Principles of Chemistry I Syllabus for 2014-2015
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Instructor Information

Course Information

Recording Policy

Disability Statement

Any student who, because of a disabling condition, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should contact disAbility Services (Student Service Center room 119, phone 371-5436) as soon as possible.

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As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance or reduce a student's ability to participate in daily activities. Amarillo College offers services to assist you with addressing these and other concerns you may be experiencing. If you or someone you know are suffering from any of the aforementioned conditions, you can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on campus by calling the AC Counseling Center at 806-371-5900. The AC Counseling Center website is https://www.actx.edu/counseling/ . Also, if you are in need of social services (affordable housing, utilities, transportation, food, clothing, childcare, medical/dental/vision, legal), please call the AC Advocacy & Resource Center at 806-371-5439. The AC Advocacy & Resource Center website is https://www.actx.edu/arc

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The Amarillo College Privacy Policy is found at https://www.actx.edu/-amarillo-college-privacy-notice , and applies to all Amarillo College students.  If you have questions about this privacy statement or you believe that your personal information has been released without your consent, send email to humanresources@actx.edu .

Course

CHEM-1311-002 Principles of Chemistry I

Prerequisites

Prerequisites: CHEM 1305-minimum grade of C or high school chemistry; MATH 1314; RDNG 0331-minimum grade of C or a score on a state-approved test indicating college-level reading skills Corequisite: CHEM 1111

Course Description

Fundamental principles of chemistry for majors in the sciences, health sciences and engineering; topics include measurements, fundamental properties of matter, states of matter, chemical reactions, chemical stoichiometry, periodicity of elemental properties, atomic structure, chemical bonding, molecular structure, solutions, properties of gases, and an introduction to thermodynamics and descriptive chemistry.

Student Resources Student Resources Website

Department Expectations

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Occupational License Disclaimer

Hours

(3 sem hrs; 3 lec)

Class Type

On Campus Course

Syllabus Information

Textbooks

Chemistry:  The Central Science, 13th Edition, by Brown, LeMay, Bursten (if you are continuing on to 1312; silver hard-back book)

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OR

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Chemistry:  The Central Science, Custom Edition for AC, by Brown, LeMay, Bursten (1311 only; tan soft-cover book)

Supplies

Mastering Chemistry Access (www.masteringchemistry.com)

The course ID is  SHADIX02FALL2014

Student Rights and Responsibilities

Log in using the AC Connect Portal

In order to receive your AC Connect Email, you must log in through AC Connect at https://acconnect.actx.edu .

If you are an active staff or faculty member according to Human Resources, use "Exchange". All other students, use "AC Connect (Google) Email".

Expected Student Behavior

Please be respectful of the other students in class.  Pay attention in class.  Do not be disruptive.  If you arrive late, do not try to go to your accustomed seat, but quietly take a chair close to the door.  If you are causing a disruption in class, you may be asked to leave. 

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If there is any evidence of cheating on any homework, quiz, test, or final, you will receive a zero for that item and cannot make it up or replace it and it cannot be dropped.

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Please see Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook for further information.

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Grading Criteria

The final average will be derived from the following weighted grades: Reading Quizzes - 5%, Daily Quizzes - 10%, Tests - 60%, Homework - 10%, Final Exam - 15%.  Grades are based on 90.00+ = A, 80.00-89.99 = B, 70.00-79.99 = C, 60.00-69.99 = D, and 59.99 and lower = F.

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Tests: There will be a test approximately every two chapters covered (i.e. 4-5 tests).  The test date will be scheduled at least 3 days in advance, please note that this means that the scheduled dates are subject to change.  The lowest grade will be dropped. If a test is missed it will automatically count as a zero, but can still be the dropped grade.  There are NO makeup exams.  Work must be legible and the final answer must be clearly indicated to receive credit.  If special accommodations become necessary, arrangements must be made BEFORE (at least 24 hours prior) the exam open date and you must have written approval from the instructor in order to take the exam at a different time than your section of CHEM 1311.  You may not leave the room during a test. During tests, there are no cell phones, graphing calculators or other electronics devices allowed.  You must use the periodic tables, scratch paper, and calculators supplied by the department. You should bring nothing more than a pencil and the printout of the emailed ticket if you need it.

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If you do need tutoring over an exam or chapter there will be a space provided for a signature from me or a tutor in the SEC. THIS IS REQUIRED BEFORE YOU TAKE AN EXAM. 

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I do not return exams in class.  When you see the grades available, you may go by the SEC to view your exam.  If you have a test grade below a 70%, you must schedule a time with me or the SEC tutors so that you can go over the test. Chemistry is a comprehensive subject, and a complete understanding of ALL the material is necessary for success. You CANNOT take another test until you have picked up your previous test.

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 All tests, excluding the Final Exam and the first exam, will be taken in the Science Testing Center and may be taken during normal Science Testing Center hours, day or evening.  Tests are to be taken outside of class lecture time.  Please note:  No tests will be given out less than one and a half hours before the Science Testing Center closes. You must present an Amarillo College student ID every time you take a test. The Science Testing Center staff will retain your ID while you take your test and it will be returned to you when you turn in your test.
\ When using the Science Testing Center students should scan in and out with their Amarillo College student I.D.

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You will be given at minimum 3 days to take the exam.

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Cheating will not be tolerated in any Chemistry course at Amarillo College. On the first day of class, you will be required to sign and date a Course Contract. Included in the contract is the following statement: "I fully understand that if I cheat, or attempt to cheat, on any test I will receive an automatic “F” in the course. This grade will go on my permanent transcript and cannot be removed. Cheating includes, but is not limited to: the illegal use of books, notes, cell phones*, copying or leaving the Science Testing Center with a test or questions from a test. Cheating also includes helping, or attempting to help, other students to cheat on a test."
\ You will not be allowed to take your tests until this contract is signed and on file in the Science Testing Center.
\ *Please Note: NO CELL PHONES in the Testing Room. If we see your cell phone out AT ANY TIME, FOR ANY REASON, while in the testing room, YOU WILL RECEIVE an "F" for the course!

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In addition to the test remediation that is required, you may take (optional) a 20 question post quiz after we go over the exam. Anyone wanting to take this post quiz must have the questions they missed gone over, regardless of the grade. This is voluntary and anyone may participate. This quiz will be designed to reflect your knowledge of the material. You will receive 25% of the points you improved back to your original test grade. For example, if you make a 60 on an exam and score a 100 on the post quiz you scored 40 points higher on the post quiz than on the original exam, therefore you would get 10 points (25%) added back to your original score bringing it to a 70. There will not be a post quiz over chapters 8 and 9 due to time constraints.

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You have 4 school days from the time the grades are posted to take the post-quiz for any given exam. This means that if you leave it until later, while you can still do the tutoring if needed, you will not be allowed to take the post-quiz for extra points.

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We will also be doing student led and instructor supervised study sessions before the exams. This is tentative based on scheduling and timing of the exam, however we will do the best we can to ensure that this time is available to you. These study sessions will be held in the SEC usually in the evening sometime (I will shoot for Monday) the week of the exam 6 - 10pm. If the exam falls on a Monday, a time during the previous week will be provided to you. These study sessions are there to allow students to review the practice exam with one another and to ask any follow up questions to the instructor, not for me to reteach the material. That means come prepared with questions and study material beforehand.

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Reading Quizzes: The quizzes will be assigned to ensure that students are keeping up with reading the text. Quizzes will be assigned through mastering chemistry.  Generally quizzes on a subject will be before the first day covering that chapter.  Please see schedules updated weekly.  The lowest grade will be dropped. There is a follow up assignment that can help get credit back for a reading quiz. If you score a 90% or better you do not have to do the follow-up. If you score below a 90% you must do the follow up assignment, or you will recieve a 0 for the reading quiz.

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In-Class Quizzes:  During lecture, multiple-choice questions will appear on Learning Catalytics, a software program within Mastering Chemistry. To utilize this software, you must have a smart device in class. A smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, or any other networked device works just fine. If you do not have one and need one provided to you, simply let me know and that can be arranged.  Due to the nature of the lecture course, the number of questions will vary from day to day, but if there is lecture (not a test or a problems day) there will be in class questions. If your answers for all quiz questions over a given chapter are less than 70% correct, you will be required to come to me or to the SEC tutors for 30 minutes of tutoring followed by ALL the questions over that chapter’s material.  You must both attend the tutoring and score above a 70% on the retake questions or you will not be allowed to take the test over the material.  There will be two versions of the retake questions so that you may make multiple attempts, but please remember only the first attempt will count as extra credit.  You will receive a running total of the percent of questions you have correctly answered when your in-class quizzes are returned to you.  Those students who have voluntarily attended tutoring throughout the chapter may use their retake scores to determine if mandatory tutoring is necessary. If you miss a day of class for any reason you must receive tutoring over the information that you missed.

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Review Assignments: After each unit of material I will be analyzing your performance on each question that you have answered up to that point. Based on your performance I will assign a number of review videos with attached assignments to help you with what you missed. You should use this as a guided study tool for the exam, and it will count as extra credit toward Reading Quiz/ Homework assignments. 

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Homework Problems: Problems will be assigned for each chapter.  Doing the homework improves the understanding of the subject matter.  Assignments will generally consist of 10 questions and due dates will be posted on the Mastering Chemistry website.  Assignments are due at 11:59 pm and NO late homework will be accepted.  Do not leave homework until the last minute as you may have trouble connecting to the internet.  Homework assignments cannot be made up, but one assignment can be dropped.  The homework will be online through www.masteringchemistry.com.

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Extra Credit: Rare extra credit assignments might be given in class that will count toward either your final homework grade or test grade depending on the assignment.  There is always the option to submit questions for any quiz or test with the correct answers.  Please label papers with the assignment for which you are turning in questions. These must be submitted by 5 pm the evening before the quiz or test to receive any credit.  In addition to the EC, the question may well appear on the assignment.  The “better” the question and the sooner I receive it, the more likely it is to be included.

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Final Exam: This will be a comprehensive, multiple-choice exam produced by the American Chemical Society.  Special rules for the final will be posted beforehand.  As with normal tests, you may, if necessary, take the final at another time, but you must inform me at least 24 hours before your section’s scheduled time, have a valid reason, and have written approval from me in order to switch when you will take the final.

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Grade Disputes:  While I encourage you to come to me with questions about answers on assignments anytime, if you wish to dispute a grade or have a grade changed, you must contact me about it within two weeks of the grade being posted or there will be no change to the grade.

Attendance

Attendance in class is expected.  Dropping the course is the sole responsibility of the student.  Failure to officially withdraw will result in a grade of F. 

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Last day to withdraw from courses without written permission is November 18th.

Calendar

Additional Information

Reading the Text:  It is vital that you read the text BEFORE the lecture on that chapter.  This will greatly improve your understanding of the topic and therefore your grade.  As there is a large amount of information to cover in this class, not all of it can be covered in the time allotted for class.  You are responsible for the information presented in the text even if it is not covered in lecture.

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Resources Available:  In addition to copies of lecture slides available on both the 2^nd (CD) and 4^th (print-outs) floors of the library, there are numerous additional resources available to you.  Additional helpful books are available on reserve on the 4^th floor of the library.  Most resources I have in my office including supplementary texts and additional problems are available for check-out.  Mastering Chemsitry:  Please be aware of the Study Area as a resource within Mastering Chemistry.

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Email:  Every student has an account in Blackboard.  You need to check this daily. Handouts, extra credit assignments, grades, and contact will all be made through email.

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INFORMATION SHEET/SIGNATURE:  You must fill out and return the information sheet for this class.  You must also sign it to signify that you have read and understand the syllabus.  

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***This syllabus is subject to change.  You will be informed of any changes to the syllabus in class and email.***  

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