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Learner Reviews & Feedback for General Chemistry: Concept Development and Application by Rice University

4.7
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1,105 ratings

About the Course

This course will cover the topics of a full year, two semester General Chemistry course. We will use a free on-line textbook, Concept Development Studies in Chemistry, available via Rice’s Connexions project. The fundamental concepts in the course will be introduced via the Concept Development Approach developed at Rice University. In this approach, we will develop the concepts you need to know from experimental observations and scientific reasoning rather than simply telling you the concepts and then asking you to simply memorize or apply them. So why use this approach? One reason is that most of us are inductive learners, meaning that we like to make specific observations and then generalize from there. Many of the most significant concepts in Chemistry are counter-intuitive. When we see where those concepts come from, we can more readily accept them, explain them, and apply them. A second reason is that scientific reasoning in general and Chemistry reasoning in particular are inductive processes. This Concept Development approach illustrates those reasoning processes. A third reason is that this is simply more interesting! The structure and reactions of matter are fascinating puzzles to be solved by observation and reasoning. It is more fun intellectually when we can solve those puzzles together, rather than simply have the answers to the riddles revealed at the outset. Recommended Background: The class can be taken by someone with no prior experience in chemistry. However, some prior familiarity with the basics of chemistry is desirable as we will cover some elements only briefly. For example, a prior high school chemistry class would be helpful. Suggested Readings: Readings will be assigned from the on-line textbook “Concept Development Studies in Chemistry”, available via Rice’s Connexions project. In addition, we will suggest readings from any of the standard textbooks in General Chemistry. A particularly good free on-line resource is Dickerson, Gray, and Haight, "Chemical Principles, 3rd Edition". Links to these two texts will be available in the Introduction module....

Top reviews

ZK

Aug 28, 2015

If I'd had access to this material when I first failed freshman chemistry 40 years ago, I probably wouldn't have failed. Kudos to Dean Hutchinson for bringing us his innovative approach.

AA

Jun 8, 2021

I love the opportunity given to me to learn this course... It explained the basis and really made me understand the harder parts, now i have better understanding and wider knowledge!.

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Dec 15, 2022

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Jul 23, 2021

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Sep 1, 2020

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Dec 11, 2024

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By Edward W S

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May 28, 2021

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By Juan M S

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Jan 7, 2021

My review can only be positive, very positive I would say. Being a Dr. in Mechanical Engineering, now retired, who learned some Chemistry (it was never be a major in my case) when I learned Engineering in a Basque Country University, it has been a pleasure to remember half-forgotten concepts, others even never learned before. The course lessons, the details, exactness of the presentations, the capacity of Dr. Hutchinson to transmit knowledge have been a delicious experience I would recommend to anyone who would like to enter into the marvellous world of Chemistry. I look forward to finding any other complementary course by Rice University on the same area of science. As a suggestion on aspects to improve on this course I would say, please make the hand calculations and presentations by Dr. Hutchinson bigger, otherwise in their present scale they are difficult to read on screen. To sum it up : An excellent course recommendable to anyone interested in Chemistry.