Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Welcome to my Chemistry 221 course details page.  I hope you are as eager as I am to get started in the class!  I love teaching chemistry and thinking about how the study of matter helps us understand everything around us better and I'm hoping by the end of the term you'll share my enthusiasm. 

Learning chemistry will test your perceptions.  Just like having a glass half full or half empty, successfully studying chemistry deals with your attitude towards the course.  At some points you may feel overwhelmed and find the concepts challenging.  However, if you remain positive about the material, I think you have a better chance to succeed.  Yes, it may be difficult at times (particularly when we get into some of the more theoretical discussions), but that doesn't mean it is beyond your ability to understand. 

Chemistry 221 is the first of a three term chemistry sequence designed to provide a year of general chemistry to science majors. It will meet transfer school requirements for such science majors as: chemistry, physics, chemical engineering, pre-medicine, and other pre-professional programs. The class consists of online lecture notes and an on-campus laboratory section. The online lecture notes are used to provide the student with basic chemical concepts and mathematical applications to chemistry. The laboratory reinforces concepts presented in the textbook and provides the student a hands-on opportunity to explore these.

Because this is a science major's course, the entering student should be able to demonstrate prerequisite math and chemistry skills. The student must have successfully completed CH151 or documented equivalent and must have passed college algebra (Math 111).

To help you decide if chemistry class is right for you, here is an outline of what your responsibilities will be. Each week you will have:

• Online lectures in video format
• Reading quizzes
• Homework assignments
• In-class assignments
• In-class quizzes
• Laboratory experiments and activities

In addition to your weekly responsibilities you will be required to take:

• Two exams 
• Comprehensive final exam

This is a hybrid course so 2 hours of lecture will be completed online and 2 hour of lecture and 3 hours of lab will be on campus.  You must be able to attend both lecture and laboratory components in order to register for the course. This class requires a good deal of work and it is structured to keep you working on smaller assignments that are due each class meeting.  Your success in the class will be dependent on how much time you devote to self-study and how well you do as an independent thinker. You are in control of the learning process and you have to be very motivated to keep up with the material and assignments. You will get out of the course what you put in so approach the class as a serious endeavor. If you are interested in the class because you think you will not have to work hard, this course is not for you. The design of the class is get you to learn in the most efficient manner possible. But your hard work will be rewarded with a deeper understanding of chemical principles.