CHEM212A - Fall 2020 Welcome Letter (CRN 70367 and CRN 73584)

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CHEM212A - Organic Chemistry I

Fall 2020 with Dr. Kelli Gottlieb and Dr. Alex Kahane

CHEM212A is the first of the two-semester organic chemistry series at Cuesta College. This course serves as the foundation for organic chemistry. Organic chemistry is the study of carbon-containing compounds. More specifically, CHEM212A focuses on:

  • acidity and basicity of molecules
  • nomenclature of organic compounds, including alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, and alcohols
  • the influence of atom hybridization and orbitals in the reactivity and stability of molecules
  • the effect of 3D shape of a molecule on reactivity
  • analysis of chemical reactions, including the flow of electrons and the effect of reactants on the rate of a reaction
  • use of IR spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry in the interpretation of chemical structure

The laboratory component incorporates material from lecture and places a specific emphasis on measurement, data analysis, and observation.

 

Instructors:

Dr. Kelli Gottlieb (kelli_gottlieb@cuesta.edulab and lecture instructor

I am not in my office so I will not have access to my phone. Email is the best way to get in touch with me. If you email me, please allow at least 24 hours for a reply. I generally do not check my email after 8pm. I also often do not check email on Saturdays. Emails must be sent from either your CUESTA email or through Canvas. I will not send a meaningful response to any emails from non-Cuesta emails due to privacy (FERPA) concerns.

Dr. Alex Kahane (akahane@cuesta.edulab instructor

I can be reached via Canvas messaging (Inbox), which I regularly monitor.  I respond to student messages typically within 24 hours (often much faster!), but definitely within 48 hours, although I may not respond during weekends.  I also will provide virtual office hours via Zoom.  There will be a link within the Canvas page that will take you to my virtual office hours, the times of which will be announced once the term begins.

 

Course Information:

CHEM212A - CRN 70367 and CRN 73584

Course website: Canvas (cuesta.instructure.com - log in with your Cuesta username)

Course dates: 8/17/2020 - 12/14/2020
Canvas Partially Available: 8/12/2020
Full Canvas Availability: 8/17/2020
Final Exam: 12/14/2020 from 2:15 - 4:15pm

This semester, lecture meetings will be fully online. Certain activities (such as quizzes and exams) will be held synchronously during the lecture time on the course schedule  while others will be asynchronous (on your own). You should only be enrolled in the course if you know you can meet during the lecture times listed on ClassFinder for this course.

Most lab meetings will be held online this semester. Certain activities will be held synchronously during the lab time on the course schedule while others will be asynchronous (on your own). You should only be enrolled in the course if you know you can meet during the lab times listed on ClassFinder for this course.

We will have five (5) in-person lab meetings. These face-to-face meetings are mandatory and are subject to federal, state, and campus guidelines regarding in-person meetings. 

Mandatory In-Person Lab Meetings:

There are five (5) required in-person lab meetings for the semester. Each meeting will only have up to 8 students to allow for social distancing. These lab meetings will allow for the necessary hands-on experience with certain techniques to be prepared for other coursework in this course and in future courses. These in-person meetings will be on the Cuesta campus in 2107 during one regularly scheduled lab time. The meetings will occur in the following weeks:

  • Week 3 (9/1 OR 9/3)
  • Week 6 (9/22 OR 9/24)
  • Week 8 (10/6 OR 10/8)
  • Week 11 (10/27 OR 10/29)
  • Week 13 (11/10 OR 11/12)

The day you attend lab will be assigned by the instructors. While you can make a request whether you'd prefer Tuesday or Thursday, it cannot be guaranteed that your request will be honored. The time you will meet will align with the meeting time for the lab section for which you are officially enrolled.

Students will be split into cohorts and will meet with the same cohort for each lab meeting. Keeping to these cohorts means that there will be no flexibility in terms of switching days or times. It also means that these mandatory meeting times cannot be made up if they are missed. 

Students are required to follow the current district policies regarding personal protective equipment, sanitization, distancing, and other related  measures to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Students who do not comply will not be permitted in the laboratory and will be referred to the Vice President of Student Services for non-compliance with the Student Code of Conduct.

 

Mandatory Online Meetings:

You may be required to meet on Zoom during the times listed on ClassFinder for this course.

  • You can expect to be on Zoom during quizzes or exams (during the lecture times). We will meet for live problem-solving or work occasionally for lecture as well.
  • For lab, we will have occasionally have live lab meetings to work problems or to demonstrate techniques.

You should only be enrolled in the course if you know you can meet during the times listed on ClassFinder. These times will not be the sum total of what you need to work on for this class; this is just the time you will be required to meet online.

There will be times we won't meet but you should always have the time available. You will be told if we will not be meeting.

The rest of the course is asynchronous, meaning that you will complete activities on your own. The due dates and times will be detailed indicated on Canvas and described in the syllabus. 

This course is extremely fast paced. You are expected to keep up with the material by sticking to the deadlines and guidelines provided on Canvas. There is a lot of work in-class as well as studying and work to be done out of class as well. You can count on the following each week:

  • something due in lab (a prelab, a lab report, and/or another lab activity)
  • an experiment to complete (we will have a new experiment almost every week)
    • Remember that the lab component of this course is SIX (6) HOURS. You can expect to be doing a good deal of work for lab this semester, including data collection and data analysis. 
  • Online lecture to read and watch and an activity to complete with that lecture
  • There will also be online assignments that aren't due immediately but that you'll need to work on regularly

This list details the in-class time requirements. Outside of class, you'll need to study and do practice on your own to succeed in class. It is a very heavy workload. You can count on a minimum of 2-3 hours/unit per week, it adds up to a lot of hours (your mileage may vary, depending on your comfort with the material - some people may take longer or shorter). This is a 5-credit hour courseload with the work to match.

 

Is online education for you?

I am very excited to have you in class for organic chemistry. However, I would be remiss in my duties as an instructor if I didn't tell you that online courses aren't for everyone. Before committing to this course, make sure to address the following question: Is an online class suited for you? 

  • To answer this question, please access the Online Readiness Resources, and take the "self assessment survey". Answer the questions to yourself honestly. If you find that your answer to many of the questions is "no", then taking this class online is not in your best interest regarding student success and I strongly suggest you enroll in a traditional classroom section when available.
    • If you mostly answered "yes" but there are some questions to which you have answered "no", you can brush up on these skills using this Canvas tutorial. that Cuesta has prepared for online students (it's free!). You can also use these tutorials to see if online learning is for you (you'll be using a lot of the skills in the tutorial - decide if you like using those skills since you'll need them in this course!). 

Class and Electronic Device Requirements

If you believe (based on your personal knowledge and your self-assessment survey results) that you can be successful online, you will need the following:

  • You must have constant access to a reliable computer (minimum specs for a reliable computer). This should be most days of the week, not just the days our class meets (you'll want regular access to our materials on Canvas).
  • Your computer must have a webcam and a microphone. Quizzes and exams will be proctored on Zoom so you will need to have a webcam for proctoring (we will not be using proctoring software). 
  • You must have a reliable Internet connection, meaning you can be on conferencing software, Canvas, and download and upload documents. 
  • A device for scanning. This can be a scanner or a phone app that scans (there are many free ones out there! I will provide some examples once we get started). 
  • Optional but highly recommended: a reliable way to print documents (like a printer). This isn't mandatory but will be really useful to you as we go through the semester. It wouldn't be considered reliable if you need to pay a lot of money to be able to print (there will be alternatives).
  • You must have access to your my.Cuesta.edu email account (or have successfully set up email forwarding to your third party email provider).
  • You must have access to Canvas, Cuesta College's learning management system (LMS).
  • You must have a backup plan in case your internet provider or computer goes down.  For issues related to accessing Cuesta's Canvas Site, email: support@my.cuesta.edu
  • You must have a good understanding of the following online activities to succeed in this course: email, internet navigation, online communication, pdf creation (as well as other file-types), document uploading and downloading.

 

Required Materials

The following items listed below are the only course-specific materials you will need for this course.  Retailers may “suggest” or “recommend” additional items (e.g., lab coats, laminated Periodic Tables, study guides, etc.).  Those are not required for this course and you do not need to purchase them.  You will need:

  • Organic Chemistry, Wade and Simek, 9th Ed. (8th edition will work, won't match my notes perfectly but I'll have section differences indicated on Canvas)
    • Book ISBN 978-0321971371 (9th edition)
    • You can also use the e-text, I won't mandate a physical copy. 
  • A Microscale Approach to Organic Laboratory Techniques, (Pavia, et. al) 6th edition (5th will work but won't match in-class materials)
    • Book ISBN 978-1305968349 (6th edition)
  • Molecular Modeling Kit: You will need a molecular modeling kit for a number of the activities we'll do in class. A lot of what we do in this class is in three dimensions, including manipulating molecules and rotating around bonds. This can be very difficult to do in your head without very much experience.
    • I will be using this kit but  it is ridiculously expensive just about everywhere (I splurged for mine but I use it a lot). There are plenty of good quality kits out there that will do the job without breaking the bank (here, here, and here, for example). Just about any organic chemistry kit (with linear, trigonal planar, and tetrahedral pieces) will work; if it isn't one of the ones linked, check before purchasing!
  • Safety Goggles for in-person lab meetings 
    • I recommend the UVEX Stealth, especially if you will be taking more chemistry courses after this course.  While these are available in the bookstore, they are overpriced! I recommend looking online for a better deal. 
    • If you want to purchase goggles that are not the UVEX Stealth before the semester begins from somewhere besides the bookstore, PLEASE contact me and check that they are acceptable. The goggles must be chemical splash goggles with the appropriate certification (Z87+); do not purchase just any goggles.
    • Do not purchase safety glasses! They are not permitted.
  • A Newell-Brand Sharpie permanent marker. This needs to be an on-brand marker or else it won't work in the lab. 
  • LabArchives Access ($15): We will use this software for our lab notebook this semester. Wait to purchase this until the semester begins. 
  • Calculator: You will not need a graphing calculator; we'll be using scientific calculators exclusively in this class.
  • Internet-connected device with a webcam and microphone
    • You will need a reliable device to be able to connect to the internet to participate in class. You will need a webcam for Zoom-proctored exams and a microphone to communicate on Zoom. A phone will not be sufficient for participating in the course. 
  • A way to scan documents
    • This can be a scanner or a scanning app on a phone or other device with a camera.

 

Quizzes and Exams

Students will authenticate on Zoom prior to being able to take an exam. Quizzes and exams will take place during the mandatory online window on Wednesdays. You will be proctored on Zoom during quizzes and exams.  

 

Attendance and Participation

  • You will need to participate in Canvas each day in order to stay caught up in the course.
  • If you do not participate during the first week of classes, you will be dropped from the course. 
  • If you do not participate for an entire week, you may be dropped from the course.
  • If you do not fail to complete four or more labs you will not pass the course, even if  you have a passing grade in the lecture portion of the course.

 

Drop Policies

  • If you no longer wish to be enrolled in the course, you must withdraw on your own. Make sure to check the financial aid or other implications with a counselor before you do so. (How to drop) (Drop/Withdraw FAQs)
  • If you do not participate during the first week of classes, you will be dropped from the course. 
  • If you do not participate in the course for an entire week you may be dropped from the course. 

 

Accessibility

Students with documentation with DSPS. and require special accommodations should see the instructor during the first day of class for a confidential discussion. 

 

Academic Honesty

“Academic honesty is essential to the academic community. Students expect that Cuesta College faculty be fair, truthful, and trustworthy. Faculty expect that Cuesta College students share these same values. Students who violate these principles by cheating, plagiarizing, or acting in other academically dishonest ways are subject to disciplinary procedures.” – Cuesta College Academic Honesty Agreement

It is allowed and expected that you will work together on assignments and lab reports; it is also expected that each student will do their own work and write their answers in their own words. To avoid any academic honesty issues, it is best to talk about a question, discuss an answer, and then each student writes their answer in their own words. Perform all your own calculations; do not write the result of another student’s calculation.

Exams are meant to be completed on your own. You are committing an act of academic dishonesty if you consult resources not provided with the exam, including notes, tutors, other people in your house, or other resources that weren't specifically included with the exam. Academic dishonesty also includes posting quiz or exam questions to online forums, regardless of if the question is answered or not. While you may ask for help from online tutors for other non-assessment assignments, quizzes and exams are meant to be taken ON YOUR OWN with only the resources I provide. 

Any student found to be engaging in academic dishonesty will receive a 0 on the assignment or exam in question, which may result in failure of the course. Academic dishonesty includes claiming work to be your own when it was not (copying off of another quiz or reporting data as your own when were absent from lab that day) as well as sharing your work with others.

Cuesta Academic Honesty

 

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Describe the chemistry and physical properties of hydrocarbons and functional groups.
  • Predict products and write mechanisms of organic reactions.
  • Write names and structures of hydrocarbons and functional groups including conformations and stereoisomers.
  • Safely perform organic chemistry lab experiments utilizing appropriate apparatus and techniques and critically interpret data in the laboratory notebook.

 

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