Chem 181, Advanced General Chemistry Laboratory, Secs. 22A, 23B, Fall 2018.

I am here to help you.

Lab information for lab 7 (updated weekly)


Previous lab information is located here.

Lab techniques: dilution, UV-Vis spectrophotometry.

Lab notes:
Nothing much this week! You're just making solutions and checking your glassware. Note, however, that your final report is due Sunday, 12/2, at midnight. You will not have much time to write your lab report if you wait until after this week's lab to write it, so I recommend starting now.

Thought question: Where are the extra peaks from your spectra this week coming from?

I will have additional office hours for the upcoming formal report on Friday, 11/30, from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm in HG04. If you have scheduling conflicts at that time, let me know.

Do not worry too much about your lab grade. You will probably be curved up relative to the rest of the class. Instead of worrying, focus on making your last formal report as good as possible. This report is worth 100 points, the most of any assignment in this course, and will definitely have an impact on your grade. Re-read the rubric for formal report one, read this new rubric, and come to office hours if you have any questions. Work with a friend and grade each other's report.

Feedback on various assignments.
Formal report:
I have e-mailed out the rubric for formal report 2, and I will hand back physical copies of commented formal reports during lab. There will be no grades on them, but I will write down the rubric criteria you missed.

Lab notebook for lab 6:
Common mistakes:

Lab notebook for lab 7:
Common mistakes: I started taking off points for not having the right number of significant figures in recording data and measurements, as was mentioned on the rubric for formal report one.

Pre-lab for lab 7:
Common mistakes: I took off points if you simply copied the procedure on LabArchives rather than writing your own.

Post-lab for lab 7:
Common mistakes: Performance on Q2 was poor in general, and I expected it to be better based on what I told you during pre-lab lecture---I drew the shapes the spectra should have had and pointed out explicitly what part of the spectra I wanted you to analyze.

Office hours: Wed 10-11 am, Tech HG04, or by appointment.
E-mail: rfu(at)u(dot)northwestern(dot)edu

Special offer: while supplies last, I will give you a ginger snap just for showing up at my office hours! Please come---office hours might be more useful than you think, and you can socialize with other people from your lab section or work on homework or something.

Miscellaneous information


I hosted extra office hours Monday night (11/19) right before formal report 2 was due. Here was an activity handed out during the office hours and electronically distributed to students beforehand.

I hosted extra office hours Monday night (10/29) in preparation for the first midterm. Here are some notes. Please note the following clarifications and corrections:

Messages.
I have set up an anonymous message box for myself, whose link you can find at the bottom of this section. Please read the relevant information below and in the link before you send me a message, or I may ignore it.

Unless you want to remain anonymous, you should send me a message through Canvas (or e-mail) instead.

If you didn't understand a specific part of lecture, had trouble with a certain concept, didn't want to ask in class, or want to share a useful resource, you can message me here. I will respond on this site by posting your question and my answer within one work day. Before doing that, however, please look through the section on good conceptual questions below.

If you want to provide me with feedback regarding my performance as a TA---if you don't like my attitude in lab, feel like I should provide more comments when grading, think I have no idea what I'm talking about, or feel uncomfortable interacting with me---, please also message me here. Please give me feedback; it will help me improve as a TA.

If you feel overwhelmed by college or personal issues and need someone to talk to, hi, I'm here. If you need an anonymous conversation and not just a one-off message, however, you should create a throwaway e-mail and message me your e-mail address so I can respond to you there.

If you have random questions for me or random things to share with me, you can also message me here. Depending on the nature of the questions, I may not respond.

You may send me an anonymous message here.

Frequently raised issues.
Extensions.
Requests for extensions on assignments must go through Stephanie. I don't have the power to grant extensions. The best way of dealing with extensions is to avoid needing them---check the syllabus and mark important deadlines on your planner.
Grade re-evaluation requests.
If you feel that I have graded your assignment unfairly or should have given you more points than I actually did, please submit a written request to me, including both the name of the assignment and the reason you feel that you should have gotten more points. I will not accept such requests through e-mail.
Inconsistent grading between sections.
Don't worry if your friend in a different section has a more lenient TA than you do. At the end of the quarter, all lab grades are normalized among sections. If you're in one of the sections with a lower average grade, you'll get a larger boost at the end.

General guidelines.
Cheating and plagiarism.
Please don't. I am obligated to report any instances of cheating and plagiarism that I come across. Cheating and plagiarism are broadly defined terms whose scope might be larger than what you were used to in high school. If you're unsure what is allowed, check the syllabus or ask. Not-as-obvious examples: John realizes that he forgot to do his pre-lab ten minutes before the start of lab. He asks his lab partner, Carol, if he can copy her pre-lab. John quickly paraphrases Carol's responses to her pre-lab questions and copies her data tables. John is plagiarizing. Annie's friend took general chemistry last year, and Annie got him to give her his graded lab assignments from when he took the course, so she can refer to his graded work when writing her own pre- and post-labs. Annie is cheating.
Civility.
College---especially first quarter!---can be difficult for everyone, and some people struggle more than others. If you get into a conflict with or feel annoyed by someone, remember that the other party might be dealing with issues you're not aware of. There are people that you simply won't get along with, but I expect you to be civil to everyone.
Office hours.
Office hours are for you to ask questions and get help with understanding concepts or assignments. You can go to any TA's office hours, not just mine. If you don't feel comfortable talking to me, I encourage you to seek someone else out. If you have an issue regarding a grade I gave you for an assignment, however, you have to talk to me. I also recommend that you go to professors' office hours, because they are knowledgeable and provide a wealth of other resources, like letters of recommendation or a research opportunity. Ultimately, they are also the ones who assign your grade.
☞     If you have a lot of questions, please prepare a list beforehand so I can answer them efficiently. If there are lots of students, I cannot spend too much time on any one person. If you have trouble expressing your question, I recommend writing it out or asking a friend. If you feel more comfortable asking your question in a different language, let me know and I may be able to tell you which TAs to go to. If you need to speak to me privately, e-mail me to set up an appointment.
Participation.
Some of you are uncomfortable speaking to the entire section to ask or answer questions. That's okay: just talk to me one-on-one if you need to, after class or when I'm walking around. If you have friends, you can also ask them to help speak for you---your input could be valuable to the discussion. I hope, however, that you'll feel comfortable enough to speak up by the end of the quarter.
☞     On the other hand, some of you are very comfortable speaking up. That's great! However, please try not to dominate the conversation so your peers can have a chance to speak also.