Welcome to the 'General Chemistry Laboratory Program'.  Please detach these pages from Experiment One and keep them in a safe place.  They contain information that you may need to refer to during the semester.

Laboratory Goal:

    The Chem 111 Laboratory program is probably different to any other laboratory program that you have undertaken in that it's focus is to teach stoichiometry in a systematic and student paced environment.  The laboratory does not follow any particular lecture section and is not meant to reinforce the topics that you are currently covering in class.  It does however take a very fundamental and important topic, stoichiometry, and teach it from ground zero.  The only expectation that your TA has is that you have the ability to balance some straightforward chemical reactions.  This allows your lecture the option of covering this material very quickly or to spend no time on it at all.  Your TA will assume the latter.  Each lab has been designed to teach the various concepts of stoichiometry in a systematic manner culminating in the final laboratory where you will be asked to design your own procedure in tackling a Stoichiometry based laboratory problem.

    Each experiment follows a similar pattern.  At the start of each laboratory your TA will administer a prelab quiz.  The object of this quiz is to test your preparedness for the experiment.  Have you read the lab and do you have some feel for what you are about to do.  With regards to the experiment itself, your TA will give you all the help required to do the calculations surrounding the lab.  Do not mistake help for 'giving you the answer', they will not do the latter but rather, guide you through the underling principals, so that you can come up with the answer yourself.  Finally there is a post-laboratory question.  Here you are on your own. This final question is very similar to the type of problem that you have worked through in the laboratory.  Your TA will not provide any help on this question.

    No matter what the subject it is practice that makes perfect and, it would be naive of us to think that one experiment and a post-laboratory question is sufficient practice to have mastered the stoichiometry concept in question.  To this end we have designed 'Laboratory OWl's' to accompany the program.  Your lecturer will address the details of how Owl works and login procedures during the first week of classes.  Alternatively you may go to the Chemistry Resource Center and a TA will show you.  Shortly before your scheduled experiment 2 a new course will appear in your OWl Course Menu when you log into the OWL, the course is usually named '111Lab' with Whelan as the instructor.  This is where your lab OWl's will appear.  When an assignment appears in your '111Lab' course assignments you have until your next laboratory period to complete it.  You should be aware that the length of time it takes to complete these depends on your comfort level with the material.  In the past couple of years this has ranged from a short of ~45 minutes to as much as 4 hours.  So plan accordingly.  Subsequent lab owls will appear on your 111 lab menu shortly before the current assignment is due.  So again, check your lab owl course menu frequently.

    Why teach stoichiometry in this manner?  It first allows us to spend more time on a topic that traditionally causes problems in Chem 111.  Secondly and probably more importantly from your perspective, student performance on stoichiometry questions in exams has shown a dramatic improvement provided of course the student has completed the labs and the OWL assignments.  The reverse is also true, very low scores for those who do not complete the OWL assignments.

Resources on the Web.

    All  laboratory materials are on the web and you are expected to print your own copy.  If you do not have access to a computer or a printer, then print them in the Computer Resource Center.

    When printing labs or any other material for that matter, please use the 'Print Page'.  This uses much less paper but more importantly for Chem 111 it is the only version that includes the 'Data Sheets'.

    You will also find a vast amount of course and laboratory related material on the web.  These include, sample prelab quizzes, past exam questions sorted by subject, prior final exams given by various instructors, etc.  The address, http://www.chem.umass.edu/genchem, follow the course links from there.  While it is convenient to bookmark your actual course page and instructor page, this page should be consulted weekly as it contains a scrolling message board that updates important laboratory deadlines.  In the case of inclement weather it will also keep you informed of any changes pertinent to the laboratory and your lecture section.

What Equipment/Supplies Do I Need?

1. Students in any General Chemistry laboratory must wear safety glasses at all times. These may be purchased in the Campus Center Store. Students who wear prescription lenses must wear the safety glasses over their regular glasses or attach side shields to their regular glasses. Be aware that failing to wear safety glasses in the laboratory will result in immediate expulsion from the laboratory.  This rule is strictly enforced.
    
2. Calculator, electronic, scientific  (must do logs, roots, etc.)

First Lab Period - What to Expect!

    The general chemistry laboratories are located on the first floor of the Integrated Sciences Building.  There are two main laboratories each containing 5 modules.  As you enter the vestibule, to your left is Room 160 which has five 16 student laboratories, numbered 160A through 160E.  To your left is Room 155 which also has five 16 student laboratories, numbered 155A through 155E.  Room assignments will be posted in the vestibule the day of your first lab and thereafter can be viewed on the General Chemistry Web Site.

    Apart from doing the first experiment there is one important task that must be accomplished before you begin --
 

Safety: Each laboratory has a number of safety features that you need to be aware of.  On the back of your 'Locker Check In' sheet you will find a list of items that you need to locate.  Locate these items and note their location on the card.  Once you have located these items sign the card and return it to your TA.

Important Summary:

1. In order to receive a grade in the course you must receive a laboratory grade. Fail the laboratory portion and you fail the entire course, regardless of how you do in lecture. In order to obtain a laboratory grade you must complete ALL the laboratories (see frequently asked question) and made a decent attempt at ALL the assigned laboratory OWLS 
    
2. The laboratory grade constitutes 17-20% of the overall course grade. 

Grading within the Laboratory Program: 

A final laboratory grade will be posted at the end of the semester before your final exam. This grade is based on the following 

Prelab Quiz         25%
Laboratory Reports  45%
Laboratory OWL's    25%
TA Assessment        5%

Disputes/Concerns: 

1. Discuss them with your TA. Very often the TA is not immediately aware that their actions are causing you concern and they are more than willing to listen and accommodate your concerns. If you wish to have a mediator present, your supervisor will act as one. The role of the mediator is not to take sides but to make sure that both sides get the opportunity to express their point of view. 
 
2. Still not resolved or the above is not a viable option. Then please see me, Dr. Tom Whelan, director of the laboratory program. I will in strict confidence look into your complaint and resolve it. 

Some Frequently Asked Questions and Solutions?

I missed the Lab Owl deadline by a couple of hours, will I receive credit for that module?

    You will receive full credit for what you completed prior to the deadline and may receive full credit for the module depending on how long after the deadline you completed the module.  While the former is a guarantee the latter is not.  We do however pull the grades for a particular module some hours after the actual deadline.  For your own peace of mind it is best to complete the module on time. Once the official deadline has passed, while you can still work on the module, the grade for the module appearing in your Owl screen will not change.  It does however remember everything that you did prior to and after the deadline, so that if any adjustment to the deadline is made your subsequent work will be recorded.

I completely forgot about the Lab Owl, why should I still complete it since I will receive no credit for it?

    This is probably the most frequently encountered student question.  The fact that the statistics should a dramatic increase in student scores on stoichiometry questions that appear in the exams for those students that complete the assignment, regardless of the deadline should be incentive enough.  Stoichiometry problems will appear in your hour exams.  Again with respect to credit for late assignments, there is no guarantee of receiving any credit for past due assignments.  If you do receive some credit, that’s a bonus and the amount of credit will depend on your record of completing the assignments.  That is the more assignments that you complete on time the greater the likelihood of receiving some partial credit for any that you did not complete on time.

    Bear in mind that the above is solely with respect to Laboratory OWls and is not general OWL policy.

If I do not arrive on time for lab I will not be able to take the pre-lab quiz?.

    This is true.  With the exception of the first laboratory, the prelab quiz is given at the start of the lab.  If you arrive late you will receive a 0 for that pre-lab quiz.  Of course if the reason for you being late was beyond your control you will be allowed to take it. 

    Bottom line, be on time.

If I do not complete all the labs then I fail the course, is this true?.

    This is almost true!  Missing two labs is an automatic 'F' for the course, missing one laboratory and depending on how well you did in the other five labs may not result in an automatic 'F'. 

     A general comment here.  In general laboratory scores are high if you put in an honest effort.  Thus the laboratory grade enhances your overall course grade.  Missing a lab or not completing laboratory owls will reduce your laboratory grade significantly and thus your course grade as well.