CH 475: INORGANIC CHEMISTRY

Structure & Bonding

Block 5, 2007-8

Keith Kester & Ted Lindeman
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Objectives
Evaluation
Laboratory
Final Project
Reflections
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3+
 M.O. Diagram


Evaluation of Your Course Work
Evaluation of Course Work:

28-32%* Two written exams
10% In-class M.O. exercise
12-14%* Final oral exam
20% Integrative Project: structure, bonding and properties of substances
24% Laboratory
6%* Course Reflections

* I strongly recommend that you do the course reflections entailing a metacognitive consideration of your learning experiences in this course.  Each of the six percentage points here is earned by 360 words of reflective journaling (for a total of 2160 words).  The entry to your journal in Prowl is in Topic 3: Wednesday, January 24.  If you choose not to make journal entries, a maximum of two percentage points will be added to the total possible percentage points on each of the two written exams and on the final oral exam.

Authorized aids for the three exams will be listed with the exam. The three course texts and the instructor will be the authorized aids on the in-class M.O. exercise. Working journals will be authorized aids on the two written exams and the M.O. exercise. The source of any work on the project or in the laboratory notebook that is not your own work MUST be properly annotated (i.e. credit given to the source material or individual(s) who contributed to that work). Non-compliance with these stipulations will be considered a violation of the honor code.


There will be both collaborative team work and individual work in this course. The final oral exam, the project, the reflections and Experiment A will be done on an individual basis. You will be encouraged to work in teams on the in-class activities, the two written exams, the M.O. exercise, and Experiments B & C. In all instances you will have the option of working individually, though that is not what I recommend.
The Final Oral Examination:

These individual exams will be held on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the last half week of the course, at one hour intervals with a strictly enforced time limit of 45 minutes. In the exam each of you will present an example of a Linnett bonding description, a molecular orbital bonding description, the lattice energy and PTOT structure description of an ionic substance, and a structure and bonding description of a metal, all from your portfolio. You are encouraged to use visual aids (models, transparencies, posters, power point, etc.) In your presentations. Just make sure that everything you will need is ready to go prior to your presentation. Dr. Kester, and your fellow students will ask questions of you about your structure and bonding descriptions of these substances. In addition questions relating to alternative bonding approaches and to other material presented in the course relevant to what you present in the oral exam, should be expected. You will be asked to attend at least two of your classmates' oral exams.

Each oral exam will be videotaped and you are required to view the videotape of your exam before 12:00 noon, the last Wednesday of the course, and turn in an honest and concise written evaluation of your own presentation. Dr. Kester will be available during block 6 to discuss your oral presentation with you if you wish.