Monday December 13th: Announcements.
Exam 4 is graded. The average was 75. Solutions and comments are now posted on the website. The practice final is also posted on the website (see anouncements for previous two classes). Make-up marathon starts at 9:00 pm tomorrow here (GSMN 64). If in doubt about the weather, check the official university website/emergency closing hotline. If the campus is open and buses are running, the event will take place. If the campus is closed all day, check this website for further info. I have office hours 9-5 on Thursday and 2 - 5 on next Monday.
Friday December 10th: Announcements.
Finish gases today and some comments on exam 4. Grades (in OWL) solutions and comments (on the website) will be posted over the weekend. Monday's class is a review session. I'll bring some problems if you don't. Please complete SRTI and give to Kerry. Make-up marathon on Tuesday in here (GSMN 64). CRC is open and I have an all day "office hour" (9:00 am - 5:00 pm) on Thursday, December 16th (GSMN 132 or CRC depending on numbers). I also have office hours Monday December 20th from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
Wednesday December 8th: Announcements.
I'll post the results of exam 4 on OWL this weekend. I'll also post solutions and comments. There will be a practice exam for the final. It will be available on the website over the weekend. Hand in solutions to this for 20% of the grade for the final at 8:00 am Tuesday December 21st (at the final exam). Please complete SRTI questionnaire. More new material today on gases.
Monday December 6th: Announcements.
Make-up marathon on Dec 14th will start at 9:00am in GSMN 64 with #1. There will be a 15 min break between exams: #2 at 10:15, #3 at 11:30 and #4 at 12:45. Please fill out Preeti's questionnaire about supplemental instruction. I will bring a SRTI questionnaire on Wednesday. No new material today. Review session for exam #4. Some classes have experienced problems with PRS reception. I will be running a test.
Friday December 3rd: Announcements.
Final topic: gases, Chapter 12. Not on exam 4. Consult study guide for topics related to exam 4. Practice exam is also a good guide. Don't forget that 10% is available for handing in pratice exam by 10:10 am on Monday. Collaborative efforts are acceptable. Monday's class will be a review session. Don't forget to e-mail me about an alternate time for exam 4, if you can't come in the evening.
Wednesday December 1st: Anouncements
E-mail me to set up a time to take the exam early if you can't manage Tuesday from 6:15 pm to 7:15 pm. New OWL exercises are posted. These are the last ones. Deadline is Dec 15th. Don't forget make-up marathon is Dec 14th. Practice exam 4 and study guide are available. See Monday's (11/29) announcements.
Meeting today from 4:00 to 5:00 in Campus Center 904 on the shortage of tenure-track faculty. In 1986 there were 1220, today there are 880. Consequences: impoverished educational experience for both undergraduates and graduates. Decline in research productivity. Decline in reputation of institution.
Monday November 29th: Announcements.
Welcome back! There are a few OWL exercises due tomorrow night (Nov 30th). The next exam in Tuesday Dec 7th from 6:15 to 7:15 pm in Mahar 108. The practice version of this exam is posted on the website. Hand in clearly worked solutions for 10% of grade by 10:10 am Monday December 6th. I encourage you to compare your solutions with those of at least one other person.
Meeting of arsenic research groups tomorrow (11/30) evening at 5:15 pm in GSMN 51.
Friday November 19th: Announcements.
No class meetings next week. Enjoy the break for Thanksgiving. There will be some OWL exercises due for Tuesday November 30th. I'll take a poll later on whether to continue with practice of grading the practice exam.
Wednesday November 17th: Announcements.
Please, no talking when I am talking. Several students have complained. You may talk to each other when working on a "PRS" problem or if I ask you a question that needs to be discussed. New OWL exercises posted with deadline next Tuesday. There will be a small number due the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Remember, no meetings of this class next week.
Monday November 15th: Announcements.
Exam 3 is graded. Check the arithmetic and the grading. The average is 81 (congratulations). I still need to evaluate the effect of the 10% for the practice exam. Comments are welcomed. Solutions and some comments are posted on the website. There will be a meeting for the arsenic researchers tomorrow at 5:15 pm
Friday November 12th: Announcements.
The average of the first 30 exams is a 79 (including the contribution from the practice). No class Wednesday Nov 24th, so no class at all that week (Monday 22nd is a Thursday).
November 10th: Announcements.
Practice exam is graded. About 86 people submitted solutions. The average is 84. I hope to get the third exam graded by Sunday, keep checking in OWL if you are anxious. Next exam (#4), Tuesday 12/7, 6:15 to 7:15 pm in Mahar. Don't forget: no classes on Thursday this week.
Monday November 8th: Announcements.
Practice exam due now. Exam #3 tomorrow (Tues 11/9) at 6:15 in Mahar 108. New OWL homework is posted. Today is a review session.
Friday November 5th: Announcements.
The practice exam is available on the website. Hard copy solutions with signatures are due by 10:10 am on Monday. If you don't do the exam, the real exam with be scaled out of 100. If your score on the practice would result in a lower score than if you had not done the exam, you will not be penalized.
Wednesday November 3rd: Announcements.
Exam #3 is coming up next Tuesday (11/9) 6:15 pm in Mahar 108. There is a study guide posted on the website. The practice exam will be available after class on Friday (on the website). 10% of the exam grade will be awarded for solutions to the quesions submitted, as hard copy, to me by 10:10 am on Monday. Step by step reasoning must be shown for calculations (no points for "one-word" answers), you can work cooperatively and submit one set of solutions (each person needs to sign to indicate that this was a genuine collaboration). If you don't submit solutions to the practice exam by the deadline, the exam will be scaled out of 100. If you can't take the exam on Tuesday night, then you can take it on Tuesday afternoon (in GSMN 149). E-mail me to make the arrangements. There will be a make-up opportunity on Tuesday December 14th.
Monday November 1st: Announcements.
Comments on and solutions to exam 2 posted on website. Start a new topic today (Chapter 7): atomic spectroscopy and the electronic structure of atoms.
Friday October 29th: Announcements.
PRS is down. Todays problems are posted on the website. The final exam will be on Tuesday 12/21 at 8:00 am in Marcus 131.
Wednesday October 27th: Announcements
Sorry--won't be in the CRC this afternoon. I'm thinking about handling practice exam #3 in a different way. My suggestion is to give it as a "take-home" exam for 10% of the exam score. The real exam 3 counts for 90%.
Monday October 25th: Announcements.
Exams graded and results posted in OWL. Class average was 71 (last year was 74). Check the arithmetic, etc on your paper. I'll be happy to talk to anyone about their performance. We need to talk about the practice exam. New set of OWL exercises posted.
Wednesday October 20th: Announcements.
Exam tonight. Students surnames A-G in GSMN 64, H-Z in Marcus 131. Start 6:15 pm finish 7:15 pm. Same format as last time: bring calculator, pencil(s), eraser, time keeping device.
Prof Richard Zare from Stanford will give a lecture demo this Friday entitled "Chemical Fizzics: seeing chemistry in action". GSMN 64 at 4:00 pm. Everyone is invited.
If you are wondering about staying in the course and need your grade for the second exam, keep checking OWL over the weekend. Don't forget there is a make-up opportunity for all four in-class exams at the end of the semester (Tuesday December 14th).
Monday October 18th: Announcements
Comments and solutions to exam 1 and solutions to practice exam 2 are on the website. Wednesday will be a review session.
Message from Pamela Marsh-Williams, Associate Dean and Director, Undergraduate Advising and Academic Support Center 609 Goodell. "Please remind undergraduate students in your classes/departments that they have until Monday, October 25 to drop a class with a "W." Doing so will have no adverse impact on their cumulative average. A "W" on one's transcript is nearly always preferable to an "F." For more information, students should contact the office of their academic
dean. Contact person: Susan P. Machala, Academic Advisor, Pre-Major Advising Services
615 Goodell, (413) 545-4681 (direct), (413) 577-6300 (fax), smachala@acad.umass.edu"
Friday October 15th: Announcments.
First exam is graded and available here in class. Check my math and whether I have graded everything. I'll post "solutions" and comments on the website.
The arsenic independent study activities are well underway, but some chem 111 "participants" have not responded to e-mail. Check the info on the website and update me with your participation status. I will register participants early next week.
Exam next Wednesday. Students surnames A-G in GSMN 64, H-Z in Marcus 131. Start 6:15 pm finish 7:15 pm. Same format as last time. Practice exam and study guide available on website.
Wednesday October 13th: Announcements
I'm still working on first exam. Will be returned on Friday. I hope to post grades on OWL as well.
Next exam on Wednesday Oct 20th GSMN 64 and Marcus 131. Details later; 6:15 to 7:15 pm.
Make-up earlier that day.
Practice exam and study guide available shortly. Not cumulative, but you still need to know the basic vocabulary and strucutres of common ions and compounds.
Wednesday October 6th: Announcements
New OWL exercises available on heat and heats of reation.
No class on Friday (or Monday)
Monday October 4th: Announcements.
Exam is tomorrow (10/5) 6:15 to 7:15 pm in Mahar 108.
Bring pencils, eraser, calculator and ID with picture. Periodic table will be provided.
Procedure: Please wait outside room until we are ready for you. Come in and get started. If you wish to leave early, be mindful of others who may be working till the last second. Hand in exam to TA and show picture ID that matches the name on the exam paper.
No class on Friday (or Monday--a University holoiday). A Monday schedule will be followed next Wednesday (10/13).
I won't be in the CRC this Wednesday.
Friday October 1st: Announcements.
Exam is next Tuesday evening 6:15 pm to 7:15 pm in Mahar 108 (click here to see a campus map)
E-mail me about a make-up if you can't make it. Topics to be covered as set out in study guide.
Next OWL deadline is Monday (get a break on Tuesday).
Monday September 27th: Announcements
Details of arsenic teams posted (new links on site), first assignment given.
Study guide for exam 1 is posted together with a practice exam
I'll still accept the questionnaire.
If you want an extension to OWL deadlines, do the exercises then e-mail me.
Wednesday September 22nd: Announcements
Revised schedule posted. Three Tuesday exams and one Wed (before midsemester). First exam Tues 10/5
New OWL exercises scheduled.
Last chance to join the arsenic section.
Questionnaire deadline is Friday (don't forget the picture)
Wednesday September 15th 2004: Announcements.
No class on Friday (I'll be at the NSF in Washington).
New stuff on site about CRC staffing and registering for chemistry courses through SPIRE.
Good job on the clicker registrations!
The next set of OWL exercises has been posted.
I'm still looking for more students interested in the arsenic project.
The deadline for the extra credit questionnaire is Friday 24th. You need to supply a picture.
Monday September 13th 2004: Announcements.
Labs start this week. Handout-for lab 1 is available in here in lecture. You need a lock and safety glasses (info in syllabus). Schedule is on Gen Chem web site sidebar
There are 84 students who have not yet started the OWL homework. Get started on OWL. I’ll add you to OWL even if you have not registered for the section. The first deadline is midnight tomorrow.
PRS will be used from Wednesday. Get a clicker and enter number via OWL.
The vote was heavily in favor of all exams on the same night. We'll choose which one by PRS on Wednesday.
Several e-mail addresses are no longer working: motorious13@netzero.net, sasha-714@hotmail.com, caddyshack119@comcast.net, equinegrace48@aol.com, nasserc@lycso.com.
If you didn't get an e-mail from me on Friday afternoon, at that time you did not have a working e-mail address in the OWL data base.
Keep those requests to join the independent study section coming in.
Friday September 10th 2004: Announcements
Labs start next week. Handout-for lab 1 is available in lecture.
You need a lock and safety glasses.
Schedule is on Gen Chem web site sidebar
Get started on OWL. I’ll add you to OWL
even if you have not registered for the section
PRS will be used from Wednesday. Get a clicker
Keep those requests to join the independent study
Section coming in.