NOTE: This syllabus is from a previous 16 week semester. The actual syllabus will be very similar but dates, times, and locations will be different. Use this to see how my course is run.

CHEM-1311:  General Chemistry 1 Lec

Course Syllabus Spring 2025

Instructor Name:       William D. Cheek

Synonym/Section:    94863/002 (synonym/section)

Lecture Time:            Tuesday & Thursday – 10:30am-11:50am                                       

Lecture Room:          1203 South Austin Campus

Office Room RRC:    Round Rock Learning Lab (down the hall from the CHEM lab)

Office Room SAC:    Learning Lab Room 1138 (first floor near east exit door)

Office Phone #:         No Office phone number (Email me, I will check frequently during office hours)

E-mail address:         bcheek@austincc.edu

Chem Dept URL:       http://sites.austincc.edu/chem/

Office Hours:             RRC: Monday & Wednesday 8:00am - 9am (1 hour before lecture in 2312.00)
RRC: Monday & Wednesday 1:30pm – 2:00pm (30min post lab M,W Learn Lab)

                                    SAC: Thursday 9:00am – 10:30am (1.5 hour before lecture on Thursday)

                                    SAC: Tuesday & Thursday Noon – 12:15pm (15 min after lecture T, Th)

                                          Also, by Appointment

Course Description

• Credit Hours: 3
• Classroom Contact Hours per week: 3

The course is the lecture to accompany CHEM 1111 lab. Covers the fundamental facts, laws, principles, theories, and concepts of chemistry necessary for further work in science or science-related subjects. Coursework stress’s atomic structure, periodic properties of matter, chemical bonding, and molecular geometry of organic and inorganic molecules, states of matter, stoichiometry, and properties of solutions.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Prerequisites: (1) High School Chemistry, or CHEM 1305+CHEM 1105, or equivalent preparation, with a grade of C or better AND (2) MATH 1314 or MATH 1414, or equivalent academic preparation, with a grade of C or better.

Corequisite: required: CHEM 1111 lab

Required Text and Materials

We will use a free online text called OpenStax Chemistry for our text. The textbook can be found online at the following url:  https://openstax.org/details/books/chemistry-2e

In addition, Khan Academy is suggested as supplemental material for the course. Khan Academy’s url is:  https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry

Instructional Methodology: This course consists of an online lecture.

Course Rationale

This course covers the fundamental facts, laws, principles, theories and concepts of chemistry necessary for further work in science or science-related subjects.

Common Course Objectives

Common course objectives are attached and can be found at:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B6R1-NYTVNffSUNBZ1BNMGJHX1k?ogsrc=32

Distance Education (for online or hybrid courses only)

This course is given on campus and in-class. It is not a Distance Learning section. However, I have incorporated many features of distance learning into the course. Blackboard will be used to disseminate all class information, assignments with instruction, submission of homework and quizzes, and might be used for exams. I will record all lectures and make them available for viewing in Blackboard. Please note that I absolutely do not want you to skip the in-person and in-class lectures and view them later. This is provided so that you have the added flexibility of reviewing the lecture when studying. This also gives you the ability of viewing the lecture should you need to miss class on a rare occasion. I strongly recommend that you attend all classes regularly during scheduled class time. From my own experience, if I didn’t attend a class, it was easy to forget that I even had a class.

Student Technology Support Services

Austin Community College provides free, secure drive-up WiFi to students and employees in the parking lots of all campus locations. WiFi can be accessed seven days a week, 7 am to 11 pm. Additional details are available at https://www.austincc.edu/sts. Students who do not have the necessary technology to complete their ACC courses can request to borrow devices from Student Technology Services. Available devices include iPads, webcams, headsets, calculators, etc. Students must be registered for a credit course, Adult Education, or Continuing Education course to be eligible. For more information, including how to request a device, visit http://www.austincc.edu/sts. Student Technology Services offers phone, live-chat, and email-based technical support for students and can provide support on topics such as password resets, accessing or using Blackboard, access to technology, etc. To view hours of operation and ways to request support, visit http://www.austincc.edu/sts.

Calculator: You will need a scientific calculator for class activities and quizzes. A good calculator option for this class is the TI-30XIIS, which is relatively inexpensive, and which has all functions that you will need.

Course Policies

Readings

Prior to coming to that day’s class please prepare by reading over the materials for that day. This will generally require that you read over at least half of a chapter of upcoming material to be covered in class prior to coming to class. Additionally, I will sometimes ask that you view a prepared short lecture over a particular topic that will not be covered by an in-class lecture. I will also try to give a good approximation of what will be covered the next time in class. This will make our time in class more valuable for you as we go over course material.

Adobe Acrobat Reader: To be able to view the PDF documents that are posted in Blackboard, you will need software that allows you to open and view PDF files. You can download Acrobat Reader here: get.adobe.com/reader/

Any “Scanner” App: To turn in most assignments or portions thereof, you will need to scan in your work andsubmit it through Blackboard as a single PDF file. Of course, it is possible to use a scanner attached to a computer to scan in work, but all you really need is a smartphone. There are numerous free apps available for iOS and Androidphones that will allow to take photos with your phone camera, convert the images to PDF format, and combine multiple photos into one PDF file. Some examples include Genius Scan, Adobe Scan, Microsoft Lens, pdfElement, CamScanner, etc. It does not matter which app you choose, but it should be capable of allowing multiple photos to be combinedinto a single PDF file for Blackboard submission. Submission of a multiple page document as multiple files willnot be acceptable. Submission in other file formats (.docx, .png, .jpg, etc.) will not be acceptable.

Submitting Homework and Take-Home Quizzes

Please click on the link “submitting Homework in Blackboard” which can be found in the “Useful Documents” folder in our course site. A short description will also follow here. In Course Content Click on the correct unit folder followed by the correct chapter folder. If submitting Homework for Chapter 1 get to the Chapter 1 folder and find the Homework Chapter 1 Link. To submit a pdf (from your “Genius Scan”) click the link for “Homework Chapter 1”. It will open a screen that allows you to upload your PDF to Blackboard. This will allow me to grade your homework within Blackboard. I can give feedback for your assignments on your submitted file. Once I assign a grade to your assignment, the grade will automatically be placed in your grade file which you can access in “My Grades” link in Blackboard. Here you can look over my comments and grading. Follow this procedure for submitting all assignments. However, see below for exams.

Genius Scan app

All submitted items (files) are to be in PDF format. I will not accept any other format. Technically, you can get your files into PDF format in a variety of ways, and they may be acceptable so long as I can access them in Blackboard for grading using Blackboard grading features. I absolutely do not want them emailed to me. You must learn how to format your documents in PDF format and submit correctly in Blackboard. I am sure there is more than one possible app that can do all the above. However, I know for sure that “Genius Scan” can do this. Download the free app “Genius Scan” from your platform’s app store. Find the instructions for “Genius Scan in the “Useful Documents” folder.

Exams

Exams will be given in two parts. There will be a short quiz given in class/ This will be followed up with a multiple choice exam given online through Blackboard using the Respondus application which you will download. This ecam is taken at a time of your convenience.

Course Evaluation and Grading Scheme

Unit Grade: Each unit score is broken down roughly as listed below. Often the sum of all the items (Homework, Quiz, and Exam) add up to more than 150 points. The unit is still considered to be out of 150 points. This simply means that you have the opportunity to earn bonus points. In addition, often I curve the unit grade. Your curved grade will be the unit score that I use to determine your final grade for the course.

Homework                              30 points

Quiz (Worked-out)                  30 points

Exam (Multiple choice )           90 points

Total                                        150 points

There are 3 units – 150 X 3 = 450 points

The final exam, “Unit 4”, may be given in class or online through Respondus (to be determined). The final is worth 150 points. There is no homework for Unit 4. Therefore, between the 3 Unit scores and the Final there are 600 possible points for CHEM 1311 Lecture (150 X 4 = 600). If your grade on the final is higher than your lowest grade in the 3 Unit grades, I will drop the lowest unit grade and count the final twice. The sum of the four “unit scores” counted will be Your Score for the course. If you want to know your % average for the course at the end of the semester divide Your Scoreby 6. Please note: The unit score (including the final) I will use when determining Your Score will be the “curved unit score”, if there was a curve applied to the unit.

There will be a few miscellaneous Assignments which will count for extra points to be added to “Your Score” before determining your letter grade for the course. An example of this is a scanned PDF submission at the beginning of the semester for extra credit points.

I will take “Your Score” and divide it by 6 to determine your % average for the course. Letter grades will be assigned based on the usual breakdown which is below:

540-600 points            90% and above           A

480-540 points            80% - 90%                  B

420-480 points            70% - 80%                  C        

360-420 points            60% - 70%                  D

>360 points                 Below 60%                 F

Monitor your progress by checking your grades throughout the course by selecting “My Grades” link in the menu. Your “Curved Unit Scores“ for each unit will be used to calculate “Your Score” for the course

Missed Exam and Late Work

Late work is not accepted after the deadline. If you are having a problem completing an assignment speak with me before the deadline and we can make an arrangement. Be aware that I will be willing to do this only once or twice per student per semester. Please do not abuse this policy.

Attendance/Class Participation

Regular and punctual class and laboratory attendance is expected of all students. It is a state requirement that I must report whether you have attended at least one class during the first 12 class days. For the 16-week semester this date is Wednesday, February 5, 2025.  I do intend to record all lectures and you do have the opportunity to miss class and view it later. However, this requires more discipline on your part. I strongly recommend that you NOT make missing class your usual habit. It is not my intention to withdraw any student from class without attempting to contact you in a reasonable fashion. However, if attendance or compliance with other course policies is unsatisfactory, the instructor may withdraw students from the class. In addition, if you have any concerns about your progress or anything else feel free to contact me. In the event of class cancellation due to weather, pandemic, or other emergencies, the student is responsible for communicating with the professor during the closure and completing any assignments or other activities designated by the professor.

Withdrawal Policy

It is the responsibility of each student to ensure that his or her name is removed from the roll should he or she decide to withdraw from the class. The instructor does, however, reserve the right to drop a student should he or she feel it is necessary. If a student decides to withdraw, he or she should also verify that the withdrawal is submitted on or before the Final Withdrawal Date; Monday, April 28, 2025. You are strongly encouraged to retain your copy of the withdrawal form for your records.

Students who enroll for the third or subsequent time in a course taken since Fall, 2002, may be charged a higher tuition rate, for that course. State law permits students to withdraw from no more than six courses during their entire undergraduate career at Texas public colleges or universities. With certain exceptions, all course withdrawals automatically count towards this limit. Details regarding this policy can be found in the ACC college catalog. Withdrawn courses appear on the student’s record with a grade of W. If you stop attending class and do not withdraw yourself from the course, you will receive a grade of F for the semester.

Incompletes

Students may request an Incomplete from their faculty member if they believe circumstances warrant.  The faculty member will determine whether the Incomplete is appropriate to award or not.  The following processes must be followed when awarding a student an “I” grade. 

1.    Prior to the end of the semester in which the “I” is to be awarded, the student must meet with the instructor to determine the assignments and exams that must be completed prior to the deadline date.  This meeting can occur virtually or in person.  The instructor should complete the Report of Incomplete Grade form.

2.    The faculty member will complete the form, including all requirements to complete the course and the due date, sign (by typing in name) and then email it to the student.  The student will then complete his/her section, sign (by typing in name), and return the completed form to the faculty member to complete the agreement.  A copy of the fully completed form can then be emailed by the faculty member to the student and the department chair for each grade of Incomplete that the faculty member submits at the end of the semester.   

3.    The student must complete all remaining work by the date specified on the form above.  This date is determined by the instructor in collaboration with the student, but it may not be later than the final withdrawal deadline in the subsequent long semester.  

4.    Students will retain access to the course Blackboard page through the subsequent semester in order to submit work and complete the course. Students will be able to log on to Blackboard and have access to the course section materials, assignments, and grades from the course and semester in which the Incomplete was awarded.  

5.    When the student completes the required work by the Incomplete deadline, the instructor will submit an electronic Grade Change Form to change the student’s performance grade from an “I” to the earned grade of A, B, C, D, or F. 

If an Incomplete is not resolved by the deadline, the grade automatically converts to an “F.”  Approval to carry an Incomplete for longer than the following semester or session deadline is not frequently granted.

COLLEGE POLICIES

Please use the College Policies & Student Support Services Link in Blackboard

.Course Outline/Calendar

Chemistry 1311 Lecture

Spring 2024 - T, Th

Exams are scheduled on the dates listed above and will be available for enough days to cover a weekend (5-7 days). Exams are given using Respondus through Blackboard. They consit of  consist of multiple choice questions.

Please note:  Schedule changes may occur during the semester.  Any changes will be announced in class and posted as a Blackboard Announcement.

Chemistry 1311 Student Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to perform the following skills:

1. Understand the states of matter and the difference among elements, compounds, and mixtures.
2. Understand SI units and use dimensional analysis to perform calculations correctly with proper attention to units and to express results to the correct number of significant figures.
3. Determine empirical and molecular formulas from empirical data.
4. Understand the basic concepts of the quantum theory, determine the electronic configurations of the atoms, and use periodic table to make predictions about trend in their atomic properties.
5. Understand theories of concept of thermochemistry.
6. Use Hess’s law.
7. Understand theories of chemical bonding, Lewis dot structures, and determine the molecular geometry of molecules using VSEPR theory.
8. Understand the polar and nonpolar covalent compounds, hybridization, and molecular orbitaltheory.
9. Understand formal charges, and resonance theory.
10. Determine name and formulas of molecular compounds, ionic compounds, and acids.
11. Identify basic types of chemical reactions and write molecular, total and net-ionic equations.
12. Balance chemical equations and use stoichiometric relationships and the mole concept to calculate product (percent of yield) and reactant amounts and identify the limiting reactants.
13. Calculate and utilize solution concentration units such as molarity.
14. Understand the gas laws and kinetic molecular theory.
15. Explain the intermolecular attractive forces that determine the properties of the states of the matter and phase behavior

Course Objectives

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B6R1-NYTVNffSUNBZ1BNMGJHX1k?ogsrc=32

Objectives for CHEM 1311 - General Chemistry I

This is a list of topics to be taught in General Chemistry I. It does not reflect the order in which the topic need be taught.

The Foundation of Chemistry

Matter and Energy-Basic Concepts of Chemistry

Measurements

Significant Figures

Metric System

Scientific Notation

Dimensional Analysis

Chemical Formulas and Stoichiometry

Atoms, Ions, Molecules and Compounds

Nomenclature of Inorganic Compounds

The Mole Concept

Percent Composition

Empirical Formula

Molecular Formula

Chemical Equations and Reaction Stoichiometry

Balancing of Chemical Equations

Calculations Based on Chemical Equations-moles/masses of reactants/products

Limiting Reagent Calculations

Percent Yield and Theoretical Yield Calculations

Sequential Reactions

Concentration of Solutions-Calculations Involving Mass % and Molarity

Dilution of Solutions: Calculations Involving V1M1=V2M2

Calculations Involving Solution Stoichiometry

Chemical Reactions

Organization of the Periodic Table

Aqueous Solutions-Strong and Weak Electrolytes

Reactions in Aqueous Solutions

Oxidation Numbers

Thermochemistry

First Law of Thermodynamics: Enthalpy, Energy, work and heat

Calorimetry (constant-pressure and constant-volume), internal energy and DE

Relationship between DE and DH

Bond energy and DH

Hess’s Law

The Structure of the Atom

Experiments that led to the discovery of the fundamental particles of the atom

Subatomic Particles, Isotopes, Atomic Weight

Development of Quantum Mechanics

Quantum Mechanical Model of the Atom

Electronic Configuration and the Relationship to the Periodic Table

Orbital Diagrams

Quantum Numbers

Chemical Periodicity

Theory of Ionic and Covalent Bonding

Lewis Dot Formulas of Atoms

Formation of Binary Ionic Compounds-Coulomb’s Law, Lattice Energy

Formation of Covalent Compounds

Lewis Structures for Molecules and Polyatomic Ions and the Octet Rule

Resonance and Formal Charges

Exceptions to the Octet Rule for Lewis Structures

Polar and Nonpolar Covalent Bonds

Molecular Structure

Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion Theory (VSEPR)

Electronic and Molecular Geometry and Molecular Dipole Moments

Valence Bond Theory and Hybridization of Orbitals

Molecular Orbital Theory

Gases

Gas Laws and Ideal Gas Law

Density and Molar Mass

Stoichiometry of Reactions Involving Gases

Kinetic Molecular Theory-Molecular Speeds

Real Gases

Liquids and Solids

Intermolecular Attractions and Phase Changes

Physical Processes and Properties of Liquids

Melting Point/Boiling Point

Phase Changes of Matter and Phase Diagrams

Molar Heat of Vaporization and Molar Heat of Fusion

General Education Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will demonstrate competence in:

• Critical Thinking
  Gathering, analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating, and applying information.
• Interpersonal Skills
  Interacting collaboratively to achieve common goals.
• Critical Thinking
  Gathering, analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating, and applying information.
• Quantitative and Empirical Reasoning
  Applying mathematical, logical and scientific principles and methods.
• Technology Skills
  Using appropriate technology to retrieve, manage, analyze, and present information.
• Written, Oral and Visual Communication
  Communicating effectively, adapting to purpose, structure, audience, and medium.