He isn't as tough as everybody says he is.
His lectures can get kinda boring, but you can skip class and watch him on bruincast instead. As long as you do all the work he assigns and do all the practice tests in the course reader, you should be fine. I got an A-.
Oh, be sure to collaborate with people when you do the practice quizzes in the test booklet because then your practice quiz average can replace your lowest quiz score.

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Here are some quick tips:

- do the homework
- read the book and understand the concepts
- do all the quiz workbook problems and make sure you get a 40/40 to substitute your lowest quiz score
- the quizzes fuck you up if you aren't prepared and decide whether you get a B+ or an A-
- go to office hours and ask questions
- buy the solutions manual (helped me so much)
- midterm and final were straightforward

By doing all these things (except going to office hours), I was able to get an A- in this class. My friend who did well on the final and midterm (As) got a B+ in the class because she got fucked over by the quizzes. His lectures are boring as hell by the way. Good luck future chemistry students!

If you took AP Chem in high school (and did well), this class is a breeze. Lavelle webcasts his class, and he gives you midterms and finals from past years, which are very similar in difficulty to the midterm and final he will give you. The quizzes can be tricky depending who your TA is and how well he/she prepares you for the quiz. But there are plenty of office hours and practice problems that will allow you to master the material if you choose to utilize theme.

Great class to ease the transition from high school to college. I honestly did not do any of the HW except for the quiz workbooks, probably did not put as much effort into the class as I could have, and still wound up with an A.

Well, both the midterm and final are pretty fair. You have enough time to check answers at least once. HOWEVER, the quizzes are UNFAIR because TAs made all of them, which means people would have different quizzes depending on their discussion time. Quizzes for Thursday and Friday discussion are far more difficult than quizzes on Tuesday and Wednesday. My advice is that having earlier discussion if you can; but later discussions should also be fine if you do all the work and keep exceptions in mind.

Take the advices of the other student submitted evaluations here. We're not trying to fool you. I'm just here to post some numbers for you. For Fall 2012, the final average was 74% and the class average 75.6%. He curves the class, so getting these scores means getting a B-.

Dr. Lavelle is a decent teacher though his curve for an A is definitely hard because of the fact that there is no curve for an A ._. You literally have to score a legit 90% or higher i think to get an A and around 88% to get an A- i think. The 3 quizzes during the course are only easy if you do the problem sets assigned. I actually did better on my midterm and final compared to my quizzes because of the fear of getting a B lolol. Overall, my advice for the people taking this course are
1. Do the problem sets daily. I'm serious, dont procrastinate on it because you probably won't remember everything if you do it the night before.
2. Having a background on chem from high school definitely helps because its all review in a sense. So if you want to get ahead or just want extra practice, just review an ap chem book and you'll be fine.
Lastly, this class is heavily based on calculations so practice makes perfect.

Short review, getting to the point:

1. Lavelle was pretty much what I expected from a college-level Chem professor.
2. He covers both conceptuals and problem-solving pretty evenly in class, but tests are overwhelmingly calculational as opposed to conceptual.
3. All his lectures are broadcasted. I'd advise simply skipping them and listening to them online, as I found myself falling asleep during classes.
4. Do all the work. If you keep up with the work, you'll be fine.
5. Don't take the quizzes lightly. They're less straightforward than the final and midterm since the TA's make them.

Doing all the work Lavelle assigns and keeping up is pretty much the key to doing well in 14A. The materials not too challenging; I got A's on all my quizzes, the midterm, and final, so clearly it's doable.

Lavelle's class was not terribly difficult but it had it's problems, especially due to the grading and the TA. Don't expect an A in this class, I got a high A on the midterm and an A- on the final (96% and 92% respectively) and still got a B+ in the class. Bullshit? I think so.

If the guy actually read the quizzes the TAs made and revised them I'd be okay with this class.