Have a great summer!

1. Why do you use ‘recycled’ paper for pre-labs and homework exercises?
2. What can (and probably will) happen to you if you are caught cheating?
3. Which of Dr. Ott’s office hours do NOT conflict with your class schedule?
4. Why should you check posted grades as soon as they go up?
5. What questions do you have about the course/syllabus at this point?

- Start looking at the screencasts, especially the first one, since that one will NOT be covered in class.

Q: It says labs are taken late up to 72 hours after they are due. Do points starts being taken off immediately?
A: 2 min late is late and points will be taken off, Depending on the size of the assignment. So for example, a 20 point lab turned in 24 hours late might lose 5 points. Turned in 48 hours late, 10 points.

Q:What is the format for our quizzes? Are they multiple choice?
A: Short answer, calculations, short essay. Multiple choice are VERY rare, ‘matching’ never.

Q:Is it true that we do not have a cumulative final exam?
A: No final exam per se, but there will be 1-3 of ‘larger than usual’ Tuesday quizzes, like 40-50ish points. Not enough to make a huge difference.

Q:Each week do you want us to have the lab printed off and with us each time we attend lab?
A: Yes.

Q:I was wondering how often online coursework will be used. I have dial-up at my house.
A: I strongly encourage you to use computers on campus. WA hall has whole classrooms, the lobby of McD, the 2 chem tweener rooms. In theory, there is enough advance warning that you can pull stuff from on campus on the days you are here.

Q:Do you ever grade on a curve? Historically, how many people finish your class each semester with a 4.0? How many people finish with 3.5 or a 3.0?
A: I shoot for 10-15% 4.0’s, but have given as high as 25% in one class and once had a class with NO 4.0’s. The current grading scale almost never gets curved. Long years of experience

Q:How quickly do we go through each chapter? (Approximately how many days will it take us?)
A: It depends on the chapter, but roughly 1.5 weeks per full chapter as we will get through ~10 chapters.

Q: How long do we have to complete homework?
A: Generally 23 hours (assigned at end of class, due the next day)

Q: Do you prefer handed in items to be done in pen or pencil?
A: I don’t care either way.

Q:Are the grades posted in Jetnet or www.docott.com/141?
A:I will never post anything on jetnet. Ever. I’ll explain why later. Maybe.

Q: One question I did have about this course is I was reading the syllabus and it mentioned something about take home quizzes, will there be a lot of take home quizzes or very few in this course?
A: Sometimes you get homework problems, something above and beyond M and W quizzes. Usually for long drawn out problems.

Q:When we email you assignments, do you prefer us attaching the documents or copying and pasting the entire document into the message?
A: You will almost never email labs or homework assignments. Too many issues with that process.

Q: Do you think that we are going to get through all of the content on the syllabus as planned and on time?
A: I am 97% confident we will plow through it, without even ‘hurrying’ in the end. I have been teaching this course for over a decade and have never gotten more than 2 lecture days behind. Ever.

Q: In case you miss a lab class, lets say on Tuesday can you make it up on Wednesday?
A: Generally yes, but let me know in advance if it is a date that you KNOW you will miss. There are no ‘make up labs’ at the end of the term, though.

Q: What is your view on lab reports? How many lab reports will we have?
A: You will do several (5?, 7?) short form memos, which run 1-2 pages. Other lab write ups are easier. No full blown bohemoths. Did you know if you type in ’short form memo’ into google, the above link is the second one that comes up? cool.

Q: Is there any extra credit in this class?
A: No. Not a lick. Ever. Don’t ask.

Q:When you put the grades up do they have are names up as well? or is it private?
A: You will be given a 4 digit random number that only you know. That is how they will be posted.

More questions/answers posted here as they arrive!

You must be very very careful that you are purchasing the actual textbook, not the study guide, or solutions manual or something else. If you are not sure, BEFORE you buy it, ask your instructor. Copy/paste the direct link (in eBay for example), send it to me at 141@docott.com and with 12 hours I will check and tell you if that is the right one.

This stands for all calculations from this day forward.