Instructor : Prof. Herman Ammon, Office B-214

Lecture : TuTh, 12:30-1:45 PM in Chem 1407

Discussions : W 1:00-1:50 or 2:00-2:50 PM depending on your section

Office Hours : No specific times...make an appointment. I'm usually in or nearby.

ER = essential and required OR = optional, but recommended

Note - there may be some required homework problem sets that would alter this recipe.

Coverage Chapters 1-13 in McMurry

Hints, comments and other information

1. Organic chemistry often is viewed as a (very) hard course. You've probably heard the rumors. The first two chapters are largely a review of a portion of freshman chemistry, but after that the material will be essentially brand new. It is important not to get behind.

2. It is OK if you don't understand everything the first time it is covered in class. I encourage you to ask questions during class and after class. I usually will ask for questions at the beginning of a lecture.

3. Learn the lingo. There are lots of new terms, concepts and chemistry to be learned (memorized). Learning organic chemistry is similar to learning a difficult foreign language... how about Swahili.

4. Work all of the assigned problems once . If there is time, work extra problems and review the assigned problems before each exam. It is important to understand a problem; do not simply memorize the answer. Textbook problems (both assigned and others) frequently will appear on exams. One way to bomb in organic chemistry is NOT to do the homework.

5. Use spaced repetition when you study... study, wait, test yourself, study, wait, test yourself, etc. Do not use all of your study time reading the text and/or your lecture notes oPr and over.

6. Test yourself frequently. Use the same activities when you study that you will face on an exam... write things down without looking at the text or your notes.

7. Attend every class and use your notes (not the textbook) as your principal study source. I will summarize and condense the text material into chewable mouth-fulls; you'll choke if you attempt to use the text as your primary source of organic nourishment.

8. The following technique has been used successfully by many students in science and mathematics courses.
   1. Read the textbook before coming to class to get a preview of the subject.

   2. Attend all lectures, listen carefully and take copius notes.

   3. As soon as possible after a class (no later than that evening), copy your in-class notes into another notebook. You should be able to expand the notes by remembering things that were said/done in class but which you did not have time to record at the time. This procedure will give you a complete and legible set of notes that will be the envy of your friends.

   4. During the recopying phase, go over the material with a goal of reaching an initial understanding. This is important... don't just recopy. If there are any foggy concepts, etc., ask someone ASAP. The someone could be a class mate, a T.A. or the instructor.

9. I will hold voluntary discussion sessions on a 1-2 week schedule after hours (~ 6-7 PM).

10. In past semesters, I established a web page with all kinds of good stuff to help your understanding and mastery of organic chemistry. Some students did not avail themselves of the information. I will provide handouts with the information this semester. That's the good news! The bad news is that you will be required to know the material and there will be questions, etc. on quizzes and exams.

11. Exams are cumulative and will have questions from the laboratory portion of the course.

Problem assignments

Do all of the assigned problems in each chapter. Do more if you have the time. The following homework problems are from the ends of the chapters in the McMurry text. Also included are assignments in "Pushing Electrons", a work book that consists of a mixture of text and problems, and in "Chem TV Organic Chemistry". Chem TV consists of a work book and computer-viewable information; although the two are meant to go together it is certainly possible to get a lot from the workbook alone without watching TV.