Chem 10/8

Course Administration and Study Guidelines

  • Upcoming Schedule and Deadlines:

    • A quiz is scheduled for Friday covering chemical nomenclature and naming rules.

    • Fall break begins on Saturday and continues through Monday and Tuesday; no class will meet on Tuesday.

    • Office hours will be held on Wednesday.

    • All three course sections have an examination scheduled on the 27th.

    • Office hours the week following fall break will be significantly busier due to the examination; attending office hours early provides more individualized assistance.

    • Disability Support Services (DSS) students must submit their formal DSS accommodations requests before the deadline to ensure appropriate accommodations.

  • Homework and Practice Philosophy:

    • Homework problem sets are not collected for formal grades; regular problem-solving is expected of university students.

    • For each unit, practice materials include both short-answer problem sets and multiple-choice question (MCQ) sets containing approximately 4040 problems.

    • First attempts at practice problems must simulate genuine testing conditions: solve problems independently without external assistance, answer keys, or artificial intelligence.

    • Using artificial intelligence or solution keys directly to solve problems creates an illusion of competence; independent mistakes followed by error correction reveal underlying misconceptions and prevent future errors.

    • Campus study resources available for assistance include office hours, the Learning Center (LC), and one-on-one tutoring booked via Academic Commons and Pengy.

  • Examination Scope and Cumulative Structure:

    • Exam 2 is strictly cumulative, spanning material from the beginning of the academic year up to the cutoff point at Set 11.

    • Although foundational sets may not feature standalone recall questions, their principles are mandatory for solving higher-level problems:

    • Mathematical and calculation guidelines originate in Set 1.

    • Dimensional analysis and unit conversion techniques originate in Set 2.

    • Advanced evaluation questions integrate multiple units simultaneously (e.g., combining concepts from Set 4 and Set 5, such as identifying mystery metals in problems 5.10 through 5.13).

  • Computer-Graded Assessments and Orthography:

    • Automated grading systems on Blackboard utilize American English spelling conventions.

    • Discrepancies between British English (e.g., learning conventions in Zimbabwe with suffixes such as "-rous") and American English (such as "phosphorus") may cause automated grading flags.

    • When reviewing digital quiz scores, evaluate the final earned points rather than raw cross marks; typographical or regional spelling differences will be manually reviewed and awarded credit.

Questions & Discussion

  • Practice Problems for Metal Identification:

    • Question: Are there additional