Start Here Page
Watch this welcome message from your instructor.
Greg Owens, Ph.D.
Associate Professor (Lecturer) of Chemistry
owens@chem.utah.edu
Read the course syllabus, and take the Syllabus Quiz.
The Course Syllabus will provide you with the course schedule, course objectives, explanations of assignments and assessments, grading policies, and instructor contact information. Please read it carefully. You should have a deep familiarity with the schedule and process of the course.
Resources needed for this Course
Much of what you’ll need to do well in this course is available either directly or indirectly through Canvas.
Book: Links to an external site. Chemistry, ISBN 978-1-938168-39-0, by OpenStax, a nonprofit organization based at Rice University. You can find links to an online version Links to an external site., a print version, and the student solutions manual here Links to an external site.. I adopted this book particularly because of its cost ($0), but there are lots of good books available for learning general chemistry. Some of the better ones are written by Peter Atkins, Nivaldo Tro, Steven Zumdahl, and Theodore Brown/Eugene LeMay/Bruce Bursten. Brand-new, current editions of books by these authors are not cheap, but older editions are; at the time of this writing, the 13th edition of Brown/LeMay/Bursten's Chemistry: The Central Science is $175 on Amazon, but the 11th edition is only $40. Rest assured that general chemistry has not changed substantially between the 11th and 13th editions.
Calculator: You’ll need a scientific calculator with logarithm/exponential functions and scientific notation. Programmable calculators or other electronic devices, including your phone (smart or otherwise), capable of storing alphanumeric data are not allowed for use on exams. Something like a TI-30Xa will run you $10 or so. Get something now, and use it for all your work in this class; you don’t want to walk into an exam with a calculator you’ve never used before.
WebAssign: This is the platform we will use for homework and quizzes. WebAssign costs $28 for the semester, and you’ll need to register here. When setting up your WebAssign account, use your UNID as your WebAssign username.
Expectations of instructor and students
Instructor
I will be your guide through the learning process in this fully online course. I will be available to you in several ways: Canvas mail, our Q&A discussion boards in the weekly modules, my campus email, and/or meeting me during my virtual office hours. You can expect to "see" me in this course via weekly announcements and recorded lectures. I check the Canvas Mail first thing in the morning and last thing at night, but the fastest way to contact me is through my email address: owens@chem.utah.edu
Virtual Office Hours will be held by appointment. Just send me a message through Canvas or email, and we'll set up a day and time. Office hours are great opportunities to work through problems and ask questions, so be sure to use them, especially if you're having trouble with the material.
Students
CHEM 1220, whether offline or online, demands a lot of work at a good pace to earn a good result. Make it routine to check the current module page on Monday of each week to get a clear idea of what you have to do that week and to make a plan for getting it done on time. Don't put a week's worth of material off until Sunday; you won't like the results. Spread your work over most days of the week, and you'll find it much more manageable.
Make sure your Canvas notification preferences are set so that you will receive course announcements ASAP or Daily (click the appropriate link to set your preference).
Time-management and keeping up with deadlines are crucial, non-subject-specific skills you'll either master in this course or wish you had. Due dates for each assignment are posted on the week's module-overview page; there aren't likely to be reminders.
If you are confused about something from the course material, something in an assignment, or really anything pertaining to this course, ask questions. It's common especially for first-year students to hide in a course in which they're not doing well, but that's the worst thing you can do. Ask for help. Tell your ego and pride to shut up; your GPA and long-term happiness will be grateful.
Read the technical requirements page.
The Technical Requirements page identifies the browsers, operating systems, and plugins that work best with Canvas. If you are new to Canvas quickly review the Canvas Student Orientation materials.
Read about academic integrity and netiquette.
All students at the University of Utah agree on admission to the following rights and responsibilities as per the University of Utah policies and procedures Links to an external site.. Also, please review the core rules of netiquette Links to an external site. for some guidelines and expectations on how to behave in an online learning environment.
It is important that each student submit work they have created themselves. The assignments have been designed to demonstrate each student's skills. Therefore, we have a zero tolerance for students who violate the University of Utah Student Code including, but not limited to:
- Misrepresenting one's work includes, but is not limited to, representing material prepared by another as one's own work, or submitting the same work in more than one course without prior permission of both faculty members.
- “Plagiarism” means the intentional unacknowledged use or incorporation of any other person's work in, or as a basis for, one's own work offered for academic consideration or credit or for public presentation. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, representing as one's own, without attribution, any other individual's words, phrasing, ideas, sequence of ideas, information or any other mode or content of expression. (Source: http://regulations.utah.edu/academics/6-400.php Links to an external site. )