About the Instructor’s Website
Course Website: “Q & A CHEM Help”
This is a web enhanced class. Instructional supplements such as text specific
lecture notes, PowerPoint slides, sample exams, homework assignments,
practice exercises, reviews for upcoming exams, and other learning aids
organized by the instructor are available at
http://piazza.com/hccs/spring2014/q_a_chemhelp, a free resource
that will allow you to connect to all your classmates and with me, so you will
be able to get the help you need when you need it. I will send you an
invitation to sign up by email. [back]
You may connect to this class anywhere and anytime from your computer or
from Piazza’s free iPhone and Android apps
(https://piazza.com/product/mobile ). Also, you can configure your email
preferences by visiting your “Account Settings” page at this website. [back]
One of this website’s best features is its design for collaborative interaction.
Students working toward a common goal, such as understanding how to
work a practice problem, a difficult homework problem, or an extensive set
of review problems, can all pool their knowledge and problem-solving skills
(Wikipedia and forum-style) by leveraging their contributed questions and
answers. I will be frequently monitoring this website and happy to contribute
my comments and guidance whenever needed.
Signup is easy: Just follow the instructions that I will sent to you by email;
then follow the prompts during the signup process. You will need i) an active
email address and ii) the following access code: ch1411af.
For more details about how to use this website, go to the section titled,
“How to Get the Most Out of the Q & A CHEM Help Website.”
It is the responsibility of the student to log on and access recommended
(and sometimes required) material. Please download instructional materials
well in advance in the event of technical issues in order to be optimally
prepared for the class. The Spring Branch Student Computer Lab can be
used to access and download useful online materials that will be on one or
both of my websites, Q & A CHEM Help and the Learning Web: in Rm
705, (713) 718-5689 Mon-Thurs 8:00am-8:00pm; Fridays 8:00am-3:00pm.
For technical issues, please email me (see above for my email address), or
send a message to me from either of my websites, if you successfully signed
on, but are having trouble with some of the its features.
How to Get the Most Out of the Q & A CHEM Help Website
Sign up at this website at
http://piazza.com/hccs/spring2014/q_a_chemhelp. You can do this by
following the prompts that were given in the invitation I sent to your email
address. After you have signed up, log in soon after at the same website,
but with the backslash “home” (/home) after it, like this:
http://piazza.com/hccs/spring2014/q_a_chemhelp/home. Time-saving tip:
Paste a short-cut icon on your desktop for convenient access from your
home computer; and/or use Piazza’s free iPhone and Android apps.
Log in as many times as you can during each week – as frequently as
needed for you to maintain an awareness of the main threads of your
classmates’ interactions, probably at least several different days over each
week; for example, 5 times over 3 different days.
For an active level of contribution, do one or more of the following each time
you log in:
• On your first visit, start out by reading some or all of the helpful
practical information posted at the website by the Piazza Team on how
best to use their website. Explore the website’s features and tools by
posting a “Hello” message, either a “Question” or a “Note.” If you don’t
want to post your trial message, you could either “edit” or “delete” it
after you “preview” it. Be sure to try out all of the commands on the
toolbar attached above the message window. Before you can post your
message, you will have to click on one of the category folders (for
example, “HW1”). And, although not absolutely necessary, it would be
very helpful later for other users, if you would type the pound sign
(#), and a key word next to it (without a space), for example, #matter
or #physical-changes, and place it below the last line of your message.
All key words preceded by the pound sign would be searchable!
• Read all of the questions and notes that have already been posted
by your classmates and/or instructor. If you keep up with the posted
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messages at a reasonable login rate each week, this action will always
be easily manageable for you.
Look for a posted question by one of your classmates, and type in
your best answer for it. Just click in the narrow rectangular “Student
Answer” window below the posted question. A larger window will
appear which is topped by a rich-text toolbar. In some cases you could
answer it using only simple text. Most other times, you will want to
use the Format button, or other toolbar buttons, to open menus that
allow you to select other options for clearer expression, such as would
be needed to write chemical formulas and equations. The Table button
would be very helpful for setting up math equations. Feel free to use
your creativity and ingenuity with the various size tables and with the
image button. Unless you are already familiar with the LaTeX equation
editor, you may ignore it.
Initiate or contribute to a “followup discussion” for the already
answered question. Just click in the narrow rectangular “followup
discussion” window below the already posted student answer or
previously posted followup discussion. In your followup, make a
comment, type a question, or write a clarifying chemical or math
equation. If you see what looks like an error in a classmate’s note,
explain the error and suggest a correction.
Look for a posted “Note” by a classmate or the instructor. Post
a followup discussion to the note. In your followup, make a
comment, type a question, or write a clarifying chemical or math
equation. If you see what looks like an error in a classmate’s note,
explain the error and suggest a correction. Please notice: This
activity seems almost identical to the one described above. That’s OK,
because the previous followup discussion is addressing a “question,”
and this one is addressing a “note.” The question requires an answer;
but the note does not. The note is usually either a comment or some
other kind of statement. Each type of message can usually be
improved by followup discussions; so you and your classmates will
have plenty of opportunities for active participation that supports
effective learning.
Post your own “question” – for example, about one of the
recommended homework problems outlined in this syllabus, or about a
lecture topic or review problem.
Post your own “note.” For example, list facts or concepts that
impressed you as you were reading the textbook; or post a note
about a homework problem or a sample test problem. You could even
include your attempted solution to a problem, showing chemical
equations and/or math expressions. If you make a mistake, Ta-dahhh!
That’s OK! Consider it making an important contribution to the
learning process. You are among your fellow learners who are all also
making errors as they learn!
• If others have said enough in their discussion followups to thoroughly
satisfy your posted question, indicate that status by selecting
“Resolved.”
[back].