam scores (45%), your comprehensive final exam score (20%), your average score for your homework (12%), your i-clicker in-class quiz responses (3%), and your recitation/laboratory average (20%).

You can calculate your grade using the following formula:

Your grade = 0.45(average of your unit exams) + 0.20(your recitation/lab grade) + 0.20(your final exam grade) + 0.12(your homework average) + 0.03 (your in-class quiz score).  Your course letter grade will be assigned as shown below:

A > 92.5	A-.....90 - 92	B+.....87 - 89	B.....83 - 86
B-.....80 - 82	C+.....77 - 79	C.....73 - 76	C-.....70 - 72
D+.....67 - 69	D.....63 - 66	D-.....60 - 62	F < 60.00

YOU MUST ALSO RECEIVE A LABORATORY GRADE OF 50% OR HIGHER TO PASS CHEM 115N!