The grading system for this lab is so confusing at first, that they showed us a whole video explaining it. Once you figure it out though it makes sense and is manageable. You will have a lot of work in this class. You are expected to write your own experimental plans with a group, do 2 presentations, write summaries for each experiment, and do pre-labs and post-labs for each experiment. This combined with 1410 ends up being a lot. The TAs were very helpful during this class and in workshop. You go to lab every other week and the weeks in between are workshop weeks where you write your plans for the next week's experiment. You also get tokens to re-do assignments if you don't master them which is nice and helpful. You can do well in this class relatively easy if you work hard and get everything done on time. #tCFfall2021
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The workload is consistently heavy for a one-credit class, packed with weekly planning sessions, pre- and post-labs, and writing assignments, but the actual chemistry remains straightforward and rarely challenging. Grading relies on a strict mastery system where you must hit specific thresholds on nearly every assignment, so protecting your final grade takes careful deadline tracking and strategic use of the limited retake tokens provided. You will essentially never interact with the lead professor since TAs run every section with wildly different levels of clarity and leniency, making your randomly assigned lab group and TA the true determinants of your stress level. Treat this class as a time-management and teamwork exercise rather than a rigorous science course, read all weekly communications closely to navigate the intentionally vague experimental prompts, and never skip attendance or office hours.
62 Reviews
This class seemed like a lot of work for a one credit class, although it wasn't necessarily hard. I was able to do it no problem without being in the lecture with the help of the with the prelab content and workshops. My TA took weeks to grade the assignments though, which is frustrating if you have to redo an assignment. In the labs itself, it seemed like nobody knew what was going on because directions are so vague. Also, Microsoft Teams, the platform used for all the material, is extremely user unfriendly. Overall, this class is not bad at all, just annoying. #tCFfall2021
Professor isn't present, lab is run by TAs. The course is really straightforward and a lot of it is convincing the TAs you know something as opposed to actually absorbing it. Only pain is gathering the will to do the work for a class that's so basic and teaches you very little outside the main CHEM course.
I took this class during covid, and I am so, so glad that it was made virtual. Although BeyondLabz was annoying to use, it was incredibly easy for writing prelabs, post labs, and summaries. I enjoyed this lab because I had a good group and TAs, but they are not entirely dependent on how well you do. I highly recommend going into office hours and going over all of your assignments, they usually drop some hints that will boost your score. Also, lab quizzes are difficult, I recommend going over all of the procedures and equations you encounter. All of the assignments need to be super detailed, so make sure you put in a lot of effort on the little things, or you'll get points taken off. The prelab assignments don't take super long, but some of the post labs take a while. All in all, put in the time and you'll do great! #tCF2020
Intro class doesn't teach much if you've been through high school chemistry (it does teach something depend on your background). Though the class experience depend on TA and your groupmate - meaning your luck. Hopefully you won't disagree with your groupmate on the procedure and finish the lab late. Postlab is the most dangerous thing in the class, do pay attention to every requirement and put max effort. Don't follow the example entirely because it actually has lots of problems.
Don't take the morning class if you are not a morning person or you will be pissed with a headache.
** ONLINE PERSPECTIVE **
This class is entirely based on your group. My group was solid, everyone worked hard and did well. The time blocked out for this class is 3 hours, but the longest it's ever taken is 2, and the average is about 1.5 hours, so keep that in mind. The chemistry is not hard, and the write-ups and other work are generally pretty easy.
In the online version, the background chemistry is pretty minimal.
Overall the course is a required one for ENGR and is highly dependent on your group.
#tCF2020
It's a hit or miss with your TA. I got a chill TA for my lecture, but a crappy one for my workshop. The better your TA is, the better your grade will be. Overall, the class was unnecessarily hard for a one-credit class. #tCF2020
Since this semester was online, the course experience may not have been typical. The labs were done on an online platform called Beyond Labz, so it took a while to get used to. In my experience, the TAs were not very clear with their instructions and told different sections different things. I would recommend going to your TA's office hours to specifically ask, or you will get points off for random things not related to chemistry, such as formatting. #tCF2020
I never once saw or heard from the professor the whole course, it doesn't really matter who you take it with. The whole class is directed and taught by TAs, who were perfectly nice. However, online lab absolutely sucks. I did not learn a thing, and I know that's not the professor's fault, but this class taken online was a joke. My group took around 20 minutes to do a 50 min lab each time. I hope this class never has to be taken online again.
#tCF2020
This was definitely not a favorite class of mine, but it wasn't horrible. Granted, I took it during COVID so the lab was all online, and honestly they weren't too hard--but I can't say how that translates to in person labs. Also, we never took the full three hour period to complete our work. The schedule alternates so that one week you have a workshop to write your plan for the experiment, which you have an hour to do, and then the following week you have three hours for the experiment. But the online experiments at least were pretty straightforward and sometimes took no longer than an hour/hour and a half. Professor Morkowchuk didn't do a ton on this course, it's mainly led by TAs, but the emails she sent and lecture videos she occasionally posted were always informative and helpful.
Really how much you enjoy this class comes down to your lab group and the TAs. I had a great lab group which made the workshops and experiments more enjoyable, but I didn't have great TAs - they provided help when we needed it but weren't engaged with the class and were a little wonky with grading sometimes. For those of you that this is a required course for, it's not the best class ever by a long shot, but it's not too bad.