Professor
Franklin Ow
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Most Helpful Review
Summer 2016 - Selling required textbook: Chemical Principles, 6th Edition (by Peter Atkins, Loretta, Jones, Leroy Laverman) The bundle will include Textbook AND Solutions manual Purchased from Student union for $168, selling for only $100. In very good/new condition. Please message for details: **********
Summer 2016 - Selling required textbook: Chemical Principles, 6th Edition (by Peter Atkins, Loretta, Jones, Leroy Laverman) The bundle will include Textbook AND Solutions manual Purchased from Student union for $168, selling for only $100. In very good/new condition. Please message for details: **********
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Most Helpful Review
Summer 2023 - This class was asynchronous with prerecorded lectures during the summer. I appreciated this because I could pace myself. I will say the homework problems assigned could be excessive, but that's to be expected when it's summer session. Pros - Asynchronous - Slides were clear, and lectures were clear - You could email him or post on the Canvas discussion board if you had a question - other students could also answer questions - Exams were fair - The "final" wasn't cumulative - it was just the last 2 weeks of the course (so technically, there were 3 exams that tested you on different topics) Cons - Homework can be long and tedious, especially if you don't have the answer immediately - Summer session can feel very fast paced - I fared well because I took AP Chemistry in high school, but I still had to brush up on YouTube videos and do a lot of practice problems Overall, just make sure you do the practice problems and understand all of the homework problems he assigns. Exams are not that difficult, but they still require a level of understanding.
Summer 2023 - This class was asynchronous with prerecorded lectures during the summer. I appreciated this because I could pace myself. I will say the homework problems assigned could be excessive, but that's to be expected when it's summer session. Pros - Asynchronous - Slides were clear, and lectures were clear - You could email him or post on the Canvas discussion board if you had a question - other students could also answer questions - Exams were fair - The "final" wasn't cumulative - it was just the last 2 weeks of the course (so technically, there were 3 exams that tested you on different topics) Cons - Homework can be long and tedious, especially if you don't have the answer immediately - Summer session can feel very fast paced - I fared well because I took AP Chemistry in high school, but I still had to brush up on YouTube videos and do a lot of practice problems Overall, just make sure you do the practice problems and understand all of the homework problems he assigns. Exams are not that difficult, but they still require a level of understanding.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - The new grading scale which I think started in winter for the whole ochem department requires you to get 94% for an A and 88% for an A-. With that being said, the tests aren't that bad so an A is pretty reasonable. There is more than enough time to complete them and there are some pretty lenient partials. The test questions are straightforward and are not tricky. The class averages on the tests for this quarter hovered around C+ and B- range. The final was worth 25% of your grade, and the midterms were 15% apiece. 45% of your grade was miscellaneous quizzes, homework, and participation that were free points. So if you do the calculations, you need at least an 89% average on tests to get an A in the class and 78% for an A- (which is class average so basically half the class gets at least an A-). Ow does move fast, especially during the first third of the class, but as long as you do the assigned problem sets and worksheets on canvas, you should be well prepared for tests. Make sure not to fall behind on lectures. He also conveniently prints out the slides for you if you come to in person lectures, so it is super easy to take notes.
Spring 2022 - The new grading scale which I think started in winter for the whole ochem department requires you to get 94% for an A and 88% for an A-. With that being said, the tests aren't that bad so an A is pretty reasonable. There is more than enough time to complete them and there are some pretty lenient partials. The test questions are straightforward and are not tricky. The class averages on the tests for this quarter hovered around C+ and B- range. The final was worth 25% of your grade, and the midterms were 15% apiece. 45% of your grade was miscellaneous quizzes, homework, and participation that were free points. So if you do the calculations, you need at least an 89% average on tests to get an A in the class and 78% for an A- (which is class average so basically half the class gets at least an A-). Ow does move fast, especially during the first third of the class, but as long as you do the assigned problem sets and worksheets on canvas, you should be well prepared for tests. Make sure not to fall behind on lectures. He also conveniently prints out the slides for you if you come to in person lectures, so it is super easy to take notes.
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Fall 2022 - Participation doesn't matter so that slays but I don't feel like the prof is as good as everyone hypes him up to be. He goes SUUUUPER FAST!! And u have to do hella practice probs bc his tests were hard IMO. But if there's no other choices, then u can def do well in this class if u work for it
Fall 2022 - Participation doesn't matter so that slays but I don't feel like the prof is as good as everyone hypes him up to be. He goes SUUUUPER FAST!! And u have to do hella practice probs bc his tests were hard IMO. But if there's no other choices, then u can def do well in this class if u work for it
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - Not bad at all. 2 midterms worth 45% total, final is 35. Exams averaged like over 80% I think. Lectures are recorded but doing the hw and discussion problems are more helpful. Didn't feel the need to go to office hours really. Make sure to redo hw, quiz, and exam problems. Overall the course is alright and prof ow is sufficient.
Winter 2024 - Not bad at all. 2 midterms worth 45% total, final is 35. Exams averaged like over 80% I think. Lectures are recorded but doing the hw and discussion problems are more helpful. Didn't feel the need to go to office hours really. Make sure to redo hw, quiz, and exam problems. Overall the course is alright and prof ow is sufficient.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - The grading scheme for this class was on a straight scale based on the number of points from several categories: Each midterm is 100 points Final is 200 points Top 8 of 10 quizzes are scaled to 100 points Group projects during discussion section were 50 points. For a total of 550 points. The grade scale was relatively generous with 90% being the cutoff for an A, 84% for an A-, 81% for a B+, 77.5% for a B, and 74% for a B-. This class is difficult, as indicated by the grade scaling, but not impossible to do well in. The first midterm tested on IR Spec, H-NMR, C-NMR, and Mass Spec. This material was the most difficult for me as there were many tiny details that you had to pay attention to when doing the problems. It is very easy to miss something and lose points because of that. The second midterm tested mainly on Synthesis problems, with one spectroscopy problem similar to the first midterm. This class is all reactions after the first midterm. For me, Anki flashcards were key to memorizing all of them and doing all the practice problems from the book was great prep for the second midterm and the final. The final was also mostly synthesis questions, but had two spectroscopy problems. The timing for the tests was actually decent. I usually 'finished' about 30 minutes before I had to upload to gradescope, so I spent the next 25 minutes combing through my answers and checking for mistakes. Practice tests were posted before each midterm and final. They were all accurate in difficulty and helpful in gauging how prepared you are for the actual one. During the (open book/note) tests, I wrote down as much material as possible and had everything in front of me, although I don't think that will be possible in the future once classes are back in person. The lectures for the class were all pre-recorded and posted on CCLE. The actual lecture time served as office hours. The lectures were kind of dry, but decent enough. Dr. Ow gives you the material and constantly reminds you that the key to doing well is doing practice problems. Keeping up with the material is all on you, so don't slack on watching the lectures. Leave time in the week to do the book problems as well. I highly recommend getting the solutions manual to check your answers. I couldn't find it online, but its relatively cheap if you rent from Chegg or some other service (less than $15). During discussion sections, we were given 'reaction roadmaps' that showed how to go from molecule to molecule. The group projects were filling in the reagents, reactants, and products in these roadmaps with classmates in your discussion section. These group projects are basically free points if you go to your TA's office hours and make sure everything is correct. The roadmaps are also very useful during tests. Weekly non-timed quizzes were posted on CCLE, which covered the lecture material for that week. They were relatively easy, but worth checking your answers so you don't miss out on points. You only had one session to do the quiz as well, no stopping in the middle and starting it again at a later time. The average for both midterms was 64%. I got a 69% on midterm 1 and 85% on midterm 2. I don't know the average for the final, but I it was probably similar to the midterms. I got a 94% on the final and got an A in the class. I assume there was a small upward curve applied to the class as I don't think that I made the cutoff for an A based purely on points.
Winter 2021 - The grading scheme for this class was on a straight scale based on the number of points from several categories: Each midterm is 100 points Final is 200 points Top 8 of 10 quizzes are scaled to 100 points Group projects during discussion section were 50 points. For a total of 550 points. The grade scale was relatively generous with 90% being the cutoff for an A, 84% for an A-, 81% for a B+, 77.5% for a B, and 74% for a B-. This class is difficult, as indicated by the grade scaling, but not impossible to do well in. The first midterm tested on IR Spec, H-NMR, C-NMR, and Mass Spec. This material was the most difficult for me as there were many tiny details that you had to pay attention to when doing the problems. It is very easy to miss something and lose points because of that. The second midterm tested mainly on Synthesis problems, with one spectroscopy problem similar to the first midterm. This class is all reactions after the first midterm. For me, Anki flashcards were key to memorizing all of them and doing all the practice problems from the book was great prep for the second midterm and the final. The final was also mostly synthesis questions, but had two spectroscopy problems. The timing for the tests was actually decent. I usually 'finished' about 30 minutes before I had to upload to gradescope, so I spent the next 25 minutes combing through my answers and checking for mistakes. Practice tests were posted before each midterm and final. They were all accurate in difficulty and helpful in gauging how prepared you are for the actual one. During the (open book/note) tests, I wrote down as much material as possible and had everything in front of me, although I don't think that will be possible in the future once classes are back in person. The lectures for the class were all pre-recorded and posted on CCLE. The actual lecture time served as office hours. The lectures were kind of dry, but decent enough. Dr. Ow gives you the material and constantly reminds you that the key to doing well is doing practice problems. Keeping up with the material is all on you, so don't slack on watching the lectures. Leave time in the week to do the book problems as well. I highly recommend getting the solutions manual to check your answers. I couldn't find it online, but its relatively cheap if you rent from Chegg or some other service (less than $15). During discussion sections, we were given 'reaction roadmaps' that showed how to go from molecule to molecule. The group projects were filling in the reagents, reactants, and products in these roadmaps with classmates in your discussion section. These group projects are basically free points if you go to your TA's office hours and make sure everything is correct. The roadmaps are also very useful during tests. Weekly non-timed quizzes were posted on CCLE, which covered the lecture material for that week. They were relatively easy, but worth checking your answers so you don't miss out on points. You only had one session to do the quiz as well, no stopping in the middle and starting it again at a later time. The average for both midterms was 64%. I got a 69% on midterm 1 and 85% on midterm 2. I don't know the average for the final, but I it was probably similar to the midterms. I got a 94% on the final and got an A in the class. I assume there was a small upward curve applied to the class as I don't think that I made the cutoff for an A based purely on points.
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