Chemistry 097 Syllabus

Developmental Chemistry
Fall 2003

Dr. S.E. Van Bramer
Kirkbride 405
499-4516
svanbram@science.widener.edu 		Office Hours
Monday 1:00-3:00
Wednesday 12:00-1:00
Thursday 11:00-12:00
Friday 1:00-2:00

Textbook:

  1. Required Text: Zumdahl, Basic Chemistry 4th ed; Houghton Mifflin, 2000.

Cheating and Plagiarism:

Cheating and Plagiarism will not be tolerated and are grounds for FAILURE in the course. The University's policy on cheating and other forms of academic fraud will be strictly enforced. When in doubt about what is acceptable, ask the instructor. You will do some work in small groups and interaction is strongly encouraged in this setting. You, however, are ultimately responsible for the material. Working together on homework problems is acceptable, but you must reference other people's ideas. Quiz's and Exams must be your own work. You are allowed to use a calculator and a pen or pencil for quizzes and exams. No other materials are allowed. For additional information read "What is Plagiarism". A copy of the appeal procedure for student academic grievances is available in the Science Division office.

Schedule:

Lecture is scheduled in Kirkbride 417. Monday, Wednesday and Friday 11:00 am.

Attendance:

You are expected to attend class every day. Lecture will supplement the textbook and a significant amount of time is spent working problems. Quizzes will be given on a regular basis and will not be announced. Attendance is taken and the university attendance policy will be enforced. 3 absences will result in lowering the course grade by 1 letter grade. 4 absences will result in failure in the class.

Grading:

+/- grades are used. Your grade is based upon performance on the following:

Homework Problems 20%
Quizzes 60%
Final Exam 20%

Homework

Homework is due by 5:00 pm on the date listed in the course outline. Homework may be submitted in class or dropped by the instructors office. If I am not in my office, place the homework under the door. For all assigned problems in the textbook, you need to check your answer and specify if you have the correct answer. For CD-ROM exercises you need to briefly describe which exercises were useful and which were not useful. For Drill and Practice problems you need to record the number of problems attempted and the number of problems correct.

Quizzes

Quizzes will be given in class on a regular basis. Some will be announced, some will be unannounced. Quizzes will be graded and returned. However, all questions missed must be corrected and the corrected quiz returned by the next class period. The grade on the quiz will not be recorded until the corrections are recieved. Corrected quizzes will not be accepted after the next class period.

Make Up Exams and Quizzes:

  1. If you have advance notice of an absence you must make arrangements with the instructor before the exam is given. Failure to do so will result in a ZERO for the exam.
  2. If you are unable to take an exam and do not have advance notice you must; have an acceptable and documented excuse, be prepared to document your absence, and contact the instructor before the next class meeting.
  3. Undocumented or unacceptable absences result in a zero on the quiz or exam.
  4. If a makeup exam is given, your grade will be the LOWEST of the following:
    1. Your score for the makeup exam or quiz.
    2. Your class weighted average for the final.

Office Hours:

I will be available in my office during scheduled office hours. Any changes in these hours will be posted on my office door and on the Web site. At other times I am happy to help you, if I have time. Feel free to call and make an appointment if you need extra help. You are strongly encouraged to ask questions and seek help early. Chemistry is challenging, when you do not understand something ask.

WWW:

Supplementary course material and a listing of course topics is posted on the WWW http://science.widener.edu/~svanbram. This may be accessed from any of the student computer labs on campus (ACN, Wolfgram Library, and Kirkbride 406). Any updates to the course Syllabus will be posted here. In addition the site includes; lecture notes, solutions to homework problems, solutions to problem sets, links to interesting sources on the Web, handouts, and reading guides. Spend some time using this site and becoming familiar with the resources available.
This page is maintained by
Scott Van Bramer
Department of Chemistry
Widener University
Chester, PA 19013

Please send any comments, corrections, or suggestions to svanbram@science.widener.edu.

This page has been accessed times since 1/5 /96 .
Last Updated 10/22/2003