Syllabus

Post Baccalaureate in Pre-Health

CHEM 1013: General Chemistry II – Accelerated – 8 week – Spring A 2025

Credits - 4

Description

Online General Chemistry II with Lab is designed to give the student an introduction to general chemistry and chemistry lab techniques. The subjects covered in this course include properties of liquids and solids, solutions, kinetics, equilibrium, acids and bases, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, organic nomenclature, and nuclear chemistry. Labs are performed concurrently with lecture topics, with an emphasis on reinforcing topics covered in the textbook and learning basic lab procedures. The hands-on labs will be performed in the home of the student using a designated lab kit. Course Pre-req: One semester of College Chemistry and College Algebra.

Materials

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

Course Objectives

After completing the lecture section of this course, students will be able to:

1. Describe the properties of solids, liquids, solutions, and colloids.
2. Describe the fundamentals of equilibria, including gas, solution, and acid-base equilibria.
3. Identify the thermodynamic and kinetic forces that determine if a reaction will occur, how quickly it will proceed, and the extent to which it will proceed.
4. Describe the basics of electrochemistry, identify the parts of an electrochemical cell, and perform calculations with electrochemical reactions
5. Relate the properties and structures of non-metals, metals, metalloids, and their compounds.
6. Identify the structures of organic functional groups and naming conventions for simple organic molecules.
7. Describe the structure of the nucleus and nuclear processes.

After completing the lab section of this course, students should be able to: 

1. Utilize basic scientific equipment safely and accurately.
2. Make, record, and report experimental observations.
3. Create and analyze Excel-based graphs of experimental data.
4. Perform calculations based upon collected data.
5. Describe many aspects of various physical and chemical equilibria, including their kinetics and energy considerations.
6. Relate properties and reactivity of some inorganic 
7. and organic compounds.
8. Effectively communicate experimental information in a scientific writing style.

Assignments

Course Details

The General Chemistry II course is divided into 8 weeks. Each week (with the exception of exam weeks) contains a reading assignment and homework problems that address the course objectives. There are several short lecture videos that cover some of the major concepts covered in that week. There is a lecture quiz for each week. Discussion questions are assigned for all weeks except for weeks with an exam.

Assigned Reading and Homework Problems

Each week’s Learning Module includes a reading assignment within each chapter that covers the specific course objectives for the week. Within the reading there are practice problems that should be worked as you move along. The assigned homework problems from the end of the chapter will allow you to review the material that was covered. Be sure to ask your instructor for help with any problems that you do not understand. Also, there are many more problems at the end of the chapter. You should work through problems other than those assigned in any area where you feel extra practice is necessary.

Discussion Board Posts

Discussion questions cover interesting current events or materials that contribute to a deeper understanding of key concepts and allow you to interact with your classmates and the instructor. Most of the discussion questions are designed to accompany particular chapters (see specific discussion questions for more information). Each question may require you to conduct internet research. Then you will write a response following the guidelines in the assignment.

To earn full credit: you will need to post a response, respond to the original posts of at least two other students, and then contribute to an ongoing discussion. 

Discussion Question Guidelines

1. Read the assignment carefully so that you are familiar with the materials that you need to cover and how to craft your post.
2. Respect each other’s ideas, feelings, and experience. Some of the questions involve areas of disagreement. Expect your classmates to have different opinions.
3. Use proper writing style. Correct spelling and sentence structure are expected just as if you were writing a regular paper. Use spell check and grammar check before you submit.
4. Create your post in a word document initially. That way you can save a copy and use spell check and grammar check.
5. Cite the sources that you use to write your response. Follow the AMA guidelines.
6. Avoid posting large blocks of text. Break your writing into paragraphs and use a space between paragraphs to make your posting easier to read online.
7. Subscribe to the discussion so that you get email updates when there is activity.
8. Use the “reply” button rather than the “compose” button when responding to someone else’s post.
9. When responding to a classmate, address them by name.
10. Do not use postings such as “I agree,” “I don’t know either,” or “ditto.” They do not add to the discussion, take up space on the Discussions, and lower your grade.
11. Everyone benefits from an active discussion. Check back frequently to see what others are saying.
12. Initial posts are due Sundays at 11:59 PM ET, and response posts are due Tuesdays at 11:59 PM ET. 

Weekly Quizzes

All weekly quizzes are open book and open notes. You can take up to 30 minutes to complete each of the 10 multiple-choice lecture quizzes. Although the quizzes are open book and open notes, you need to study the material and work the problems in order to do well on the quizzes. The quizzes will be taken online through the course Brightspace site. Doing well on the quizzes will help prepare you for the midterm and final exam, which are timed and proctored. The quizzes are graded immediately and you may access your graded quizzes at any time in the Course Progress section of Brightspace. This will allow you to use the quizzes to study for your midterm or final.

Laboratory Assignments

Most of the weeks include a laboratory assignment. Introductions to a week’s laboratory assignment can be found in that week’s learning module. However, the actual lab work will be completed in the HOL Cloud website. 

You will perform all laboratory assignments in a non-laboratory setting, such as your kitchen. The labs include four prerequisite labs that can be done before the lab kits arrives,  and 10 graded laboratory assignments distributed throughout the course.  Each lab in the HOL Cloud website includes pre-lab questions, the experiment, and post-lab evaluation questions. There is a lab video that accompanies each lab. This will give you some details about the lab and suggestions for things that will make the lab go smoothly. It will also connect the lab to the chemistry content.  Parts of the lab are graded automatically within HOL. Data and free response questions are graded by your instructor.  

Laboratory Report

One originally written lab report turned in as a Word document or .pdf file in Brightspace, is assigned for the “Titration for Acetic Acid in Vinegar” experiment, found in Week 4. Guidelines for writing a lab report can be found in the document “Lab Report Directions for PBPH Courses.” This can be found in the Welcome Module under Student Resources.

Midterm and Final Exam

The midterm and final exams are CLOSED book, CLOSED notes, timed and proctored. You will also be required to set up an external webcam as described above in the “Materials” section.  

You may use:

• The provided PDF entitled “Chem 1013 Exam Information and Equations”
• An 8″ X 11″ whiteboard, marker, and eraser
• A stand-alone scientific, non-programmable calculator
• Nothing else

Detailed instructions for registering for your exams with ProctorU are located under “Student Resources” in Brightspace’s Welcome and Getting Started module.

The midterm consists of 40 questions to be completed in 120 minutes. The final consists of 60 questions to be completed in 180 minutes.

Your exam scores will be available after you take the exam. 

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Category	Points Available
Quizzes	20%
Discussion	10%
Lab Assignments	10%
Lab Report	5%
Midterm Exam	25%
Final Exam	30%
Total	100%

Grade Scale

Grade	Points Grade	Point Average (GPA)
A	94 – 100%	4.00
A-	90 – 93%	3.75
B+	87 – 89%	3.50
B	84 – 86%	3.00
B-	80 – 83%	2.75
C+	77 – 79%	2.50
C	74 – 76%	2.00
C-	70 – 73%	1.75
D	64 – 69%	1.00
F	00 – 63%	0.00