Course Syllabus


Print Syllabus
Course ID: CHM130LL
Title: Fundamental Chemistry Laboratory
Modality: Internet
Credit Hours: 1.00

Course Section Information

* please check your course assignment calendar for the correct number of weeks.

Institution: Rio Salado College

Section: 14489

Term: Fall 2014

Start Date: 9/22/2014

Weeks: 16

Last date to withdraw: None

Instructor: Heather O'Brien

Course Materials

Be sure that you have all the necessary materials prior to the start date of your course.

Software Required for Course:

Word is required for this course. Please refer to your MySite page and click on the Software Purchase link for information on purchasing Word.

Lab Kit required for Course:

CHM130LL Lab Kit. This may be purchased from the Rio Salado Bookstore.

The labs completed in this course require you to use various chemicals. You must be aware of the safety precautions associated with each of these chemicals. Read the MSDS sheets prior to beginning any experiment.

Other Materials Required for Course:

You will need a scientific calculator for this course.

Course Description and Competencies

Official Course Description
Laboratory experience in support of CHM130.
Official Course Prerequisite or Corequisite:
A grade of "C" or better in CHM130.
Official Course Competencies
  1. Identify and evaluate chemical hazards and hazard warning signs (such as the 4-bar Hazardous Material Information System, the 4- diamond National Fire Protection Association System, and Material Safety Data Sheets).
  2. Record observations accurately, using appropriate chemical terminology.
  3. Prepare written reports, present data in a logical format, analyze data, and report conclusions.
  4. Use scientific measuring devices to obtain chemical data and report these measurements with the proper number of digits.
  5. Apply principles, concepts, and procedures of chemistry to lab experiments.
  6. Use the scientific method in interpreting chemical data to arrive at rational conclusions.
  7. Use lab equipment properly and safely to perform a variety of chemical procedures and techniques.
  8. Cite the location and operation of common laboratory safety equipment.

Course Requirements

You must complete all assignments in the course to get a passing grade.

At-Home Laboratory Experiments

All of your experiments will be performed at home. All of the instructions for the at-home labs are online, and you will have a separate course icon for the laboratory portion/section. You will receive a laboratory kit that contains some of the materials necessary to perform the at-home laboratory experiments, only after you have paid your course fees in full. You will be expected to supplement these materials using common household materials. Please consult the online information about supplementary materials you will be expected to have. At-home labs are to be completed and submitted via attachment in the Message Center by the posted due date. Consult the calendar for your section to determine the actual calendar dates.

Remember that this is a one credit-hour class. As such, you will need to dedicate significant time to this course. Plan to spend at least one hour on course content and at least two hours on homework for a total of at least three hours each week. Be prepared to double your weekly class and study time if you choose an accelerated calendar.

Grading Procedure and Scale

Grading Procedure

Grading procedures are administered equally to all students in the course. Do not expect to receive a grade higher than that earned by your scored work. There will be no "point adjustments" or other subjective factors. There is no extra credit offered in this course.

There are 14 graded labs. Each graded lab is worth 200 points each, for a total of 2800 points.

Grading Scale

Letter grades for the course will be determined by the following scale:

2520 - 2800 (90% - 100%) = A
2240 - 2519 (80% - 89%) = B
1960 - 2239 (70% - 79%) = C
1680 - 1959 (60% - 69%) = D
Less than 1679 (0% - 59%) = F

Submitting Assignments

All assignments are listed in lessons under the "Reading Assignment" and/or "Assessing Your Learning" headings. This is where you will find directions regarding submitting the required assignment. The lessons can be accessed from the "Labs" link on the menu at the left hand side of this page.

Note to students: Keep a copy of everything you submit.

You will be directed to submit your labs via the Message Center as an attachment. Please read the directions directly following the assignment on each of the lesson pages.

Assessment

Learning First: the assessment philosophy of Rio Salado College. Rio Salado College focuses on assessment-directed improvement for increasing student learning and improving the teaching and learning process. We believe that 1) learning is the primary purpose of assessment, 2) assessment should lead to improvement and not be an end unto itself, and 3) that faculty and students who understand the value of assessment and participate in assessment activities benefit most from this work. Therefore, the college expects every individual to participate fully in this effort.

Laboratory Safety

There is No Substitute for Safety in the Laboratory. Learn and observe these safety rules at all times.

  1. Wear eye protection at all times in the lab.
  2. Do not eat or drink in the lab.
  3. Store backpacks, purses, etc., away from the working areas in the lab.
  4. Wear proper shoes in the lab at all times. No thongs or open-toed shoes allowed.
  5. Tie back long hair, so it will not fall into chemicals or flames.
  6. Never perform any unauthorized experiment.
  7. Before leaving the lab, wash the lab top and your hands with soap and water.
  8. If an accident occurs in the laboratory, no matter how minor, report it to the instructor immediately.
  9. Never point the open end of a test tube at yourself or at another person.
  10. If you want to smell a substance, do not hold it directly to your nose. Instead, hold the container a few centimeters away and use your hand to fan the vapors toward you.
  11. Hot glassware and cold glassware look alike. If you heat glass and put it down to cool, do not pick it up too soon. Do not put hot glassware where another person is apt to pick it up.
  12. When diluting acids, always add the acid to water, never water to acid.
  13. Most organic solvents are flammable. Keep these liquids away from open flames.
  14. Do not pour organic solvents down the drain.
  15. If you should have skin contact with any harmful chemical, flush the area with large quantities of water. Inform the instructor.
  16. If you spill any chemical, solid or liquid, be sure to clean it up so another student does not come into contact with it and perhaps become injured by it.

Preventing Contamination of Chemicals

  1. Avoid handling more than one reagent bottle at a time, so you do not interchange their stoppers by mistake.
  2. When selecting a reagent bottle, read the label twice to be sure you have the chemical you want.
  3. Use separate spatulas to remove different solid chemicals from their bottles.
  4. Do not return any excess chemical, liquid or solid, to its stock bottle. Share the excess with another student.
  5. Never weigh a chemical directly on a balance pan. Use a preweighed container or weighing paper.
  6. Never leave a stock bottle uncovered. Be sure you cover the bottle with the proper lid.

At-home labs should be conducted with the same regard to safety! In addition, when you conduct the experiments at home, make sure to clean up the reagants immediately to keep your family safe. As you would in the in-house labs, wear appropriate clothing and eye protection at all times.

Copyright Acknowledgements

Some images used in courses are licensed as follows: Accunet/AP Multimedia Archive, http://www.clipart.com, http://www.jupiterimages.com, EBSCO Image Collection.

Syllabus Acknowledgement

Special Note: The online syllabus acknowledgement (found in Lesson or Lab 1) should be completed prior to accessing any assignments for the class. If the online syllabus acknowledgement is not completed by its due date, students will be automatically purged from the course. Additionally, if a student is purged from class and has been provided permission by the department to be reinstated, the syllabus acknowledgement must be completed upon reinstatement into the class; even if it had been previously completed.

Late or Missing Assignments

Assignments that have due dates are due on time according to the due dates in your gradebook. If you need to request an extension for an assignment, a request must be made to your instructor via RioLearn prior to the due date. You can request a due date change using the “Modify Due Dates” feature from the “Due Dates” tab in the Gradebook.

See the course’s Welcome letter for the late point deduction policy for the department.

Course Completion Policy

A student who registers for a Distance Learning course is assigned a "start date" and an "end date." It is the student's responsibility to note due dates for assignments and to keep up with the course work.

Submitting Assignments

Online Submission Platform

The assignment due dates in this course are structured to complete all the lessons over the span of the course. Regular and consistent progress is expected in the course through the submission of assignments. The submission of an assignment can be no earlier than 7 days prior to the due date. Consult your course gradebook for specific due dates. Assignments/acknowledgments must be submitted through the online submission platform unless otherwise directed.

Final Grade Options

  • Letter grade (A, B, C, D, F)

  • Extension (in lieu of an incomplete grade): Students may request an assessment extension because of illness or other extenuating circumstances, if they have been doing acceptable work. Assessment extensions may extend up to two weeks beyond the established course end as indicated in the gradebook. Please Note: Assessment extensions are given at the instructor’s discretion. Instructors are not obligated to give extensions.

  • Withdrawn Failing (Y) – Students may be removed from their classes with a Withdrawn Failing (Y) grade for non-participation, which counts like an F in GPA calculation.

  • Withdrawal (W) - Students may submit a withdrawal request on or prior to the "Last Date to Withdraw" indicated in their RioLearn Gradebook.

  • Instructors are unable to submit a withdrawal (W) on behalf of a student. A student wishing to withdraw from a class within the stated timeline must do so by visiting View My Classes/Schedule in the Student Center, and selecting Drop Classes. In extreme circumstances, students do have the option of requesting a complete withdrawal from the college by submitting a "Request for Complete Withdrawal From All Courses" available under the Records heading on Rio’s Important Forms page.

    Before withdrawing, students should consider contacting their instructor and/or Rio's Counseling Services to see what options are available to help them stay in class.

    STUDENTS – STOP Before You Drop! A withdrawal request is irrevocable, and may affect future Financial Aid, Visa status, Veteran benefit eligibility, scholarship eligibility and may delay graduation. Please be sure that it is the right option for you before submission.

    STOP BEFORE YOU DROP

  • Credit/No Credit Option (P/Z) - Some courses may be offered with a credit/no credit option which, if offered, would be identified in the Grading Procedure and Scale section of this syllabus. See detailed information about the (P/Z) option here.

  • Note: Choosing the P/Z option is a permanent change to the gradebook. A P/Z grade will not be changed to a letter grade after the course end date.

Regular and Substantive Faculty-Student Interaction

The Rio Salado College faculty provide learners with frequent opportunities for regular and substantive interaction, which are critical components of a quality online program. At a minimum, faculty teaching online courses for credit monitor weekly due dates and initiate contact with students, post course announcements and/or "From Your Instructor" (FYI) notes that are academic and relevant, respond to academic inquiries within 72 hours, and provide detailed, personalized, and timely feedback. In addition, faculty regularly engage in synchronous and/or asynchronous interaction with students via tools such as discussion boards, rubrics, voice threads, video conferences, audio recordings, phone calls, email and/or text messages, social media, and online collaboration software. Though faculty members are responsible for initiating interaction, providing academic information, and facilitating learning, Rio students are responsible for remaining in regular contact with their instructors and engaging with the course content as active participants in the educational experience.

Requirement for Active Class Participation

Withdrawal for Non-Participation (Y) – Students need to communicate regularly with their instructor and engage in academic activities as determined by the instructor and department. Students may be removed from their classes after 14 days of non-participation with a Withdrawn Failing (Y) grade, which counts like an F in GPA calculation.

If you receive financial aid of any kind, it is your responsibility to protect your eligibility to receive financial aid by meeting the active participation requirements of this class.

Pregnant and Parenting Students

Students will not be discriminated against on the basis of a disclosed pregnancy. This includes discrimination against a student based on pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy, or recovery from any of these conditions. As a result, a pregnant or parenting student (a student during a defined postpartum period lasting up to 8 weeks after delivery), may be provided adjustments so they are able to access and participate in their educational program or activity.

Please visit the Working with Pregnant and Parenting webpage to learn more about this policy, reasonable adjustments and complete the Pregnancy Adjustment Form. If you have questions about the policy, please contact Rio Salado College’s Title IX/504 Coordinator Tafari Osayande at o.tafari.osayande@riosalado.edu or (480) 517-8196.

In the event of certain pregnancy-related medical complications, contact Disability.Services@riosalado.edu or call (480) 517-8562 for assistance in providing accommodations/academic adjustments.

Basic Needs

If a lack of basic needs such as food, transportation, school supplies, etc. is affecting your participation and/or performance in this course, please contact the Rio Salado Counseling Department at 480-517-8785 or via email at counseling.receptionist@riosalado.edu.

For additional services and resources:

Rio Salado College Counseling and Career Services
Maricopa Basic Needs and Community Resources

Library Services

The Rio Salado Library is committed to student success and provides a variety of materials and services to enhance student learning. Utilizing Rio’s online library for your research is the best way to ensure that your sources are validated, authoritative, and appropriate for college-level coursework. The library's Video Tutorials page provides instruction on how to use the online library to find books, articles, ebooks, and more. Librarians are available to help you at all times via our Ask a Librarian live chat service.

Please note that when library materials (e.g., articles, ebooks, and streaming media) are integrated into your lesson content, you will see the notation “…provided to you through the Rio Salado Library.

Academic Misconduct

Academic Misconduct includes cheating, conspiring to cheat, soliciting to cheat, attempting to cheat, plagiarism, fabrication on an assignment, or other forms of dishonest presentation.

Posting assessments on an unauthorized web site, soliciting assessment answers and the unauthorized acquisition of assessments, assessment answers, or other academic material is cheating. Turning in content created by essay generators or other types of artificial intelligence platforms is also academic misconduct.

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the use of paraphrase or direct quotation of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment. It also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling or sharing of term papers or other academic materials. Information gathered from the Internet and not properly identified is also considered plagiarism.

We expect every student to produce his/her original, independent work. Any student whose work indicates a violation of the MCCCD Academic Misconduct Policy (including cheating and plagiarism) can expect sanctions as specified in the college catalog.

Rio Salado College uses software that uncovers plagiarism from student to student and other data sources on the Internet. If a student is found to have plagiarized content, grade consequences will be applied in accordance with departmental policies.

Civility Policy

The faculty of Rio Salado place a high value on the importance of general ethical standards of academic behavior and expect that communication between students and instructors or among students shall maintain the level of formality and mutual respect appropriate to any college teaching/learning situation.

Language or behavior that is rude, abusive, profane, disruptive, or threatening will not be tolerated. Activity of this type is Academic Misconduct as defined in MCCCD Policy AR 2.3.11. Students engaging in such behavior will be removed from the course with a failing grade. Additional sanctions may be applied pursuant to AR 2.3.11.

Honors Program

If you are taking this course for Honors credit, you must complete all assessments, including the Honors Project(s). The Honors Project(s) are listed in one or more lessons of the course and are designated for "Honors Students." Failure to complete the Honors Project(s) will result in a failing grade in the course and a loss of Honors credit.

Honors students are also enrolled in a non-credit Honors Achievement Award (HAA) or Presidential Honors Scholarship (PHS) section within RioLearn to submit co-curricular activity submissions. Co-curriculars must be completed in order to receive funding.

The Honors Department is here to support you! Connect with the college and other Honors students in our INSCRIBE community.

The Honors Department is available to provide additional resources and support to support your journey. Please contact the Honors department at RioSalado.Honors@riosalado.edu.

Classroom Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) and its associated colleges are committed to providing equitable access to learning opportunities to students with documented disabilities (e.g. mental health, attentional, learning, chronic health, sensory, or physical). Visit district.maricopa.edu/mandatory-drs-title-ix-syllabus-statements for more information.

Religious Accommodations

Rio Salado College will reasonably accommodate the religious needs, observances, and practices of their students, when requested and the requests are made in accordance with the procedures set forth in ND-4. Any student may request a religious accommodation by making a written request for an accommodation to the appropriate faculty member using the Religious Accommodation Request form. To the extent possible, requests must be made at least two (2) weeks before the requested absence from class due to religious holiday or day of observance.

Addressing Incidents of Sexual Harassment/Assault, Dating/Domestic Violence, and Stalking

In accordance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, MCCCD prohibits unlawful sex discrimination against any participant in its education programs or activities. The District also prohibits sexual harassment—including sexual violence—committed by or against students, District employees, and visitors to campus. As outlined in District policy, sexual harassment, dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking are considered forms of "Sexual Misconduct" prohibited by District policy. Visit district.maricopa.edu/mandatory-drs-title-ix-syllabus-statements for more information.

Student Solution Center

Rio Salado College is dedicated to a quality learning experience and has provided the Student Solution Center webpage as a resource for students to raise issues to our attention. We look forward to the opportunity to provide an equitable solution for all involved parties. For grading or instructional issues, students should first contact their faculty member(s) in accordance with the Instructional Grievance Process. For non-instructional complaints, students may contact Institutional Integrity and Compliance by submitting the non-instructional complaint form, emailing studentcomplaints@riosalado.edu, or calling 480-517-8505. Students may also contact their state regulatory agency; the Arizona SARA Council; and/or the Higher Learning Commission to escalate their concerns.

Change of Address

Please notify Course Support at (480) 517-8243 or 1-800-729-1197 or by email at course.support@riosalado.edu. Please include your name, student number, phone number, and new address including city, state, and zip code.

Contact Us

Please see the following page for contact information.

Disclaimer

Course content may vary from this outline to meet the needs of this particular group.

Rio Salado College Copyright

Course Content © Copyright 2021 Rio Salado College. All Rights Reserved.