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- Get off to a great start. This is a fast paced class that builds on itself. Hence you MUST master the beginning chapters in order to be successful in the later chapters.
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- Do all of the homework thoughtfully. You need to do all of the homework. Make sure to be neat, to work systematically, and to carefully work through the tough problems. You may even have to do more problems to really concretize the material.
- Take a close look at the table to the right. These are some averages for Chemistry 130, 2003. Notice the correlation between the HW and WebAssign Grade column and the Final Course Grade column. MAKE SURE THAT YOU WORK HARD- IT WILL PAY OFF!!
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Chemistry 130 Data, Fall 2003
| Final Course Grade | Average HW and WebAssign Grade
(out of 100) |
|---|
| A | 88.4% |
| B | 80.5% |
| C | 63.3% |
| D | 38.0% |
| F | 23.4% |
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- Do not procrastinate. Chemistry is a learn-by-doing subject and cramming will not work.
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- It is worth repeating: Do not procrastinate. Chemistry is a learn-by-doing subject and cramming will not work.
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- Make and keep a study schedule.
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- Study in a quiet place- this will help you concentrate and increase the effectiveness of your study time.
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- Come to every class and take thorough notes.
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- Read the material that we are going to cover before the lecture. You can even start doing some of the problems that are assigned. This will really help you understand the lecture.
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- Ask questions. You have time to see me during lab sections, or our review sessions/ office hours, or you can contact me via e-mail.
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- Be certain to complete all of the reviews that I post to the class website.
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- Do the WebAssign problems and quizzes.
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Spend a good deal of time learning how to draw resonance structures.
Learn nomenclature of alkanes really well. All other nomenclature (for the year) is based on these rules.
Make sure that you are familiar with pKa's in chapter 2.
Be comfortable in drawing compounds in various orientations. This will prove to be useful when dealing with stereochemistry.
Understand how to assign stereochemisty (R,S).
Make sure that you master SN1, SN2, E1, and E2 reactions in chapter 6. Reactions like these come up for the rest of the semester.
Chapter 8 is the longest chapter in first semester. Do not fall behind and try to work ahead of the lecture a bit.
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Memorization. You ABSOLUTELY must learn all of the ions and polyatomic ions. There will be other things that will have to be memorized in this class also. It will really be to your advantage to make and use flashcards.
Keep track of units at all times. Units never lie.
You need to master dimensional analysis. It comes up over and over in chemistry. |
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