Course Information Chemistry 241 Fall 2008 Time Place MWF at 9 00 am Section A and 10 00 Section B in Miller 14 Instructors Prof Jeffrey Katz and Dr Jay Wackerly Contacts Katz x5754 Wackerly x5761 Office Keyes 216 210 Office Keyes 308 210 e mail jlkatz e mail jwwacker Office Hours Specific times and days TBA but feel free to always make an appointment or stop in anytime our doors are open Course Website http www colby edu chemistry CH241F CH241Home html Required course materials Textbook Organic Chemistry by M Jones 3rd Ed Homework ACE Organic online access code for free this year Lab Bound laboratory notebook with carbon copy pages available in the bookstore Molecular Models Models help with the visualization of the three dimensional nature of organic molecules an essential part of this course Therefore you are strongly encouraged to purchase a molecular model kit Your model kit can be used on exams Objective and Expectations We will explore organic chemistry learning new concepts and chemical processes By the end of the term it is our hope that each of you will not only gain mastery over what you have been presented but be able to use concepts that you have learned to anticipate the behavior of unknown chemical reactions To earn a high grade in this course you must not only learn new factual information but also be able to problem solve more abstract concepts based on the course material in CH241 and General Chemistry I and II Lab For more information about the laboratories refer to the laboratory course information handout Some advice The most important rule in learning organic chemistry is don t let yourself fall behind This course moves fast at times and will seem overwhelming if you do not keep up with the lecture material and working through the problem sets If you do not understand something you read or hear in class please ask As long as you are putting in the effort then we will do everything we can to help each of you master the material and necessary skills Student collaboration We encourage students to work together in preparing for class and laboratory Problem solving is an important part of chemistry and often it is the best way to learn the material Thus you are encouraged to work together on practice problems such as problems in your text However all material that is to be submitted for a grade must be the result of your own thoughts and work Graded work includes exams pre lab assignments lab reports including data and on line homework These policies are consistent with the College s policy on academic honesty as discussed in the Student Handbook as well as the Chemistry Department s policy http www colby edu chemistry Attend Exam html Citations Any work requiring citations should adhere to Colby policies including webbased information http www colby edu library research web reference Homework You will be using a new online homework program by Pearson Publishing called ACE Organic You will be given an access code to access this program Each week there will be an online assignment for homework and your homework grade will be based on you completion and performance on this assignment Homework assignments will usually be due every Friday at 5pm unless otherwise noted The key to success in this course is to work through lots of problems homework problems textbook problems and practice exam problems without looking at the answer key Every additional problem that you do will increase your understanding and improve your chances of success Often just knowing how to complete a problem is not enough Additional problems may be necessary to reach the point at which completing a set of problems can be accomplished within the timeframe of an exam Unless you have had extensive exposure to the material already you will probably need to do more than the minimal assigned problems to succeed in CH241 Exam Schedule There will be three hour mid term exams and one final exam Hour exams will be held on the evenings of September 30th October 28th and November 21st from 5 30 6 30pm room TBA There will be no exceptions for exam times and no makeup exams For students that have verified reasons for not taking an exam we will find some arrangement that does not adversely affect that student s course grade Please make travel plans that include being on campus for the final exam If a student is expected to be away for an excused College activity sports meet speech meet etc we will try to arrange for exams to be administered by a coach or other non student person that accompanies the student It is the responsibility of the student to let us know well in advance 1 week of any possible trips and to arrange with a person for example your coach to administer the exam Policy on time extensions for exams Exams will be written so that they may be completed during the one hour allotted time Some students may have approval from the Dean of Students Office for time extensions on exams It is departmental policy that these students must establish with the Dean of Students and the Chair of Chemistry an appropriate time extension Help and Resources Please see Professors Katz or Wackerly as soon as possible if you have any questions about course or lab material Help is also available at the Chemistry Help Center staffed by experienced and knowledgeable chemistry majors which is open four evenings per week in Keyes 104 M Th 7 30 9 30 These students will be happy to answer questions and help with problems If you feel the need for further help i e after you ve tried using the Chemistry Help Center and such tutors are available see Lisa Miller Keyes 310 lmmiller colby edu to make arrangements Grading The grading system is designed to not penalize having a bad test day Your lowest hour exam grade will not be taken into account when calculating your final grade grading option 1 below If your worst exam score happens to occur on the final exam then the weighting of the final exam will be reduced by half when calculating the course grade option 2 below Exceptions If a student does not put in what we deem a reasonable effort or misses an exam that exam will not be dropped Grading Option 1 Best two hour exams Final exam Laboratory Homework Grading Option 2 Exam 1 Exam 2 Exam 3 Final exam Laboratory Homework Percent of Final Grade 17 5 each 35 25 5 Percent of Final Grade 17 5 17 5 17 5 17 5 25 5 Attendance policy Consistent with College policy attendance is required for all lectures and labs If a student is in the