I think this class is definitely a good class to take if you need to fulfill chemistry requirements. Overall, Professor Lavelle gives a lot of easy credit. For example, we get 4 chemistry community credits each week, discussion attendance points, and also quizzes. There are unlimited attempts for the quizzes so it is a really good resource to understand concepts, make mistakes, and still earn 100% on each one. He also lists all the questions and topics you need to know from the textbook, and I personally like to take notes from both his lecture slides and the textbook. There are two midterms (15 questions, 1 question being your name) and one final (30 questions). The midterms were pretty easy, but the final was slightly more challenging but also not too difficult. As long as you read the textbook, do the textbook questions, and perhaps attend some of the UA sessions, you will be absolutely fine. All the exams were MCQs, which made the test easier. The only downside is that each question is worth 4 points, so you don't get any intermediate marks. Overall, this class is a good choice if you want lots of free credits, optional work, and lots of resources.

The tests weren't super easy but manageable. The quarter I took it, a lot of students were upset due to the fact that Dr. Lavelle explicitly stated he wouldn't put a certain topic on the first midterm - but then proceeded to put that very topic on the exam.

I personally found his lectures really boring and hard to engage in. It's also hard to hear him from the middle/back of the lecture hall as he talks quietly and sometimes mumbles.

I learned most of my chemistry from my TA Kathryn. She was super helpful!!

Overall, the class was just alright.

If you have taken ap chem before, you should be good. The only thing that I did not learn before was ligands, but it is easy to understand. The professor's slides were easy to follow, and every lecture was recorded. Attendance was optional for lecture but not for discussion. A variety of resources were available for students, and there was an online forum for asking questions. The homework was very manageable, and attempts could be made as many times as desired without penalty. Additional optional problems were available in the textbook. The exams were fair and all multiple choice. The exams included questions from the optional homework, so I highly recommend doing it.

I did not communicate much with the professor; any questions I had were answered by the TAs. The only tedious task was the requirement to ask or answer four questions on the community forum each week, but this was helpful if a genuine question needed answering. If any questions were asked on the forum, a student, TA, or professor would respond within 24 hours.
The professor also had an opening song when lecture began.

If you have taken AP Chem, then this class will be a complete breeze. If you haven't, then it is entirely manageable. Regardless, if you want to get a good grade, there's a lot of work that comes with this class. Lavelle assigns 100 problems (I believe) throughout the quarter through textbook and achieve questions. I didn't read the textbook once and found the midterms very easy. What helped the most were the UA worksheets and textbook practice problems; in this class, practice really does make perfect!

There is really no point in attending Lavelle's lectures. They're all recorded and uploaded within 24 hours, he doesn't take attendance, and the main reason why I didn't go is because he doesn't post the slides. He has 15 bulletpoints on a slide at once and while he's reading it he's giving additional information off the slide all while doing an example problem. Do yourself a favor and just watch the recordings so that you can go at your own pace and rewind as you need. If you have any questions, Chemistry Community (his forum) is very helpful! I've gotten answers as fast as literal minutes after submission and all questions will be answered by either a fellow student or Lavelle.

Midterms were a breeze, all multiple choice 15 questions each. I and a lot of others found the final to be significantly more difficult (also multiple choice and 30 questions) as the scale in difficulty for some questions were higher than the ones given for practice. Regardless, it was manageable, especially as a multiple choice exam.

Overall you get out of this class what you put in. Take the time to do practice problems and you'll be perfectly fine! Lavelle's resources are amazing and for that sole reason I would not take another professor for this series if possible :).

For some background I did take AP Chemistry before taking this class and I felt that did help me. Although it is definitely possible to still get an A without AP Chem you do need to put in a lot of work.
From the beginning Professor Lavelle gives Audio Visual topics of him explaining topics from previous lectures. These videos are posted a week or so before the quarter starts. I highly recommend watching them and maybe some YouTube videos to build a solid understanding of these 4-5 topics. The post quizzes on these he gives help to. None of these are for a grade.
I also read through every textbook section , took notes and then did the assigned problems. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS!! Please please do the textbook problems at least one of the questions on the test will be from there or look really similar. Although they are not assigned I made sure to do them and I felt like that was one of the things that really helped me.
Another thing I did was do the worksheets from all the step-up sessions posted on his website “chemistry community” all the UA’s post their worksheets there. If I couldn’t make their session I made sure to do the worksheets and at least check my understanding. WORKSHEETS HELP ALOT. Some of their questions are from his old midterms/final.
Make sure you go to every discussion and don’t forget to post on chemistry community (as well as complete the homework assignments). The class is point based and you want to make sure you get every point possible. My grade came down to ONE QUESTION on the final and the was the difference between an A and A- for me.
The midterms were pretty solid and were like textbook problem levels, the final was a bit harder than that and required so analytical thinking but if you get the material from the first place it’ll be all good.
Conclusion: you get what you put into for this class. Do the extra work, space out your time and you’ll be able to get the grade you work for. Goodluck!!

I didn't take AP Chem in high school and I really struggled in this class. Everyone says it but you really need to take advantage of all of the weekly step-up sessions. I didn't start utilizing them until the middle of the quarter and by then it was too late. Also do all of the book questions and keep up with them every week (something I also rarely did). His test style is really frustrating, they are fully multiple choice so no partial credit is given. I didn't do well on either midterm. I studied so much for the final exam (Organic Chemistry Tutor on Youtube was my best friend) and I still did not do good on the final. Make sure to do all of the Chemistry Community questions and attend discussion because these pad your grade. For Chem Community he claims to be strict on how you need to answer/ask questions but you will get points as long as you have 40 posts (the times you do it don't even matter too much either as long as you get it done). His lectures are so boring and very confusing. He doesn't post the slides either but that was fine with me because the slides were even worse. (TA Kat posts her weekly slides on Chem Community and her slides were so much better, also go to her review sessions!) Ultimately, I didn't even have a passing grade in the class on Canvas but Lavelle gave me a passing C as my final grade without me even asking so in that sense, he is kinda the goat.

Dr. Lavelle was a great professor!! His lectures were thorough (although he did go off on tangents sometimes, but it was nice), but pay attention to the little things because he likes to add them to the tests. As someone who had a horrible chemistry background, his resources were extremely useful, and I wish I had gone to UA sessions throughout the year. I would recommend taking time to attend at least one every week, they're super helpful resources. Your grade is composed of participation/attendance (for discussions), Chemistry Community posts (his website, I would also take advantage of this, it's pretty useful, easy points), Achieve homework (unlimited tries, super easy to get 100% in this category), and tests. As someone with a horrible Chemistry background, just put in the work (aka do the textbook problems) and you'll be good.

Lavelle's class overall was easier than expected. He goes over high school chem in the beginning to make sure we got the basics down before moving onto Quantum...that part was rough but after Midterm 1, the concepts were more understandable. Midterm 2 was lightwork!! HW assigned is around 10-20 problems and we get 1-3 weeks to do it depending on the content. His lectures can be recorded so attendance isnt mandatory. The discussions are though, but they were helpful to go to since my TA just went over syllabus problems as review. SO many resources available. I wouldn't have done so well in this class if it weren't for the TA/UA sessions offered. You can go to problem solving sessions any day of the week and even take some at the Hill! They gave very good practice for the midterms and final and I felt prepared after going to each session. You do have to do well on the tests though since they're worth a good amount of your grade (one question was worth 4pts for us, no partial credit)

Even as someone who did not take AP Chem in high school, I found Dr. Lavelle's class to be completely manageable. The first week focuses on reviewing basic chem concepts, which was definitely helpful. After that, the course moves at a very reasonable place. Lavelle provides a lot of support outside of lectures, including a 24/7 online forum, workshops and peer-learning sessions, review sessions, office ours, etc., so as long as you make the most out of these resources you should be fine.

As for the lectures themselves, attendance is not mandatory and they are recorded. I found it more helpful to watch the recordings as opposed to going to lectures so that I could take notes at my own pace. Dr. Lavelle is a very engaging lecturer but sometimes he does spend some time talking about things that are not actually required to know for 14A or part of a more advanced course. Discussion sections, however, have mandatory attendance which is part of your grade. These might vary in helpfulness depending on your TA, but I personally thought my TA was very helpful with answering questions, both about the content and about the course logistics.

There are 2 midterms and a final exam, both pretty heavily weighted. Each midterm was 15 multiple choice questions and the final was 30 multiple choice questions. Midterm 1 was very conceptual and in my opinion really challenging, but Midterm 2 was pretty light. While multiple choice kind of takes the stress off while studying, it also is a little frustrating because there is no partial credit and each wrong answer affects your overall grade a LOT. Timing is always generous on exams, so you never need to worry about not finishing on time. My advice to anyone taking this course: pay attention to the things that are emphasized in lectures because they will show up on exams, and also do all the practice problems on the syllabus because some of them show up on exams as well. Definitely also take advantage of review sessions, or at least look over the worksheets from review sessions (available on the online chemistry forum).

One thing to be cautious about--grading is pretty harsh, even with some buffer from weekly forum posts/homework/attendance. Assuming you get 100% on these categories (which is basically guaranteed as long as you do things on time), you can only afford to get 6 problems wrong on exams throughout the entire quarter if you want an A. While this is totally doable, it sucks because it means that small mistakes on midterms/finals will cost you a lot.

Overall though, I highly recommend Lavelle for Chem 14A!

For anyone that has done high school chemistry (acids bases, bonding, moles), this class is extremely easy. The only thing that might be new is the Quantum section which is all just plug-and-chug. Dr Lavelles Class is really fun, and all are recorded if you miss the in-person lectures. Only discussions are mandatory attendance. Dr Lavelle also provides many resources, his own website with questions and videos, workshops, and Chemistry Community (24/7 portal to ask and answer questions) + many questions from the textbook and on achieve for practice.

Grading:
Chemistry community (40 points) - answer 2 and ask 2 questions every week (4pts a week x10)
Discussions (40 points) - attend class thats all! (4pts x 10)
Achieve questions (50 points) - 5pts a week mathematically, but its divided based on the topic length. You have unlimited tries to do them

These 130 points are 100% guaranteed and take no time at all

Midterm 1 - 60pts
Midterm 2 - 60pts
Final - 120pts

Both midterms were very easy, and each had 15mcqs
Final has 30mcqs
In both midterms and the final, writing your name gets you 4 points (12 total)

100% Recommend this class