blackboard group assignment not participating

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Blackboard – Creating and marking a Group Assignment

• Assessment and feedback
• Blackboard Assignments

Staff Guide: use a Blackboard Group Assignment so one member of a group can submit but all members of the group see the mark and feedback. If you need a plagiarism check this guide explains how to combine a Blackboard Assignment with a Turnitin Assignment.

Set up Blackboard user groups to support group work.

Your students will need to be allocated to Blackboard Groups to support group work on the cours e. See the guide to Getting Started with Groups for more information on Blackboard Groups and how to set up the different types of groups.

Essential Group Properties:

• Manual -you allocate students to groups,
• Self enrol – create a sign-up sheet so students can organise themselves into groups – you can add students who have not signed up manually.
• Random – Blackboard will add students to groups randomly.
• Groups Visible to students – tick yes.
• Create Smart View for each group – tick yes.

Add a Blackboard Assignment for group submission.

• It is best to create a folder to hold all content relating to the group submission. (Select Build Content – Folder)
• See this Blackboard guide for details on how to Create and Edit Assignments .

Important Settings

• Add CLEAR instructions to the Assignment so students know what to do – see the example in the section below.
• Assignment Type – Select Group Submission
• Items to Select – Select all the groups that will participate in the group work. One member from each group will submit the work.
• Number of Attempts – Allow 2 or 3 attempts to allow for mistakes and updates.
• Score attempts using – Score using Last Marked Attempt .

• Include in Grade Centre marking calculations – Tick. This will ensure that only the last submitted attempt will appear in the “Needs Marking” Grade Centre view. Make sure the Grade Centre TOTAL column is hidden.
• Show to students in My Marks – do not tick. Leave unticked until you want to reveal marks to students.

Combine a Group Assignment and a Turnitin assignment for similarity checking.

Currently, Blackboard Assignments do not do similarity checking so you can add a Turnitin Assignment if the group work needs to be checked for plagiarism. Blackboard is planning to integrate Turnitin Similarity checking with Blackboard assessment tools soon.

Set up a Blackboard Assignment and a Turnitin Assignment with clear instructions

Make the Turnitin Assignment unavailable after the due date.

Students will not see their marks and feedback via the Turnitin link so it is better to make this unavailable.

Check Submissions for each Group and mark via the Gradecentre

See the Blackboard Guide to Grading Group Assignment for more details.

• Go to: Course Management – Grade Centre – Full Grade Cente
• Select Filter from the Grade Centre top menu.
• From the Current View options, you can select each group (Smart View) to filter the GradeCentre view.
• You should see a submission for each member of the group.Anyone in the group can submit to the Blackboard Assignment and it will show as “needs marking” for all group members. There should be a single Turnitin submission.

• Select the drop-down options to the right of the “needs marking” icon (for any of the submissions) and choose the group attempt to be taken to the group submission.
• Give an overall mark and feedback, then Submit, all members of the Group will be given the same mark. Individual members’ marks can be altered if necessary.

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Related articles.

• Blackboard – Create groups for students with additional exam requirements or special considerations
• Blackboard: Create marking groups for multiple markers.
• Blackboard – View student submission receipts for Assignments
• Blackboard – Delegate marking and reconciling marks
• Blackboard – Creating an Assignment
• Blackboard – Marking an Assignment

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Blackboard Tip: Making Sense of Those Tiny Icons in the Grade Center

If you use the Blackboard Grade Center to record your students’ grades you have probably noticed small icons scattered throughout the page. There is an Icon Legend button in the lower right corner below the grade columns but here is what the icons mean:

Blackboard Grade Center Icons

User Unavailable : the student has dropped the class or become inactive.

Column Not Visible to Users : students will not see their grade in MyGrades for this column.

Completed : A Survey or other activity has been completed by the student.

Needs Grading : Student work, for example an Assignment or an Essay Question in a Test, is waiting for you to grade it manually.

Override : You (or your TA) has overriden a previously given grade, either to make it lower or higher.

Attempt in Progress : Student is still working on it (example: they are in the middle of taking a Test).

External Grade : The Total column carries this designation by default. It is designed especially for K-12 where a teacher may want to share a grade with the student’s parent or guardian. We do not use that feature, but if you want to delete the Total column you must set another column to carry the “External Grade” designation before you can delete the column. Choose a different column to carry this designation by selecting “Set as External Grade” option in the drop-down menu for that other column. Once done, the Total column will be freed up and you will find “Delete Column” as an option in its drop-down menu.

Grade Exempted for this User:  You or your TA has chosen to Exempt this grade, i.e. not include it in the calculations for that student, by clicking on the cell for that Grade and choosing “Exempt Grade” from the cell’s drop-down menu.

Does not contribute to user’s grade : Typically you see this icon when you have set an Assignment or Test to allow for multiple attempts. You must designate which single grade should be counted (ex: the last attempt, the highest grade attempt, the first attempt, the lowest grade). This icon tells you that the student made other attempts and received other grades for this specific activity.

Error : Means what error always means–an undefined problem has occurred!

Not participating : The student is not participating in , or has been exempted from, this activity. For example, the activity may have been created for a specific group but not for the entire class.

Anonymous Grading is enabled for this item : You may add a layer of impartiality to your grading so that you aren’t unduly influenced by a student’s previous performance, past participation, race, gender, or perceived student aptitude.

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Group member not helping (PROFESSOR teaches you what to do)

About the author

Hi there. I am the prolific professor with 15 years of experience teaching online and in-person. I have a graduate degree. I have a passion for education. But I’ve also worked in the professional world (outside of education) too. Thanks for visiting.

Professor helps explain how students can deal with group members who aren’t helping and how to talk to their professors about lazy group members

TABLE OF CONTENTS (jump ahead)

1.) Why are group projects required?

2.) Why doesn’t a student participate in a project?

3.) Disadvantages of lazy group members

4.) How do you deal with uncooperative group members

5.) How to complain about a group member

6.) Email template to professor about lazy group member

7.) How to get all group members to participate

8.) What to do when you’re the only one working in a group

What to do when a group member does not contribute

If a group member is not contributing, you should consider your professor’s instructions first. If they don’t mention how to handle it, I would try to deal with it within your group. I would focus on reaching out to the group member and taking detailed notes of all the communication and your efforts. Finally, you can get everyone in the group to sign a contract to agree to their workload and contribution to the groupwork.

The dreaded conversation that you must have with your professor is one about a classmate who just isn’t pulling their weight in the group.

Before I was a professor, I was assigned to a group for a writing project.

One of my classmates plagiarized his entire part and we got in trouble.

It was a giant mess, and very embarrassing.

So, I know exactly what it feels like to be stuck in a group.

And it can be very frustrating to deal with that classmate who just isn’t cutting it anymore.

Well, how do you handle it?

If you speak up, you’re afraid your professor will think you are complaining .

If you sit back and let it play out, you’re afraid you will have to work harder than everyone else just to get the project turned in.

With 15 years of experience of teaching college students, I am going to share with you exactly how to email your professor about a group member who isn’t contributing towards the group project.

And as a bonus, I will provide a customizable email template to professionally share your concerns.

Why are group projects required by professors?

Group projects are likely required from your professor because they want to help prepare you for the workforce and how to handle conflict and build communication skills. Finally, some universities are required to teach certain skills, and teamwork and communication skills may be one of those so they’ll have to create assignments to assess you.

The first question I need to answer is why professors even assign these projects anyway.

Well, it depends.

It can be that your course requires a lot of interaction with classmates, and the only way to accomplish some of these course objectives is to require group projects.

Other professors may like group projects to promote leadership, collaboration, and communication skills.

While you may not see the purpose, it’s safe to assume that your professor has a reason for these group projects.

However, some professors might just assign them because that’s all they’ve ever done, and they aren’t ever going to change.

Maybe it’s something that is a department-wide requirement (out of their control).

There are lots of reasons why professors require group projects and assignments, and if you really want to know why, you could always ask them.

Why doesn’t a student participate in group projects?

A student might not participate in group projects because they have other priorities, are dealing with medical issues, have trouble understanding the assignment, don’t care about their grade, procrastinate or the group lacks effective leadership to delegate tasks.

Before we dive into solving the problem, we fist need to talk about why your classmate isn’t contributing.

They have other priorities – Some classmates, even outside of group projects, just aren’t dedicated to their college career. They are focused on work, family or hanging out with friends. So, classwork takes a backseat.

Sick – This is probably rare, but have they been sick? I was in a group once, and a classmate was in the hospital with a kidney stone. I’m not kidding. Luckily, he wouldn’t let us down and worked while he was hospitalized. But that isn’t always the case.

Don’t understand – This student just doesn’t know the material or understand the directions to even comprehend what they’re supposed to do. And will need a lot of guidance and handholding.

Lack of leadership – If no one is designated as a leader, are all group members even receiving deadlines, structured tasks, communication, etc. If there isn’t a leader, it’s no surprise that classmates aren’t doing the work in a group because of the disorganization.

Don’t care – This student may never show up for class, make bad grades, and simply does not care. There is probably little you can do here. Even your professor can’t help much.

Procrastinator – This person might just wait until the last minute to complete the assignment, and will get it done, but it won’t be early. It’s probably scary to have this type of student in your group, but they’ll still get the work done.

Why it’s a problem when a classmate doesn’t contribute to a project?

If your classmate doesn’t contribute towards your group project, you may risk getting a bad grade or having to put in extra work just to complete the project on time. It can be an extra burden on you and will cause unnecessary stress for the rest of the group.

And if the classmate isn’t doing their part, what they do contribute is probably awful work.  And you are going to share the grade with that student. So, you’ll be more likely to correct their work after they submit it. What a pain, am I right?

Also, you don’t want this student to get credit for something that they didn’t even do.

I no longer require group projections for this reason, and I find other ways to enhance the skills you would have acquired by doing group work in other ways.

How do you deal with an uncooperative group members?

If you need to deal with uncooperative group members, before you reach out to your professor, ask yourself if there is a way that you can communicate with the student first. I know it is super annoying to be doing all the work yourself in a group so it might be something you can solve with a discussion with your classmates.

This may not be an option because the student is just out of the picture altogether, but if you have some communication with them, START THERE.

I would start by reaching out to them and giving them a strict deadline.

And make sure the instructions for their project are clearly outlined.

Someone needs to be a leader and delegate tasks appropriately. If things seem confusing, and deadlines aren’t outlined, students can fall behind in projects.

It is crucial to determine who the designated leader is going to be in a group so that one person is making demands.

Always make the deadlines earlier than necessary because if students don’t submit on time, you won’t be in a rush to figure out how to finish the assignment.

Give them smaller tasks instead. It is possible that they just feel overwhelmed by their tasks required for the group assignment so you could give the classmate the project in smaller sections with intermittent deadlines.

Lastly, you could have an honest conversation . Let your classmate know that this project is important and that they must meet the deadline or you all risk a deduction to your grade.

You might explain to them how much the assignment is worth, and show them that a failing grade on this project would result in a failing grade in the class.

But look, I get it, you probably don’t feel comfortable having these conversations with your classmate because you’re worried that they’ll think you’re calling them lazy or incompetent.

I’ll tell you ways to solve it with your professor.

But before you do, make sure that your group has a leader and is delegating tasks. I’ll explain why below.

How to complain about a group member who isn’t contributing

When you want to complain to your professor about a group member who isn’t contributing, you need to gather any evidence you have to support all your communication with the student. Then ask your professor how you should handle the situation and let them know that you only want assistance because you want to make sure an undeserving student doesn’t get a grade for an assignment they didn’t complete.

The first question you should ask yourself is if you should even complain about a group member who is not pulling their own weight.

But before you do complain, you need to make sure that the person is missing deadlines and isn’t contributing and you aren’t just annoyed by them.

What evidence do you have to support this?

Do you have unreturned emails?

Are they missing scheduled meetings without notice?

Or have they not submitted their part by a deadline?

The more evidence you have accrued, the better. So, gather all those unreturned emails or texts, missed deadlines, timelines, etc. before you send an email. You’ll need that for support.

I have to remind you that your professor could be using this assignment to help students build leadership skills and resiliency to prepare you for the workforce, so if possible I would finish the project without complaining. Then you could mention it to your professor afterwards.

But I know that isn’t always possible so I have an email template below. You will need to change this to your own circumstances, but you get the idea.

How to email your professor about a student who isn’t contributing to the group?

Good afternoon, Professor Smith. I am sending this email because of some concerns I have about our current research assignment where we are working with other classmates. I am in a group with four others, and I have a dilemma and would appreciate your expertise. Since you have likely been assigning group projects for years, I figured you’d be the best person to answer this question for me. Someone in the group has not been contributing to the project as directed. The other group members have completed all required tasks, but one individual is failing to submit their work. They aren’t attending the meetings, and rarely respond to emails. I have all our correspondence attached to this email so you can see the rest of the group’s efforts to communicate with this classmate. I send this email because I am concerned about our grade reflecting their performance, and the rest of the group will have to complete their work to submit it on time. We did delegate tasks, and communicate with the student, but we have yet to receive a prompt response. Our group would appreciate some feedback on how best to proceed. I have screenshots and a timeline of all the communication we have had with this student. Can you please review it and see if you think we are missing something critical to try and motivate the student to complete their portion? I realize that this is common, and will likely occur in our careers, so if you think we should continue without the student’s cooperation, please let me know. The group’s solution is to complete our classmate’s work, on their behalf, so we don’t have to wait and risk a bad grade. Is this how you would proceed? I look forward to your response and expertise. Sincerely,  Your student.

Critique of this email.

Now, your email will look different based on your circumstances, but I am outlining important things you should discuss.

I bet you noticed that I did not name the student.

I did this on purpose.

You aren’t trying to tattle on the student.

And if the professor wants to know who the student is that isn’t participating, they’ll ask , trust me.

The professor will appreciate it. They will like that you aren’t blaming anyone and are ready to take on the additional work, but you are leaving it open to the professor to come up with a solution. You’ll stand out for sure.

This email is not vague either. You are detailed in your response, and you explained that you’ve tried to rectify it yourself.

And you aren’t looking for an exception either.

With these group assignments, your professor may be trying to get students to work in groups and sort out these issues amongst themselves. So if this is a test, you’re going to pass it because you aren’t making excuses, and you’re ready to leap into action and finish it without them.

If I got this email from a student, I would love that they didn’t just rat out the other student and hope I would fix it for them. Instead, you look like a leader and if I had to write a letter to advocate for you to a potential employer later, I’d mention this as an example of your leadership.

You are trying to solve it yourself.

But are looking for some expertise since your professor has likely seen this happen a lot.

Asking for guidance sounds a lot better than complaining.

And if you don’t get a response, you can send another polite email.

How to get all students to contribute and participate in group projects

If you want to get all students to contribute and participate in group projects, you should have everyone immediately SIGN a contract detailing their responsibilities and committing to those. Then make sure there is an effective leader who can stay on top of all the members and give everyone small tasks.

The biggest question that I always got as a professor is how to deal with difficult group project members. It's so frustrating but it’s a good lesson to learn.

You may not be able to avoid it because some students are just never going to contribute no matter what, but there are some things you can do to try and avoid this.

But once you get into a group with this individual, you might be able to mitigate this.

First, you should designate roles of each student.

Someone needs to step up and be the leader. And delegate duties to every student.

The clearer the roles are for students, the easier it will be for them to rise to the occasion.

Secondly, have deadlines. And strict deadlines.

Third, have everyone sign an agreement.

If you are dealing with a lazy group member, you can remind them about the agreement and hopefully they will step up.

This may seem silly, but it WORKS.

You can write out a contract that outlines everyone’s duties, what the deadlines are, when meetings will be conducted, and communication requirements.

If you do this, it will be so easy to tell your professor that a student isn’t following the contract that was agreed upon.

Don’t skip this step.

Lastly, check-in often and see who needs assistance in understanding their requirements.

Maybe you can find out earlier that a student doesn’t know how to complete their part or isn’t willing to contribute.

The earlier you can figure this out, the better.

If you have a student who isn’t contributing, and you’ve done all these other things well, it might be time to divide the work among the other group members.

You shouldn’t be the only one who is going to finish their work.

And if you ever find yourself in this situation again, try and mitigate it by doing the things I recommended above.

And remember, even in the professional world, you’ll have the same problem so understand that this is a learning opportunity to deal with this later on life.

What to do when you’re the only one working on a group project

If you are the only student working on a group project, you need to determine how your professor wants you to deal with it FIRST. You should ask yourself if your professor has a policy or process for evaluating members who don’t contribute. If they don’t, you would want to have a honest discussion and make sure they know because the professor probably doesn’t want a student, who didn’t help, to get a grade they didn’t earn.

This is a serious problem. You found yourself in a group where no one is helping you out and you are the only one working on the group assignment.

This seems completely unfair. But I have a couple of things to point out first.

Does the group have a strong leader?

Does everyone have detailed roles?

Did all students understand deadlines and instructions?

If you answered no to any of these questions, it is highly possible that students are just reacting to their circumstances. No one is stepping up to delegate tasks or give instructions so it’s no wonder students aren’t working on the group project.

You may need to step up and become a strong leader to help get the group back on track. You can see my recommendations above about getting all group members to participate.

If you think that you have done everything right, and you just got stuck with a couple of students who are refusing to pull their own weight, you could talk to your professor, as I have mentioned above.

Finally, if these students are being lazy and not submitting their work, do you really think the work they would have submitted would even be good? The group of students who are avoiding their academic responsibilities might not produce the best group work.

Another serious thing to consider is that you are likely learning a huge lesson because you will probably experience this in the real world too. When you get into the workforce, there is going to be someone who isn’t pulling their weight on a project and everyone else is going to have to step up and take their workload.

It doesn’t seem fair , but it happens and we have to deal with it.

It’s just a thought to keep in mind. I am not saying that one group member should have to do all the work, but it could be worse if they half-way due their part.

You’ve got this.

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I taught college students for about 15 years. I have experience teaching online and in-person. I have a graduate degree. I have a passion for education. But I’ve also worked in the professional world (outside of education) too. And with my teaching and educational experience, I want to help students answer their most pressing questions. I want to give my wealth of knowledge to college students to help make their life easier.

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Turnitin assignments by groups

If you are using groups within Blackboard Basic you can access your group of choice from the Course Tools section of the Course Management side panel.

Select Turnitin Assignments by Groups from Course Tools.

Select the assignment containing the groups you wish to view.

If the assignment is anonymous, the Grade column will remain unpopulated until the post date/feedback release date has passed. If grades have been assigned, they can be viewed by the instructor within the Turnitin assignment inbox at any time.

The Turnitin assignments by groups feature is not linked to the Blackboard groups feature. Any grades applied will not sync to Blackboard groups, they will have to be manually added.

Interested in learning more about course groups? Check out Blackboard’s guidance for more information.

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[Gradebook] A better way to give individual grades in Group Assignments

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CH101 General Chemistry, Summer 1 2024

Http://genchem.bu.edu /ch101-summer1-2024/syllabus.html, updated tuesday, may 7, 2024 3:30:56 pm.

Welcome to CH101 - General Chemistry 1. This is the first semester of a year-long course intended primarily for science majors, pre-medical students, engineering students who require a one-year course in chemistry, and other interested students. This syllabus is designed to answer many questions you may have. Please read it over and then keep it handy to use throughout the semester.

Summer courses are always fast-paced and the chance for students to get behind is higher than in a normal fall/spring course. You are encouraged to follow the advice outlined below and to seek help at the first sign of trouble.

This syllabus is designed to answer many questions you may have. Please read it through and then keep it bookmarked to reference throughout the semester.

Course staff

• Course materials

Course components

• Quizzes and final
• In laboratory
• "Overall score so far"
• Questions about grading

Suggestions for success

Important course details, commitment to ensuring a respectful community.

• No cellphones or laptops in class
• Pre-lecture video assignments
• Participation in lectures

Discussions and group work

Academic conduct, academic conduct and artificial intelligence, absence policy, policy on religious observances, office of disability and access services, copyright laws and protection, appropriate use of online resources.

• Prolonged absences due to Illness

If you have concerns

Bu hub learning outcomes.

• Communication: [email protected]
• Office hours: click here for full list of office hours

Discussion sections are led by a talented team of discussion leaders (graduate students) with the support of undergraduate learning assistants.

Professor Chen is in charge of the laboratory portion of CH101. The labs are led by a talented team of graduate teaching fellows.

All members of the course staff are available for consultation during their office hours . All students are welcome and encouraged to attend any of the office hours listed to discuss questions about the lecture/discussion portion of the course (questions about the lab portion of the course should be directed to the lab instructors).

All course content questions (i.e., problem solving and concepts) are answered in office hours , discussion, or lecture. Emergency (non-content) questions that you may have about the course can be sent to [email protected] . E-mails sent to this address will reach all of the course staff simultaneously.

Personal and sensitive matters should emailed directly to the course instructor , and all lab-related questions should be directed to Professor Chen ( [email protected] ) who is in charge of the laboratory portion of the course.

Please note: e-mail is not a replacement for attending office hours. While instructors will certainly respond to personal, private, and urgent matters by email, they will not answer content-related questions by email.

Required course materials

• General Chemistry Atoms First, 4e, McQuarrie, Rock, and Gallogly, ISBN 978-1-891389-60-3 . Discounted eBook purchases can be made directly from the publisher's website , and print books can be ordered on amazon.com The books are also available from the BU Bookstore.
• This is the physical clicker - the mobile responses app will not work.
• Please note: many clickers purchased on Amazon (or other sites) will not function, as they are older models or from sets. Please do not purchase clickers from these sites.
• Clickers can be purchased directly from the BU bookstore (fastest) or from PointSolutions (shipping from them can be slow).
• You must use only your own clicker. Using a clicker belonging to someone else, or asking someone to respond with your clicker, is academic misconduct.
• Instructions for registering the clicker:
• Log on to https://learn.bu.edu
• Navigate to the course: CH101 General Chemistry 1
• Click on "Register Clicker" in the side navigation bar
• Some additional details on how to license and register your clicker are given here .
• The Texas Instruments TI-30X IIS 2-Line Scientific Calculator . This is the only calculator approved by the department and the only calculator that you may use in lecture, discussion, lab, quizzes, and the course final quiz. Use of any other devices, including other calculators and cell phone, is a violation of the code of academic conduct .
• Lab materials: please see the lab syllabus posted on Blackboard (under "Lab Content") for details of the required lab equipment and materials.

All of the above items are required by all students. You must have procured them before the first lecture.

A student solutions manual is available from the same sites as above. That said, we do not recommend purchasing the solutions manual for two reasons: (1) data collected from previous years has shown that students who use the solutions manual for studying score lower in the course(!) and (2) it contains numerous errors that can be very inconvenient. The solutions manual is a very ineffective, and potentially harmful, study tool. If you do choose to purchase it, suggestions for how to get the most out of the textbook and solutions manual are here . Instead of using the solutions manual: we highly recommend working in study groups and attending any of the many course office hours (i.e., free tutoring!).

The course consists of three required components :

• Lectures : Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursday (11am-1pm) in SCI 109. The first lecture is Tuesday, 21 May 2024.
• Discussions : Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays (9:30-10:30am). The first discussion is Wednesday, 22 May 2024. The specific discussion rooms will be announced by email before the first discussion.
• Labs : Tuesdays and Thursdays (2pm-5pm). The first lab will be on Tuesday, 21 May 2024.

Quizzes will take place during lectures. Details will be provided ahead of the first quiz. The quiz schedule includes the dates and topics of the quizzes.

Optional component of CH101: Office hours (i.e., free tutoring) are a great way to get support in your work and learn more about chemistry. You never need an appointment or even a question, and all students are invited to attend any of the posted office hours (even with other instructors). Click here for the complete schedule of office hours.

Quizzes and the final quiz

The quiz schedule includes the dates and topics of the quizzes. There will be a total of five quizzes -- one quiz every week on Tuesday (starting the second week).

Chemistry is a cumulative discipline, which means that the ability to learn later topics in the course (and in subsequent courses) is strongly tied to mastering prior topics. As such, each quiz will be cumulative , though most of the questions will be based on new material since the previous quiz. Do expect, however, that roughly 10-15% of each quiz (after quiz 1) will be cumulative material. The exact topic cutoff for each quiz will be posted at the end of the preceding week.

We know that no one is perfect; moreover, there are many reasons why someone might have to miss a quiz (emergencies, close family events, illness, etc.) or might not do as well as they would like on a quiz. We get that! So please do not worry about missing (or doing less than great on) one quiz: for all students in the course, only your four best Tuesday quizzes and the final quiz (which is during the last class on Thursday, 27 June 2024) will count towards your course score.

What we will cover

We have designed the course as an introduction to general chemistry that integrates laboratory explorations with the development of the analytical tools necessary to understand and guide those explorations.

Our goal is to help you share in our excitement for and the wonder of science, to challenge you to excel, to give you a sense of empowerment about science, and to encourage you to continue study in science—and hopefully chemistry. We intend to focus especially on what are the core ideas of chemistry.

The primary goal of the lab is to develop the skills necessary for work in upper-level science labs and research. Additionally, the experiments will highlight the concepts and ideas taught in the lecture and help students deepen their understanding of general chemistry.

In this semester we cover McQuarrie et al., chapters 1 through 14.

• Chemistry and the Scientific Method
• Atoms and Molecules
• The Periodic Table and Chemical Periodicity
• Early Quantum Theory
• Quantum Theory and Atomic Structure
• Ionic Bonds and Compounds
• Lewis Formulas
• Prediction of Molecular Geometries
• Covalent Bonding
• Chemical Reactivity
• Chemical Calculations
• Chemical Calculations for Solutions
• Properties of Gases
• Thermochemistry

The complete course schedule is here , and the corresponding assigned homework problems are posted here .

The detailed schedule of the laboratory component of CH101 is posted on Blackboard under "Lab Content."

The laboratory part of the course will let you see the chemical principles and processes in action. It will also give you experience with some of the methods scientists use to do chemical research.

The course grade is based on your overall course score; we do not assign letter grades to quizzes, labs, or the final exam. The components of the overall score are shown below.

Course grades are assigned based on the distribution overall scores at the end of the course. The following (tentative) grading scheme will be used to assign course grades based on your score in the course. Please note that we reserve the right to lower cutoff numbers (making achieving a grade easier) but we will not raise them. However, please do not count on them changing.

• Score range 930–1000: Grade A
• Score range 900–929: Grade A-
• Score range 850–899: Grade B+
• Score range 800–849: Grade B
• Score range 750–799: Grade B-
• Score range 700–749: Grade C+
• Score range 650–699: Grade C
• Score range 600–649: Grade C-
• Score range 550–599: Grade D
• Score range below 550: Grade F

Overall score so far

Starting after quiz #2, we will provide each student with their "overall score so far." These overall scores so far will take into account all of the scores on the work completed so far (quizzes, labs, and participation) following the percentages listed above. In this way, you will have a measure of how you are doing at that point in the course.

Your overall score so far will be available on Blackboard

Please note that the overall score so far will not take in account dropping of the lowest quiz score, the lowest lab, absences from lectures or discussion, or bonus points. This will all be done only at the end of the semester .

Example calculation: Consider, for example, a student with the following scores at some point during the course: 100% pre-lecture video completion, 100% lecture participation and engagement, 100% in discussion participation, 80% quiz average, and 90% lab average. The overall score so far for this student would be:

• 100% in pre-lecture video completion = 50/50 points
• 100% in lecture participation and engagement = 50/50 points
• 100% in discussion participation and engagement = 50/50 points
• 80% quiz average = 520/650 points
• 90% in the laboratory portion of the course = 180/200 points
• Overall score so far = 850/1000 (B+ in the course; grade brackets are above)

Since the quizzes are returned immediately, unfortunately that means that makeup quizzes are not possible . Please make sure to note the dates of quizzes in your calendar and make plans accordingly. Of course, it is perfectly reasonable that there may be a circumstance beyond your control that necessitates missing a quiz (emergencies, close family events, illness, etc.). We get that! So please do not worry about missing one quiz. If you miss one Tuesday quiz then it will be the dropped quiz.

Grading mistake? We do our best to make sure that all quizzes are graded fairly and accurately, though mistakes can occur. All of the grading rubrics will be visible on Gradescope so that you can check your work. To ensure fairness, all quizzes are graded with same rubrics, so requests for additional credit (beyond what is on the rubrics) for incorrect answers cannot be entertained. If you review your quiz and you believe that you answered a question correctly, but credit was not awarded: please print a copy of that quiz, annotate the question that you believe was graded incorrectly based on the rubric, and submit the printout to your teaching fellow (TF) at the conclusion of the first discussion section after the quiz is returned (i.e., the Wednesday discussion) . Regrade requests are only handled in writing and in this manner, and they are not accepted after the allotted time.

A missed lab counts as 0. The lowest lab score will be dropped at the end of the semester.

If, due to unusual circumstances, such as a documented prolonged illness, you miss more than one lab, please contact Professor Chen ([email protected]) as soon as possible so that special arrangements can be made to catch up with your work.

Regrades on lab work: Any question concerning the grading of laboratory assignment must be brought to the attention of your laboratory teaching fellow during the next lab session after it was returned to you; material will not be accepted for regrading afterwards. Print out your graded worksheet (from gradescope) and annotate the questions you wish re-graded and your reasons for believing that they were graded incorrectly. The entire work will be re-graded.

Learning chemistry — the molecular basis for life — is a very rewarding endeavor, but also one that requires persistence, diligence, and hard work. The single most important thing you can do is to diligently work out answers to as many problems in the textbook as you can. At a minimum, you must complete the assigned problems , recording your work in your problem notebook. While these problems will not be collected , a good portion of each quiz will be comprised of problems from the assigned homework.

Participation and engagement in the classes, which counts for 5% of your course grade (plus the opportunity for bonus points - see below), is a good start towards your goals of learning chemistry, but it will also be crucial that you plan to spend a significant amount of time outside of class time. In general, instructors recommend that you spend about 2 hours outside of class for every hour of instructional time. That means (for a Fall/Spring semester course) approximately 12 hours per week over and above the scheduled class contact hours. Each summer week is about 2 weeks of a normal semester (so you should be doing about 20 hours of work per week out of class during the summer).

Studying in groups has been shown to be very productive in courses like Chemistry. Working through problems with peers around is a great way to learn. If you get stuck, you have a friend to help you; and helping to teach others is one of the best ways to master the material. We highly recommend forming study groups and working together frequently on the problems. There is no competition for grades in CH101 - every student can get the highest possible grade (A). That means that working together can only ever help you and your peers.

If you are willing to devote this time, and you spend it wisely and effectively, you will be able to perform your best. The course teaching staff will hold office hours throughout each week. These office hours are a great place to work on problems with the support of instructors and peers. You never need an appointment to attend an office hour, and all students are invited and welcome to all of the scheduled hours. The schedule of office hours is here .

Working Problems Effectively

Chemistry is a quantitative science and understanding of its concepts is cemented by solving problems . The text offers many problems for you to attempt. For success you should do as many of these as you can. If you run into trouble with the problems (which is completely normal ), you should come to office hours or work with your study group to get support.

Each chapter will have a minimum number of assigned problems. Completing these is a top priority in order to make sure that you've learned the material and are ready for the quizzes. A good portion of the quiz questions will come directly from the assigned homework problems .

Important note about using solutions manuals (or sites) : a significant amount of evidence has shown that using resources like the solutions manual, online sites that provide worked-out solutions, etc., leads to worse outcomes in courses like general chemistry . While it may be tempting to refer to solutions provided to you, doing so does not let you build the necessary problem-solving skills that you will need to master General Chemistry! It is for that reason that we strongly recommend that you avoid using the solutions manual (or sites that provide solutions). Remember: you're not being graded on your homework, so it is counterproductive to use these resources to get answers. (Also, the solutions manual and all of these sites have many, many mistakes! They will lead you down the wrong path.)

So what should you do if you get stuck? Here are a few suggestions:

• First, re-read the corresponding section of the book; then look at similar worked examples in the text. These can be very helpful!
• Collaborate with your study group. Don't let your peers show you how to solve the problems , but do let them help you clarify ideas and concepts. Have them guide you in the right direction so that you can solve the problems yourself.
• Attend office hours - they're free tutoring all week long!
• Finally, if you've tried all of the above first, take a look at a solution. But if you find that you are regularly needing to read solutions to problems, please make sure to come speak with an instructor during an office hour. Also, please remember that the solutions manual is, unfortunately, replete with errors.

Chemistry is cumulative

Chemistry is cumulative discipline - the concepts and skills learned early in the course will continue to be revisited throughout the course (and subsequent courses). Learning later topics will necessitate mastering earlier concepts. To that end, all of the quizzes are cumulative; while most of a quiz will be focused on new material, you should expect about 10-15% cumulative material on each quiz (after quiz 1).

But it's never too late to master the material! The "final quiz" is designed to give you the opportunity to demonstrate that you've mastered the material, even if you struggled at first. That means that your lowest quiz score (or a missed quiz) will be replaced by your score on the final quiz.

So if you find that you haven't mastered a concept yet - that's ok! Please join us at any of the office hours and we are happy to work with you to master the topics! The schedule of office hours is here .

All students are responsible for following the course policies listed in this syllabus.

It is the responsibility of all members of the Boston University community to ensure that every individual is treated with respect. In the Chemistry Department and CH101 we are committed to ensuring an inclusive and diverse community of learning. Diversity can refer to multiple ways that we identify ourselves, including but not limited to race, color, national origin, language, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, ancestry, belief, veteran status, or genetic information. We must work to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion not only because diversity fuels academic excellence, but because our community must be committed to the pursuit of justice. Each of us is responsible for ensuring and promoting a diverse and inclusive learning environment.

No cellphones or computers in classes

Recent studies have shown that taking notes with laptops or having your cellphone out in class leads to lower performance by students in classes and on quizzes and exams. For this reason, we do not permit cell phones or computers in any component of CH101 (lecture, discussion, or lab). Instead, it is strongly recommended that you take notes using the traditional pen and paper mode.

Make sure that your cell phones are kept in your bags at all times during class (lectures, discussion, labs, and quizzes) so that you are able to get the most out of class time. Taking notes with tablets (iPad, Surface, and equivalent devices) is permitted provided that they are set in airplane mode before class.

We realize that some of you may want to use cameras to make images of the lecture slides, etc. However, since all lectures are recorded, you have full access to everything that is being presented. Moreover, since all of the lectures are recorded and posted, you can take the lecture time to take notes, solve problems, answer questions, and ask questions; if you miss something, you will always be able to go back and re-watch that part of lecture.

Preparation for lectures: pre-lecture video assignments

Effective preparation for lecture is crucial for gaining the most benefit out of class time. For that reason, we have developed a series of question-embedded videos (QEVs) to help you prepare for lectures. All of these pre-lecture video assignments will be posted on Blackboard.

A portion of your course grade (5%) will be awarded based on the on-time completion of the assigned videos, so make sure to work through the videos ahead of the assigned lectures! Do not worry if you don't get all of the embedded questions right - your thoughtful effort will get you full credit, even if you get some questions wrong!

Please note: you need to watch the video all the way to the end to get credit (until the video says that you're done), otherwise Blackboard won't give you credit!

The full schedule, including what videos are due before which lectures, can be found here .

Engagement in lectures and lecture preparation

In addition to traditional lecture presentations, lecture time will also include interactive group-based problem solving. Students will use Point Solutions clickers to answer questions in class. A portion of your course grade (5%) will be awarded based on your participation in lecture through PointSolutions. You are not graded on answering these questions correctly, but on your effort and engagement.

Bonus points with clickers : the 5% of your course score for clickers in lecture is only for participation. You could get every question wrong all semester (which we hope is not the case!) and still get full credit in the course as long as you've answered them all. But working hard to answer these questions (in collaboration with your peers in lecture) is an important part of learning the material. As such, you will get bonus points on your overall course score for the percent of questions that you answer correctly (up to 2% of the course score)!

Cell phones and computers are not permitted in lecture. Tablets may be used in Airplane mode only.

All students will participate in their scheduled discussion sections each week. Each discussion will primarily involve small group problem solving. During the small group work, students will work in groups (of 3 or 4 students) on problem solving (selected book problems and other problems), interactive exercises, and class-wide discussions. The discussion leader and undergraduate learning assistant (LA) will be facilitators and mentors in discussion, working with groups to help them on their work.

Students are expected to arrive on time and to actively participate in all of the lecture and discussion sections. A portion of your course grade (5%) will be awarded based on your discussion work, including (on-time) attendance and engagement (in group work and class-wide exercises) in discussion.

Cell phones and computers are not permitted in discussion. Tablets may be used in Airplane mode only.

http://www.bu.edu/academics/resources/academic-conduct-code/

Please note: using another student's clicker, or giving your clicker to another student, is a violation of the Academic Conduct Code.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and resources are becoming more common and accessible. Nevertheless, all students in Chemistry are expected to refrain from use of AI (e.g., GenAI, Chat GPT, etc.) for all work in this course. Any work written, developed, created, edited, or inspired by AI is considered plagiarism and will not be tolerated. While the evolving and exciting new developments with AI will certainly find their place in our future work lives, they do not belong in fundamental education at this point in time. College is a space for learning to think and developing skills, and this course is specifically a space for learning the skills related to chemistry, which includes writing and argumentation; AI tools can only serve to rob you of the opportunity to learn these critical skills.

All students at Boston University are expected to maintain high standards of academic honesty and integrity. It is the responsibility of every student to be aware of the Academic Conduct Code’s contents and to abide by its provisions, as detailed at

Please note carefully that the University and its Faculty treat cheating with zero tolerance . Here, “cheating” refers to any violation of the academic conduct code. There are no small infractions. All instances of misconduct will be reported to the Dean’s office. It is the responsibility of every student to be aware of the Academic Conduct Code’s contents and to abide by its provisions.

Please note the following about clickers: Students must use only their own clicker in lectures and lab lectures. Using another student’s clicker, or asking a student to use your clicker, is a violation of the academic conduct code.

Students at Boston University are required to abide by all of regulations regarding academic integrity and conduct, including the proper use of technology and digital resources. Course materials are provided by faculty for your personal use in the course only. Any other use of these materials including, but not limited to, posting of materials online in forums or websites, is a copyright violation and a violation of the academic conduct code. Additionally, materials submitted for course credit (papers, exams, etc.) are similarly not permitted to be used or posted.

Attendance at all lectures, lab lectures, discussions, and labs is mandatory. Students must attend their assigned lecture, lab lecture, discussion, and lab, and are expected to arrive on-time. Lecture and discussion participation and engagement will count for 10% of your course grade.

Your participation grade will be based on your engagement, prompt attendance, and contributions in lecture and discussion. It is completely understandable that some students may miss a lecture, lab lecture, or discussion due to unforeseen circumstances. As a result, we will make the following adjustments for all students in CH101:

• Any student with more than 85% engagement and participation in lecture will receive full credit for lecture participation (at the end of the course).
• Any student with more than 85% engagement and participation in discussion will receive full credit for discussion (at the end of the course).
• The lowest lab will be dropped
• The lowest Tuesday quiz will be dropped

In this way, all students will be able to succeed in the course. Missed classes due to religious observances will never affect your score adversely.

Illness and prolonged absences

If you become ill, we require that you follow the protocols mandated by the University under those circumstances. The course attendance and engagement policies already reflect substantial flexibility to allow for absences of short to moderate length due to illness. Please make sure to contact your instructor immediately ( [email protected] ) about any prolonged absences that are not already covered by the course absence policy (above). In such cases, we will work with the CAS Dean's office to determine the best course of action for any given student.

Absences for documented religious observances will be excused according to the specifications of the University Policy on Religious Observance. If you might be absent due to a religious observance, make sure to communicate by email to [email protected] about religious observances as far in advance as possible (and no later than one week before the observance, per university policy) so that accommodations can be arranged.

The Office of Disability and Access Services (25 Buick street, Suite 300) is responsible for assisting students with disabilities. If you have a disability, you are strongly encouraged to register with this office. Lecture hall and discussion rooms are accessible and ADA compliant.

Learning and testing accommodation: Boston University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. If you are a student who needs academic accommodations because of a documented disability, you must present your letter of accommodation from the Office of Disability and Access Services directly to the course instructors as soon as possible. If you have questions about documenting a disability or requesting academic accommodations, contact the Office of Disability and Access Services. Letters of accommodations should be presented by e-mail to [email protected] as soon as possible to ensure that student needs are addressed from the start of the course. At a minimum, they must be submitted at least one week before any assessments to which they will apply. Instructors are not able to provide accommodations without documentation from Boston University's Office of Disability and Access Services.

The syllabus, course descriptions, lab manual, and all handouts created for this course, and all class lectures, are copyrighted by the course instructors. The materials and lectures may not be reproduced in any form or otherwise copied, displayed or distributed, nor should works derived from them be reproduced, copied, displayed or distributed without the written permission of the instructors. Infringement of the copyright in these materials, including any sale or commercial use of notes, summaries, outlines or other reproductions of lectures, constitutes a violation of the copyright laws and is prohibited. Please note in particular that distributing, receiving, selling, or buying class notes, lecture notes or summaries, lab reports or related materials, or similar materials both violates copyright and interferes with the academic mission of the College, and is therefore prohibited in this class and will be considered a violation of the student code of responsibility that is subject to academic sanctions.

COVID-19 Responsibilities and Regulations

We are all in this together, and we are committed to offering the best learning experience possible given the need for safety. To do this, we need your help. We must all be responsible and respectful. Faculty, staff, and teaching fellows will wear masks during class and other meetings to protect you and themselves; and we expect you to do the same. If you show up without a mask, you will be asked to leave. We also require that you follow the safety practices recommended by the CDC outside the classroom, including all state and university guidelines regarding sheltering in place while feeling ill, testing, quarantining, social contacts, and gatherings. If you cannot follow these guidelines, be responsible and respectful: do not show up for in-person learning. Do not put your classmates, staff, and instructors in danger.

If you are experiencing difficulty, please contact your course instructor without delay. During the semester we will provide each student with an updated overall course score so far , on a 1000-point scale, that reflects their work completed in the course so far (quizzes, labs, and participation). In this way, you will have a measure of how you are doing at that point in the course.

If dropping the course appears to be in your best interest, we still would like to work through the decision with you. We are also happy to advise you on appropriate choices for your academic program. If you drop the course by Thursday, 30 May 2024, no record of it will appear on your transcript. After that date, until the end of the day Thursday, 13 June 2024, you may drop the course but with a W grade (withdrawn). If you must drop the course, note that CH101 will be given during the Fall of 2024, and Spring and Summer of 2025.

The Chemistry department has a Digital Suggestions Box. If you have suggestions, feedback, or concerns that are best addressed directly to the department, please go online and leave your anonymous feedback here .

Scientific Inquiry I

Students will identify and apply major concepts used in the natural sciences to explain and quantify the workings of the physical world. These concepts include the following: matter is composed of atoms; elements form \families"; bonds form between atoms by sharing electron pairs; shape is of the utmost importance; molecules interact with one another; energy is conserved; energy and matter tend to disperse; there are barriers to reaction; and light and matter can exchange energy. Students will learn about the process by which scientific theories are developed, refined, refuted, and confirmed.

Quantitative Reasoning I

Students will demonstrate their understanding of core conceptual and theoretical tools used in quantitative reasoning, particularly mathematics, as a tool for the exposition and manipulation of chemical concepts and for formulating a connection between microscopic models of matter and its macroscopic properties.

Students will interpret quantitative models of how energy and light interact with atoms or molecules and understand a variety of methods of communicating these, such as graphs, including spectra, tables, formulae, and chemical symbols.

Students will communicate quantitative information about chemical and physical objects and their properties us- ing chemical symbols, visually with sketches, numerically with estimated or computed values, and verbally using appropriate chemical nomenclature.

Students will recognize and articulate the capacity and limitations of quantitative methods such as dimensional analysis and the risks of using it improperly.

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