Syllabus

Science Prerequisites for Health Professionals

CHEM 1020: Organic Chemistry I – Spring 2019

Credits - 3 (lecture) 1 (lab)

Description

Overview

This is a one-semester course with an option for a virtual laboratory designed for individuals with a baccalaureate degree who need organic chemistry as a prerequisite to apply for admission to health professional programs. These include, but are not limited to, graduate programs in dietetics, nursing, physical therapy, physician assistant, nurse anesthesia, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, dentistry, and medicine.

Prerequisite(s): At least one semester of college-level general chemistry successfully taken within the last seven years. For general course information, assistance with registration, questions regarding financial aid, please contact an Enrollment Consultant at 1-855-325-0894 or prehealth@une.edu.  Students’ questions may also be answered in our FAQs.

Instructor and Support Contact Information

Check the course welcome page in Blackboard for specific instructor and support specialist contact information.

Further Assistance

Student support specialists monitor course progression and provide assistance and guidance as needed. They can answer questions regarding ordering course materials, University policies, billing, navigating the course in Blackboard, and more.

 

Materials

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

Program Outcomes

In lecture courses, students should be able to:

1. Communicate scientific concepts and information clearly.
2. Illustrate fundamental laws, theories, and principles of scientific disciplines.
3. Apply knowledge and critical thinking skills to scientific problems.

In lab courses, students should be able to:

1. Ask a question or define a problem that can be tested.
2. Hypothesize possible result(s).
3. Plan and/or conduct an investigation individually and/or collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence.
4. Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (i.e. computational, mathematical, graphical, etc.) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution.
5. Communicate the results by constructing an explanation based on multiple pieces of valid and reliable evidence obtained from a variety of sources (including students’ own investigations, models, theories, simulations, peer review) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future.
6. Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence gained from various experiments, as well as other observations and/or research, to provide an explanation of phenomena and solve design problems, taking into account possible unanticipated effects.

Course Objectives

1. Students will be introduced to the different classes of organic compounds and their chemical nomenclature.
2. Students will understand how the different classes of organic compounds react to form new compounds.
3. Students will be introduced to methods for the synthesis of more complex organic compounds from simpler precursor compounds.
4. Students will gain an appreciation of the extraordinary variety and number of organic compounds and their importance to the maintenance and survival of living organisms as normal constituents of metabolism and also as therapeutic agents.

SELF PACED DESIGN

On the course start date, students will have access to orientation. This must be completed to be able to gain access to the first module in the course. Students must complete the first module to gain access to the next one. We recommend that students spend about 15 hours per week to complete a course in 16 weeks. When trying to complete the course in less than 16 weeks, we typically see students do this successfully within 12-14 weeks. Instructors will be timely in grading and feedback, but it will not be instant.

Assignments

Lecture section

In the lecture section of the class, there are several kinds of assignments: discussion boards, chapter problems, quizzes, chapter tests, and a final exam.

Discussion Boards

There are three discussion boards that are graded in this class, occurring in Week 1, Week 6, and Week 14. For each discussion board, students will be asked to make a primary post, and respond to two of the primary posts of their classmates. Because students progress through the course at different rates, students may have to check a discussion board at several different times to see if any classmates have posted so that they may fulfill the requirement of responding to at least two primary posts.

The grading rubric for the discussion boards is as follows:

Criteria	Proficient	Competent	Novice	Not Evident
Communication of Scientific Concepts and Information	Post and responses clearly demonstrate mastery of the course concepts and information, the ability to communicate complex ideas through writing, and relevance to the prompt or question.	Post and responses show general accuracy about course concepts, some challenges in communicating complex ideas through writing, and are largely relevant to the prompt or question.	Post and responses show some potentially serious misunderstandings of course concepts, significant challenges in communicating complex ideas through writing, or are only tangentially relevant to the prompt or question.	Post and/or responses show no clear understanding of course concepts, disorganized or incoherent writing, or are irrelevant to the prompt or question.
Critical and Innovative Thinking	Post and responses are characterized by clarity of argument, depth of insight into course content, and ability to use course content and ideas to create new knowledge or solve real-world problems.	Post and responses present an argument, show some insight into course content, and attempt to use course content to create new knowledge or solve real-world problems.	Post and responses lack a clear argument, show little insight into course content, or do not make a sincere attempt to create new knowledge or solve real-world problems.	Post and/or responses do not demonstrate critical or innovative thinking in response to the prompt, question, or classmates’ posts.
Response to Another Student #1	Provided response to classmate’s post that shows substantive and insightful engagement with the original post, and that facilitates ongoing discussion.	Provided response to classmate’s post that shows some engagement with the original post, and that facilitates ongoing discussion.	Provided response to classmate’s post that is generic (providing little detail or explanation) or that otherwise does not engage substantively with the original post.	Did not respond to classmate’s post.
Response to Another Student #2	Provided response to classmate’s post that shows substantive and insightful engagement with the original post, and that facilitates ongoing discussion.	Provided response to classmate’s post that shows some engagement with the original post, and that facilitates ongoing discussion.	Provided response to classmate’s post that is generic (providing little detail or explanation) or that otherwise does not engage substantively with the original post.	Did not respond to classmate’s post.
Writing Skill, Grammar, and AMA Formatting	Post and responses are free of grammar and spelling errors. Writing shows command of standard written English conventions. All sources are cited with AMA formatting.	Some errors in grammar or spelling, but errors do not make the meaning of the post or responses unclear. Sources used are cited, though potentially with minor errors in AMA formatting.	Regular, recurring errors that make the original post and/or responses confusing at times to the reader, or sources are not cited or are incorrectly cited using AMA formatting.	Writing was extremely difficult to follow due to regular, recurring grammatical or spelling errors, or garbled sentence structure.

It is suggested that you write your posts in your favorite word processor and use its tools to check for the use of standard English. Doing so won’t catch everything, but it will help.The first two response posts a student makes are evaluated for credit. So please be aware of this as you respond to others, particularly with respect to the required length of post and use of standard English.

There is also a Student Lounge discussion board, which is not graded. This is a support board in which students may engage with each other and grapple with course content. Students are free to post questions, seek clarification, and support each other, but should also be mindful of UNE’s Academic Integrity Policy, so should not post anything related to any assessment.

However, if a student is seeking specific and timely answers to questions about content matters or personal grades, the student should contact the instructor via Course Messages. For questions about course materials, program policy, and how to navigate through the course, the student should contact the student support specialists.

Chapter Problems and Quizzes

There are problems within each chapter and at the end of each chapter in the textbook. Solutions to these problems can be found in the textbook or the solutions manual. Problems will be assigned for each week. After students have read the chapter, they should do the assigned problems, and then take the quiz included within the week. The quizzes are not proctored, but it is strongly advised that students take the quizzes under the same conditions that they will take chapter tests and the final; see below.

Chapter Tests

Every two or three weeks there will be a test on the previous two chapters, which can also include topics from earlier chapters. These tests are proctored and timed.  Students will have one hour to complete chapter tests.  During the tests, students may use a model kit, one 4×6 inch handwritten notecard, two sheets of paper that at the start of the exam are empty on both sides [for scratch work], a pen/pencil, and a four-function calculator. No internet access to anywhere, by any method, except to ProctorU and the exam itself, is permitted. Another electronic device may not be used. The test consists of 25 multiple-choice questions in a format similar to the questions in the quizzes. When students are ready to take a chapter test, they should make an appointment with ProctorU, as described on the class website.

Chapter Test Retakes

For every chapter test, there will be the option of a retake, with different questions, and with the better of the two grades counted. The same test conditions apply as for chapter tests. If students decide to take the retake, they will pay the ProctorU retake fee.

Final Exam

The final exam is in the 15th week. The exam has 50 multiple-choice questions in a format similar to the questions in the quizzes. These questions cover all the material in the class, including chapter 11. Students will have two hours to complete this exam.  During the tests, students may use a model kit, one 4×6 inch handwritten notecard, two sheets of paper that at the start of the exam are empty on both sides [for scratch work], a pen/pencil, and a four-function calculator. No internet access to anywhere, by any method, except to ProctorU and the exam itself, is permitted. Another electronic device may not be used. If students have fallen behind, they may use the final 16th week to take the exam, but they should be sure to schedule the exam with ProctorU at least 72 hours ahead of time. There are no retakes of the final exam permitted.

Lectures and Laboratories

The course contains a lecture section and a laboratory section. The lecture and lab sections of the course are completely independent of each other, with completely independent grades given. Students may register for the lecture section, or the lab section, or both. If students register for just the lecture section, they will receive a grade for just the lecture section.  If students register for just the lab section, they will receive a grade for just the lab section. Students will see assignments for both sections in Blackboard’s “My Grades”; they should simply ignore assignments for sections for which they are not registered.

For students taking the lecture section, most weeks contain a reading assignment, a problem assignment, and a quiz. Students should complete the reading first and then do the problems. When they feel that they understand the material, they should take the quiz. Every two or three weeks, there will be a test covering the previous two chapters.

For students taking the lab section, there are nine laboratory assignments distributed throughout the course schedule. Students must complete the assignment listed in the laboratory section of the course, and then complete the assigned online laboratory quiz or lab report, as noted in the course schedule.

Lab Section

The assignments in the lab consist of eight lab quizzes and one lab report.

If all lab quizzes have been submitted, the lowest quiz grade will be dropped from the calculation of the lab class final average. If all lab quizzes have not been submitted, zeros will be assigned to the non-submitted quizzes, and the lowest quiz will not be dropped.

For one experiment, students write a formal lab report. For all other experiments, students take a lab quiz. These quizzes contain questions pertaining to the laboratory procedure and results (e.g., how long did it take for the reaction to go to completion?) and also more theoretical questions that form the basis of the laboratory (e.g., did this reaction proceed by a Sn2 or Sn1 mechanism?). They are timed, but not proctored.

Benzene Nitration Lab Report

You will be required to write one lab report among the quizzes you will be submitting for the rest of your labs in this class. Please see the instructions for writing that lab report, as well as the rubric by which it will be graded, in the course. 

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

Examination and Grading Information

Students will receive a separate letter grade for the course sections for which they are registered: lecture, or lab, or both. These grades will be officially recorded by the Registrar of the University of New England. Grades are determined as follows:

Lecture Grade

3 Discussions	9% of the lecture grade
11 Quizzes	11% of the lecture grade
5 Chapter Tests	60% of the lecture grade
Final Exam	20% of the lecture grade
Total	100% of the lecture grade

Laboratory Grade

Lab Report	20% of the laboratory grade
Laboratory Quizzes	80% of the laboratory grade
Total	100% of the laboratory grade

There is no curve or adjustment of grades in either the lecture or lab class.

Grade rounding is done according to the usual arithmetical rules, so a 79.5 is rounded to an 80, and a 79.4 is rounded down to a 79.