Unit 1
When I begin a course I find out how many exams we will have and I break the semester up into fractions based on that number. In General Chemistry II we were told we would have 4 exams over 16 weeks. I broke the semester down into 4 parts or units and then evaluated what I would likely need to learn, accomplish, and practice over each term. The first unit of any class is always difficult because of the lack of familiarity with the content, the way the content is presented, the instructor’s teaching style, and what tests would be like. Fortunately, I felt comfortable understanding the concepts of chemistry, I had previously taken a chemistry course taught by this professor, and was confident that the material would be straightforward. The professor however, was using a different method of teaching for this course and I underestimated the effect that would have on my learning process for the term.
I learn very well with a classic lecture format. I am comfortable with being lectured, taking notes, practicing on my own, and then testing. I tend to understand concepts quickly and when I don’t I ask questions that will get me to the level of understanding that I’m comfortable with. I also tend to put in minimal effort outside of the classroom if possible. This course was being instructed differently and I wasn’t prepared to adjust my studying habits.
The first unit had to do with colligative properties and brief coverage of organic chemistry naming. I had some experience with organic naming already so I reviewed the material and put what I felt I needed on my allowed notecard for the exam. I felt pretty comfortable with a small amount of studying on colligative properties. I entered exam week confident in my knowledge and familiarity with the material for unit 1. Like I said, the first unit of a semester is difficult. I scored 80 points on the main body of the exam and 9 points of extra credit for a raw score of 89. I was also given a 5-point curve. Overall, I had a 94 on the first exam. However, I was not satisfied with my raw score because I knew that extra credit would not always be available on exams. I felt that my score of 94 was based more on luck than hard work and I would have to reevaluate and adjust my study habits for the rest of the term.
Unit 2
The second unit started much differently. I viewed all of the video lectures during the first week of the unit. I was adjusting to the style of the course and what I knew my tendencies were. I began allotting time during the week and weekend to look at the material. I decided to use a strategy I had never used before but had heard worked well for others and made sense in consideration of the instruction method. I decided that I would look at the material for at least one hour every single day. I began with watching the video lectures. After that I did the Smartwork5 homework. After that I addressed the practice handouts that were provided by the instructor.
It was at this point that I considered another approach that I had never used before. I decided to join a study group. I have never joined an informal study group before in my academic career. Because I typically grasped concepts quickly and put in minimal time outside of class in the past, I had never seen it as being advantageous or symbiotic for me to be in a study group. As soon as I decided that I would need to put in significant time outside of class to be as successful as I wanted to be in this course, I recognized that spending that time with others working toward the same goal would be beneficial to all of us.
I began meeting regularly with Calvin, Stephanie, and Sara to work on problems, discuss confusing concepts, and generally occupy our time with science and learning. We started meeting at the student resource center and reserving a room with a white board. We developed a system of deciding on a “type” of problem or concept and would choose someone to work the problem on the board with everyone else watching and adding input to the process. We helped each other get to conclusions. We solved mistakes or pointed out errors in the process. Most importantly, we questioned each other! We challenged each other to look at things differently, to address why we could be wrong, and to come to better solutions in the long run.
The new approach paid huge dividends. I scored a 97.5 on the main body of exam II. I was very happy with the increase in the score from an 80 to a 97.5 I was also award 5 points of extra credit. Finally, because of a generous curve for the class I was given 10 points added to my score for a total of 112.5! I had heard that this was the most difficult exam of General Chemistry II. It was like a huge weight had lifted off of my shoulders and I wrapped up the first half of the semester with a 103.25 exam average.
Unit 3
The second half the semester started with Gibbs free energy and a review of Hess’s Law. We continued with Electrolytic and Voltaic cells. The two concepts were pretty easy to grasp and didn’t have a huge load of math relative to the last exam. It felt like a good mix of conceptual and mathematical information. I was feeling very confident coming into the second half of the semester for a few reasons. I was really happy with getting over the second exam hump (I call it that because of what I had heard about it’s difficulty relative to the rest of the material) without having to worry about using an exam drop on it. The other reasons I was feeling so good about the second half of the semester were because I had set myself up with such a great exam average and I had a good group of people around me to study with and talk about chemistry with.
During the previous semester, I hadn’t done very well on my first General Chemistry I exam (getting a 64%) and I was under pressure the rest of the semester to perform well on the exams. I wouldn’t have been very satisfied with my performance in the class if I didn’t use that 64 as a drop. I ended the semester with a little over a 93 average on the remaining exams in Gen Chem I. With the knowledge that I was able to rally after a bad start in the previous semester and the fact that I was able to set myself up so well, I was really confident about how I would finish out the semester.
The study group continued to meet once or twice a week for a few hours at a time to do random problems, ask each other questions, teach each other concepts, work on homework. With my confidence in the material so high, I began to prioritize the smart works homework a bit less and began to fall behind on an assignment or two. I used the video lectures a bit less this unit and instead opted to learn cooperatively with my study group when I found the time to meet with them. I entered the exam pretty confidently given the study habits I had been using and the difficulty of the material.
I got a 90% raw score on the 3rd exam. After a curve of 12 points I had a 102% on the third exam. My exam average was well over 100% and I looked ahead to the last unit of the semester.
Unit 4
Entering the final unit of the semester I had three priorities. My first priority was to learn the new material and finish smart works homework so that I was prepared for the final exam. My second priority and a priority of the group as a whole was helping Stephanie prepare for the 4th exam as best we could. She had forgotten her notecard for exam 3 and had gotten a 73% on it. We were all proud of her for being able to do that well on it without a notecard, but we could also tell that she wasn’t happy about it and we wanted to set her up for success so that she had a higher exam average entering the final. The last priority (but still a priority!) was studying for exam 4 and possibly raising my exam average even further.
The unit had to do with kinetics/reaction rates and nuclear chemistry. This unit was very little math and a ton of conceptual chemistry. There was a bit of reaction rate math and half life math that was pretty easy and the rest was concepts like understanding the different kinds of radioactivity and decay. I caught up on all of my smart works homework and had a 94% for homework. I was happy with that once it got above 90%. I was a bit lackadaisical in preparing my notecard, but the study group met early before exam 4 and I got it prepared. I ended up with a 93% on exam 4 with no curve. In a cruel twist of fate, this was my second highest raw score, but with no curve it was my lowest exam score in total. My exam average didn’t go up (all because I didn’t convert to Kelvin on one problem!)
After calculating my averages on exams, homework, and learning journals (anticipated) I found that I only need a 50% on the final to finish the semester with a 90% or better! I’m very happy with how the collaborative learning model has served me this semester. This was one of the harder chemistry or science courses I have ever had and it is one of the better performances I’ve put forth in a science class.
David Duran's Thoughts on Chemistry 