Announcements and FAQs

This page contains announcements for the course (e.g. answers to FAQs, alerts about reading assignments changes, scheduling changes, etc.).

Announcement 1: Grading

The points in this course are distributed as follows:

20% for all turn-in homework

20% for hour exam 1

20% for hour exam 2

40% for final exam

Total: 100%

The grade in this class is not curved. ≥80% of course points is an A- or A, 55-79.999% is a B- to B+, and 35-54.999% is a C- to C+. The typical grade distribution usually comes out about 35% A, 45% B and 20% C. The benefits are two-fold: the curve will not change if you help someone else do better, and you will learn even more by discussing the material with others. The ± boundaries are at ±2%, e.g. 78 to 79.999% is a B+, 80-81.999% is an A-.

Announcement 2: Lecture attendance

In this class, there are no gimmicks to make you attend lecture (no pop quizzes, no attendance points, etc.). It is up to you to decide whether you’ll attend. However, lectures will NOT be recorded: they are live events. Your TAs are making their notes available to you after lecture in case you have to miss one; see “instructors” page. Let me give you some data on lecture attendance based on past experience from Chem 442, a similar class:

In 2015, 45 out of 78 students came to lecture regularly. Their final course average was 76%. 33 out of 78 students did not come to lecture regularly. Their final course average was 56%. The moral of the story: Gruebele is in the lecture to teach you physical chemistry and go over problems, not to recite the notes. You’ll learn more by going to lecture, even though reading the course notes is a very good start on the material.

Announcement 3: Homework policy

1-2 problems per lecture (the ones in green in the course notes and course schedule) will be graded. The week’s assignments are due Monday by 5 PM of the following week. ALL homework solutions are posted RIGHT FROM THE START. This will save you trips to the “online files.” You should do all homework the week it is assigned (including problems not to be turned in), and only peek at the solutions and correct yourself after you have made a serious effort: problems similar to the homework problems are featured on each hour exam and on the final exam. Feel free to do the homework in groups, as long as everyone contributes to the discussion. Students who just copy the solutions often fail to be able to do similar problems on the exams quickly enough to get through the whole exam.

Late homework: 50% credit when less than a week late, no questions asked. ALL homework MUST be in your HANDWRITING showing all the steps, not typeset and not just the final answer. We can accept homework late with a valid written excuse under special circumstances (e.g. doctor’s note due to illness).

There is no credit for just the final answer.

Homework return: Your graded homework will be available at TA office hours or via Moodle. If you can’t pick it up immediately, no worries, we keep it, even the oldest ones, until you pick it up.

Announcement 4: Hour exams and final

The hour and final exam dates, and the lectures covered on each hour exam, are posted on the course schedule. The final covers all course material, i.e. all homework problems. Makeup times for the exams are only possible with a valid excuse (e.g. a doctor’s note in case of illness)

All exams are open book. This means the assigned course notes, your class notes, your homework, and your solutions of your homework. You can also annotate any notes in your own writing. You can use any calculator you want, but no phones, laptops, or tablets are allowed. Gruebele’s advice: Know the material, and carefully review your own solutions in your own writing. Gruebele has seen students who were not able to finish the exams on time because they spent all their riffling through their 100 sheets of notes. If you have well-organized solutions of your own, annotated your copy of the course notes, and carefully studied your notes, they will help guide you through exam problems quickly, but if you start searching through stuff during the exam for every little thing because you didn’t study, you will not be able to finish on time.

Gruebele and the TAs will have review sessions before each hour exam, and before finals week. The hour exams will be during class time, 50 minutes. Each exam has 4 questions, based directly on the homework, in-class exercises, and thought experiments in the course notes. The final has 8 questions, at least 6 directly based on homework, in-class exercises, thought experiments, or hour exam questions. You have 3 hours for the final, so it’s more relaxed than the hour exams.

To make sure the homework problems all make sense, Gruebele recommends going to TA office hours or his office hours regularly and asking questions about homework problems or lecture material you had trouble with.

Announcement 5: Accommodations, integrity

If you require accommodations, please let Prof. Gruebele know early on, preferably even before the semester starts, and we will make appropriate arrangements. Gruebele and your TAs of course expect your highest level of integrity on exams and assignments, and we adhere to the policies of the Student Code at:

https://studentcode.illinois.edu/article1/part4/1-401/