organic chemistry lecture testing format

[jsp132]

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instead of doing 3 major exams like he has on his syllabus

he is now doing quizzes every week until the final week of the semester

on the concepts

ie this week was nomenclature

next week is stereochemistry etc

he even made it open notes ..........he didn't before

but anyhow...............basically he said he wants it to be little bits at a time

instead of so much at a time

my laboratory section however seems normal with quizzes and lab reports pretty much every week due

thoughts on this?

 

[CajunMedic]

Interesting concept. I can see him being able to identify problems quicker. Open notes can help-does he give you powerpoints or do you have to take handwritten notes? How is this going to change the grading scheme for the class? It's also less material to know for each test- could be a "quality over quantity" type thing.

On a related note, I must be taking some kind of accelerated O-Chem. We just took our 2nd test and we've covered through alkynes and the Diels-Alder reaction.....

 

[jsp132]

Interesting concept. I can see him being able to identify problems quicker. Open notes can help-does he give you powerpoints or do you have to take handwritten notes? How is this going to change the grading scheme for the class? It's also less material to know for each test- could be a "quality over quantity" type thing.

On a related note, I must be taking some kind of accelerated O-Chem. We just took our 2nd test and we've covered through alkynes and the Diels-Alder reaction.....

well basically everything is handwritten notes through his lectures no powerpoints

there's no curves...........basically after the first "normal" exam I guess he saw how horrible everyone did

and changed everything

I did fine on it.............it's just that people apparantly didn't study.........i dunno it's strange.........i've never had anything happen like this before

 

[ShoTyme]

Interesting concept. I can see him being able to identify problems quicker. Open notes can help-does he give you powerpoints or do you have to take handwritten notes? How is this going to change the grading scheme for the class? It's also less material to know for each test- could be a "quality over quantity" type thing.

On a related note, I must be taking some kind of accelerated O-Chem. We just took our 2nd test and we've covered through alkynes and the Diels-Alder reaction.....

This is where we are as well. The other class is going very slowly. Also it seems pretty easy with the open notes concept. Dangit! I'm in the wrong class. 😛

 

[Nate9862]

instead of doing 3 major exams like he has on his syllabus

he is now doing quizzes every week until the final week of the semester

on the concepts

ie this week was nomenclature

next week is stereochemistry etc

he even made it open notes ..........he didn't before

but anyhow...............basically he said he wants it to be little bits at a time

instead of so much at a time

my laboratory section however seems normal with quizzes and lab reports pretty much every week due

thoughts on this?

Hmmm... my O-chem I class is interesting too. My professor is an Iranian-born US educated PhD. He's got a crazy accent but he's pretty thorough. We have four tests, the first was on stereochemistry, optical activity, gen chem review, and nomenclature. It wasn't hard. Now we're in "module 2" which is reactions with alkenes, i.e. bromonation, hydrogenation, oxymercuration, etc. It's not that hard, surprisingly. I'm not sure if I'm just good at it or maybe i'm underestimating it. I think this class is like any other class, it's hard if you don't study. If you keep up with it, it shouldn't be that hard. It's significantly easier than my calc-based physics class; that is not the easiest class. lol.

 

[AlphaKeto]

In general found Org to be more easily understandble, more interesting, and less difficult than general chem. I think mostly because math is my weak point and Org has zero math compared to Gen chem which had lots of formulas and such to remember. I'll still probably audit a gen and Org chem class before i take the MCAT, just to have it fresh.

 

[Nate9862]

In general found Org to be more easily understandble, more interesting, and less difficult than general chem. I think mostly because math is my weak point and Org has zero math compared to Gen chem which had lots of formulas and such to remember. I'll still probably audit a gen and Org chem class before i take the MCAT, just to have it fresh.

I completely agree. Although I was pretty good with Gen Chem I and II, O-chem is much more conceptual and has zero math, which is good because every other class I'm taking is calculus based, at the moment. O-chem is actually refreshing (I bet that's not said too often). I think it's over-hyped quite a bit. University Physics is FAR more difficult; but, then again I guess it comes down to each persons individual preferences.

 

[UpwardTrend]

I am in Organic II right now and speaking for myself, I understood Gen Chem way easier than Organic. I'm getting an A but I'm not retaining or fully mastering any concepts. Sometimes it seems like I was thrown into a third year foreign language without the first two years. Biology, Physics, and Gen Chem were all tangible to me but O-Chem is really out there. The only thing that helps me somewhat understand the concepts for exams is supplemental youtube lessons (thanks to freelanceteach).
I got a surprise on the first night of class when our instructor told us that our final will be the American Chemical Society comprehensive exam over Organic I and II. Has anybody else had to take the ACS?