Requirements to Pass this Unit

To pass this unit you must:

• Achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%, and
• Participate in a minimum of 8 SGTAs and 4 practical classes, and
• Achieve at least 40% in the final examination

HURDLE ASSESSMENTS: 

Practice based classes: 

• Development of knowledge and skills requires continual practice at authentic problems. This unit has five laboratory classes and ten SGTA classes where you must demonstrate your progress in developing and communicating knowledge and skills.  Participation in a minimum of 4 of the 5 practical classes and 8 of the 10 SGTA classes is thus a hurdle requirement for this unit. This is a hurdle assessment meaning that failure to meet this requirement may result in a fail grade for the unit. Students are permitted up to three absences, consisting of one practical absence and 2 SGTA absences: additional absences will require a Special Consideration to be applied for (see below). 

Final exam: 

• Satisfactory completion of this unit requires students to demonstrate they have acquired sufficient knowledge and can apply this knowledge to answer questions in the chemical sciences. The final exam assesses whether this has been achieved. Your final grade will be based on the mark from the aggregation of the individual assessments (in-class and online quizzes, mid-semester test, practical), but you must exceed the hurdle threshold mark of 40% or greater in the final examination to be awarded an overall Pass grade or better. That is, you must meet this hurdle to be able to pass overall. If you get between 30-40% you will get a second attempt at the exam but ONLY if you can pass the unit with a grade of 40% in the final exam. The SECOND attempt is to demonstrate that you have obtained a minimum level of understanding to pass the unit and your maximum grade in the SECOND attempt will be 40% of the final exam mark. It is university policy that you cannot improve your mark more than the hurdle boundary mark if you are given a SECOND attempt.

​ONLINE QUIZZES:

Due: 10 Weekly online quizzes from Weeks 2-12 (Check iLearn as any weeks without an SGTA do not have a quiz). Weighting: 15% 

There will be 10 on-line quizzes.  You will find that these quizzes assist you in revising the course material as the course progresses.  Further specific details on the quizzes will be provided at the CHEM1002 iLearn site.

PRACTICALS:

​Due: To be submitted at the conclusion of every practical class. Weighting: 20% 

The pre-practical exercises, performance in the practical, the practical report, and the post-practical exercises will be used to calculate the final practical mark.  The assessment tasks start off simple and build on skills and knowledge developed throughout the course.

Pre-practicals exercises for practicals 1, 3, 4 and 5 must be handed in online on iLearn prior to your scheduled practical class. See iLearn for dates for online submission prior to the practical class. These "pre-labs" represent 20% of the practical mark for these 4 lab classes and will guide you in the data analysis for the practical class. Feedback will be given.

Attendance: If you are unable to attend a practical class, exam, or hand in a form of assessment due to illness or misadventure, you must submit a Disruption to Studies notification at ask.mq.edu.au no later than five (5) working days after the assessment task date or due date.  You should also immediately contact the Unit Convenor, Professor Robert Willows (robert.willows@mq.edu.au).  

MID SEMESTER TEST:

Due: Wednesday 7th September during the lecture time. Weighting: 15% 

Covering lectures up to and including week 6 content. This is designed to give you specific feedback on your understanding of the topics up to this stage to assist you in your further study of the unit. See iLearn for location and details.

FINAL EXAMINATION:

Due: University Examination Period Weighting: 50% 

The final exam is designed to address specific understanding of all the topics presented within the course and to show that the knowledge obtained can be applied to new problems. Details of the final exam length will be made available as part of the publishing of the university exam timetable.

The final exam is a hurdle assessment and you will need to get >= 40% in the final exam to meet the hurdle.  In the event that you make a serious first attempt at the final exam, you will be provided with an opportunity to sit a new final exam to meet the hurdle. The faculty define a serious attempt as a mark of 10% below the hurdle which in this instance is a mark between 30-40%. You will NOT be given a second attempt meet the exam hurdle of 40% if you get below 30% in your first attempt.

Final Examination Details:  The examination timetable will be available in Draft form approximately eight weeks before the commencement of the examinations and in final form approximately four weeks before the commencement of the examinations.  You are expected to present yourself for examination at the time and place designated by the University in the Examination Timetable.  This could be any day after the final week of semester and up until the final day of the official examination period.  It is Macquarie University policy to not set early examinations for individuals or groups of students.  All students are expected to ensure that they are available until the end of the teaching semester, that is, the final day of the official examination period. 

The only exception to sitting an examination at the designated time is because of documented illness or unavoidable disruption. In these circumstances you should apply for a Supplementary Exam at ask.mq.edu.au.

Late Assessment Submission

Late assessments are not accepted in this unit unless a Special Consideration has been submitted and approved.

Special Consideration

The Special Consideration Policy aims to support students who have been impacted by short-term circumstances or events that are serious, unavoidable and significantly disruptive, and which may affect their performance in assessment.

Weekly practice-based tasks: To pass the unit you need to demonstrate ongoing development of skills and application of knowledge in 4 out of 5 of the practical classes. If you miss a practical class due to a serious, unavoidable and significant disruption, contact Professor Robert Willows, robert.willows@mq.edu.au as soon as possible so you can get access to class material to review in your own time.

Note that a Special Consideration should only be applied for if you miss more than one of the five practical classes.

COVID Information and on-campus classes

On-campus teaching continues to be scheduled for Session 1, 2023. Any requirements or changes to units in relation to COVID will be communicated to students via iLearn.

Required Textbook:

"Chemistry the Central Science- Global Edition" by Brown and Lemay

Lectures (RECORDED ON ECHO360 SYSTEM)

Lecture recordings and supplementary shorter summaries will be available through iLEARN ECHO, and powerpoint slides via iLearn.  Lectures will also include working through examples of problems, to strengthen and increase understanding of the concepts. Learning is an active process, and as such, you must engage with the material. This means downloading and reading the lecture notes and relevant sections of the textbook (and beyond) before and after attending the lectures is strongly recommended. Weekly on-line quizzes will also be provided so it is strongly recommended that you listen and work through lecture examples prior to completing these quizzes. The quizzes are timed. The quizzes and mid session test are designed to allow you to continuously learn and to identify what you understand and the areas that you need to spend more time on, with minimal assessment penalty.

SGTAs (Weekly IN PERSON PARTICIPATION IS COMPULSORY)

SGTAs will be run to assist your understanding of the course material. Attempting the questions before the SGTA class to identify what you need assistance on is highly recommended. You will often be asked to assist in answering questions throughout the class. Participation records will be kept and logged and a minimum of 8 sessions need to have satisfactor participation to meet the hurdle. Anonymous teaching evaluations from past students have identified these teaching activities as a valuable learning tool and participation is thus a hurdle requirement for passing the unit.

Laboratory classes (On campus and are compulsory)

Practical classes are designed to develop basic laboratory skills, general safety practices and critical and analytical thought. Pre-practical questions are designed to make sure you are ready for the practical work and have grasped the relevant theory and safety practices necessary. The pre-practical questions MUST be submitted on-line through iLearn by the due date as in iLearn PRIOR to the scheduled practical class. In-lab and post-lab work are designed to allow you to appropriately record your experimental observations and your calculations in a detailed and accurate manner and assess your understanding of the theory behind the experiments conducted and to use this understanding to solve related problems. The practicals are scaffolded such that the expectations of pre-practical, in-practical and post-practical reports increase throughout the course as understanding of the concepts and skill in how to record the data and interpret results develops.

COVID Information

For the latest information on the University’s response to COVID-19, please refer to the Coronavirus infection page on the Macquarie website: https://www.mq.edu.au/about/coronavirus-faqs. Remember to check this page regularly in case the information and requirements change during semester. If there are any changes to this unit in relation to COVID, these will be communicated via iLearn.