BCHM 104b Course Info Course organization The course is a lecture course but this does not mean that you just lean back and enjoy the show. Your active participation is essential for a successful completion of the course. You are expected to: - Participate in class (asking questions as well as answering my questions) - Go over your class notes to make sure that you understood what was covered in class. - Read your assignments (be prepared to answer questions about your assignments) - Solve and hand in solutions for Problem sets - Attend and participate in recitation sessions held by the TA. Ultimately, you are responsible for learning the material covered by the course. If you do not understand some of the math, biochemistry or physical chemistry required for this course, you have to go back and re-learn that material. If you did not understand something that was covered in class, ask your fellow students, read up on the topics in different textbooks, ask the TA. If all this fails, come and talk to me. Above all, if you do not understand something, don’t let it slide and figure that you will be able to go back and figure it our later, you won’t. How grades are determined The overall grade will be determined by two factors: 1) Exams 90% There will be four exams. The three highest scoring exams will each count for 30% of your grade. You get to drop your lowest scoring exam. Everything covered in the assignments, lectures, problem sets, or recitation sections, can and will be the topic of the exams. The exams will be closed-book. Exam dates will be the Feb 7th, March 7th, March29th and May 2nd . 2) Participation 10 % Class participation includes successful completion of problems sets, reading assignments and participation during the class sessions. While participation counts only for 10%, don’t even think about skimping on it. If you slack on your assignments, reading or homework, you are all but guaranteed to have severe trouble following the material in class and will probably have trouble with your exams as well. Missed Work and Makeup Exams You are expected to perform all the work, period! Also, there will be no make-ups for missed exams. If you miss an exam by simply not showing up, you will receive a failing grade. The only case, in which you will get the chance to take an oral make up exam, is if you had serious and documented reasons (e.g. you have to appear in court or you arehaving a baby) and you informed me about those reasons as soon as they arise and before the exam takes place. Promptness Lectures will begin at 11:10 am sharp! Late arrivals are very disruptive to the class and if you missed the introduction to a class it will be all but impossible to figure out what is going on. So don’t just be on time, be early! Background and Expectations I expect that everyone will have a familiarity with basic thermodynamics, especially equilibrium constants and Gibbs free energy. You will be expected to do basic math. “I have problems with math” is not an excuse. If you have problems with the level of math you encounter in this class, you have serious math deficiencies and you need to fix them! The simplest solution is usually to get out a math book and