Please read me

Welcome to the general chemistry lab online! Thank you for your enrollment and for your patience as we navigate this extraordinary learning environment together.

Please read the course syllabus thoroughly. We want to make sure you’re clear on what’s going to happen and how your progress will be assessed. The syllabus is subject to updates, and questions and suggestions are appreciated.

Please register in the correct lab section with its associated WebAssign class key (ucsc #### ####) in WebAssign. See Enter Class Key at lower left of screen.

Please make sure your correct student ID number is associated with your WebAssign account.

If you have any difficulty or frustration, please contact their tech support right away. It is very important that you are registered in the correct Webassign section by the second class meeting.

Before each section, we ask that you read the lab procedure in Canvas. Please make sure you are preparing for the correct experiment (they don't go in order - my apologies for that). Your comments and corrections are most welcome!

Please also watch any videos associated with that week's lab.

Basic lecture slides for each session/experiment are also available for viewing/download in Canvas. Please read over each one before section. The lecture notes based on past class offerings may help your preparation, understanding, and calculations.

The Zoom recordings available before lecture are from Summer 2021 - course requirements for during the academic year are slightly different but the rest of the content is helpful.

Before section, please create your pre-section assignment. There is a page that describes what we are looking for. You must please submit the assignment as a doc or pdf file (not a link to a Google drive file, please) in Canvas by the due date and time the day of your lecture/section. See the Assignments section in this Canvas shell.

The other assignment type that you will submit in Canvas is an Abstract. Here is a general description with examples.

Please be ready to ask and answer questions and to participate and collaborate during section. There are no wrong answers (just to minimize any apprehension that the previous sentence may produce!). We will be using the Zoom usage reports to track attentions and watching the logs and the chat comments to track participation throughout your 3-hour section.

In WebAssign, you'll see that there are two type of assignments - an Inlab and a Review.

The Inlab is where you will input data, calculations, results, and discussion comments (and you have 10 tries per answer blank with no deductions for repeated tries). Save often and submit to check your values). You and your TA and your lab colleagues will work together on this in your section. It will make your learning experience much MUCH easier and fun if you stay and work together during your section. Your TA will grade the free-response discussion questions after the assignment closes.

The Review is a short "check your understanding" (5 submissions per answer blank, -10% f0r incorrect answers after the first.

Note that WebAssign is a program -- you need to give it good input data in order for it to generate good output results. A green check doesn't necessarily mean that your answer is correct. You as a chemist must look at your values and make sure that they are correct and that they make sense.

Please make sure to contact your TA by email (you can copy me) with any questions or comments or concerns. Please do not use the messaging feature in Canvas (you will get help faster by email).

Hopefully all of these suggestions (and assignments) will help you be ready to have a fun, engaging, and educational experience in the general chemistry lab. If everyone helps each other and collaborates and discusses and engages, it makes lab a lot more fun (and a lot less work).

I’m very happy to hear from you if you have constructive comments and suggestions. Please don’t leave them to the end of the course! Share them with me so that we make the course better for everyone!

Thank you,

Dr. Randa Roland (please call me Randa; randaro@ucsc.edu)

Please don’t forget about the campus-sponsored resources in place to help you at https://keeplearning.ucsc.edu/home.

And there are a lot of cool resources at JoVE Core Science!

I think these due dates and times and so on are correct. Please let me know if you find any errors! Thank you :)

Date	Exp.	Title	Due by the start of your section
9/28-9/30	---	Intro, course policies, etc.
10/5-10/7	1	Density	Intro to WA and tutorials in WebAssign Pre-section assignment lab #1 in Canvas Lab room video and lab locker video in Canvas Density and pycnometry video in Canvas
10/12-10/14	2	Empirical formula*	Inlab #1 and review #1 in WebAssign Pre-section assignment lab #2 in Canvas Empirical formula video in Canvas
10/19-10/21	4	Antacid analysis	Inlab #2 and review #2 in WebAssign *Abstract lab #2 in Canvas Pre-section assignment lab #4 in Canvas Intro to the buret and titration video and Intro to volumetric pipets and flasks video in Canvas
10/26-10/28	6	Atomic emission	Inlab #4 and review #4 in WebAssign Pre-section assignment lab #6 in Canvas Review Using Excel for Slopes and Graphical Analysis file in Canvas
11/2-11/4	9	Allura red*	Inlab #6 and review #6 in WebAssign Pre-section assignment lab #9 in Canvas Intro to the Spec 20 video in Canvas
11/9-11/11	TBA	Pending	Pending
11/16-11/18	12	Kinetics	Inlab #9 and review #9 in WebAssign *Abstract lab #9 in Canvas Pre-section assignment lab #12 in Canvas
11/30-12/2	14	Vitamin C analysis	Inlab #12 in WebAssign Pre-section assignment lab #14 in Canvas
			Inlab #14 will be discussed

Assessment (subject to updates)

14%	Pre-section assignments (7)
42%	Online inlab assignments in WebAssign (7)
12%	Online review assignments in WebAssign (7)
16%	Section attendance and participation (8)+ videos
16%	Formal abstracts (2)

To pass the course, please attend all sections and submit complete assignments by their due dates.

To receive credit for section attendance and participation, please attend the section in which you are enrolled.

Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns, and please know we want to help.

Science Skills in General Chemistry Lab

There are many practices central to science and engineering, including:

Asking questions and defining problems
Developing and using models
Planning and carrying out experimental investigations
Analyzing and interpreting data
Using mathematics and computational thinking
Constructing explanations and designing solutions
Engaging in argument from evidence
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Chem 1M and 1N are introductory general chemistry lab courses that serve a very diverse, dynamic, and dedicated set of students. These classes provide opportunities to learn and develop many skills central to STEM, some of which are listed below.

Conduct investigations individually and collaboratively following proper lab technique (e.g., correctly handling chemicals, using equipment, disposing of waste, etc.); assess safety considerations and obey safety rules.
Assess the type, quantity, and accuracy of data needed to produce reliable measurements.
Collect data; generate and evaluate results; analyze limitations and sources of error; and, communicate outcomes.
Apply mathematical techniques to calculate results based on data, including unit conversions in complex measurement problems with quantities having derived or compound units (e.g., mg/mL, kg/m³, etc.).
Consider limitations on the precision of the data (e.g., number of trials, risk, time, equipment).
Use statistical treatments, such as error propagation, to correctly represent the precision associated with derived results.
Compare and contrast various procedures and data sets to examine consistency, precision, and accuracy of measurements and observations.
Apply concepts of statistics and probability (such as linear fits using slope and intercept values) to find relationships between dependent and independent variables, using digital tools when feasible.
Consider limitations of data analysis (e.g., measurement error, sample selection) when analyzing and interpreting data, when reporting results, and when discussing experimental assumptions and claims.
Based on results, suggest changes to the procedure or its components in order to optimize precision and accuracy, keeping in mind what can be investigated within the scope of the laboratory with available resources.
Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence to provide an explanation of observations and results, accounting for possible unanticipated effects and sources of experimental error.
Communicate information, results, claims, and analysis (e.g., about the procedure in relation to the data and results) in multiple formats (e.g., orally, graphically, textually, mathematically).