CHEM 353 CAL GENERAL INFORMATION W24 Last modified:

TROUBLESHOOTING? (Plugins needed etc)

You are registered in a weekly tutorial in Chem 353 for Winter 2024.

Use your CAL tutorial time to work on / review :

• Tutorial problems (e.g. in practice materials, Moodle self-assessments etc.)
• In class problems (including questions asked in Zoom meetings, in lecture materials or posted through D2L etc.)
• On line etext materials
• CAL self assessments that you should complete, ideally after you have worked through the online review materials. These are for practice and to help you work out what you know and don't know.
• CAL assignments (to be completed in specific weeks in your registered tutorial time. These are graded and contrubute to your coursemarks.

ALL are there to help you learn and therefore help you maximise your examination performance and so achieve a higher grade.

The assignments are run online using Moodle, a free learning management system.

We believe too many students struggle with Organic Chemistry because they don't study/work effectively or wisely or with a view to the long term goals.

CAL SELF ASSESSMENTS

What is a "self assessment" ? A "self assessment" helps you measure your learning progress without is counting towards your coursemark. It's a low stakes way to practice for both assignments and examinations.

The self assessments cover the basic concepts we expect you to understand and you should be able to complete the assessments quickly. Note that many of the questions are similar to those that you may encounter on examinations.

If you "abuse" the self assessments (e.g. just copy answers from friends, don't complete them etc.) then you will probably FAIL the course because you will FAIL the examinations.  You need to know HOW to answer these questions YOURSELF.

If you work through the described review materials first, and are up to date with the lectures, course reading and notes, you should be able to complete most of each self assessment without going to a book or notes, and in 1-2 hours or less.

If you can't, then you need to study more and / or change / improve your study / work habits or you are in danger of under performing on examinations.

Most of the review material relates to the Organic Chemistry On-line Learning Center. This means there is not enough time for you to look at every single page and you will need to plan where you spend your time. If you "know" a topic, move on to something you still need to work on.

More about the actual self assessments.....

• They are essentially on-line worksheets, some have time limits to promote the primary learning.
• You can access each CAL self assessment as often as you like, your work will be saved (this is why we deliver the questions one by one).
• Once you have submitted the self-assessment you can view your score and resubmit it after you have corrected any mistakes you have made.
  
• If there is a problem working the self assessment then you should consult Dr. Hunt

CAL ASSIGNMENTS
The CAL assignments cover and test the concepts that we expect you to understand and be able to apply.
The assignments are structured to allow you to determine (measure) your understanding at different levels, starting from the basic leves and ending at the course examination level. This should allow you to determine where your problems are.
Getting the easier questions wrong is a sign that you need to work on the basics, as it is likely to become a much more significant problem as the course continues.
Getting the more difficult problems wrong but the easier ones right is perhaps an indicator that more practice is needed to give you overall success.
This also means you should not expect your assignment scores to match your examination scores. However, being below average on the assignments is likely to mean you will be below average on the examinations.

Some of the assignment questions are very similar to those that you may encounter on examinations and therefore the assignments are a way to measure your progress before an examination.

The assignments are to be completed in specific weeks in your registered tutorial time.
They are to be written under examination conditions.
The assignments have to be submitted in the 50 minute time limit (that's the length of a CAL time slot).
If you work through the review materials first, and are up to date with the course reading, notes, questions etc. then you should be able to complete the assessment in the time allowed without using a textbook or other resources.
If you can't, then you need to study more and / or improve your study / work habits or you are in danger of failing the examinations.

A more specific outline of the assignments is provided. (i.e. coverage, links to materials, timetable of availability and deadlines)

Most of the review material relates to the Organic Chemistry On-line Learning Center. This means there is not enough time for you to look at every single page and you will need to plan where you spend your time. If you "know" a topic, move on to something you still need to work on.

Typically there is a strong direct correlation between students scores on the assignments and their examination performance. So if you are struggling with the assignments, you should take that as a warning and work towards fixing the problems as soon as possible.

More about the actual assignments.....

• They are essentially time limited on-line worksheets run under examination conditions..
• Once you have submitted the assignment it will normally be graded automatically.
  
• If there is a problem working the self assignment then you should consult Dr. Hunt

WHY ON-LINE ?

• In general, based on past experiences, traditional paper quizzes are NOT as effective as a learning tool because:

• Large classes limit the "size" of paper quizzes due to grading / grade collection time.
• Paper "quizzes" are usually too short to be an effective learning tool.
• Many students don't pick up paper quizzes and so don't get feedback on their mistakes, so they can't correct them and then they repeat those mistakes.
• Grading inconsistencies by human markers.

• More questions can be asked giving broader coverage.
• Grading and feedback is automated.
• Graded work is returned automatically so there are no excuses for not reviewing your work.
• Grading is consistent.

OTHER ISSUES

• Questions are given one at a time to speed download times.
• Questions are given one at a time so that previous work is saved when you move on to the next question.
• The best way to use CAL materials is to work through the linked review materials, then complete the exercises.