Chemistry 331 On-Line Computer Orientation
Chemistry 331 is a web-based course in organic chemistry. To begin this course:
- Register for the course with UI Direct or with Extramural Programs. The "Register" button will take you to information on the on-line registration site.
- Purchase the CD "Organic Chemistry; An Intermediate Web-Course" at TIS, the Illini Union Bookstore, or online.
- Contact me at pshapley@uiuc.edu. Include your first name, last name, e-mail address, and the date you intend to go through the orientation.
- If you are on campus, come to my office, CLSL A404, to have your picture taken. If you have a picture of yourself posted on your webpage, send me the location. Otherwise, you can mail a photograph to:
Professor P. A. Shapley
University of Illinois
Department of Chemistry, Box 14-6
601 S. Matthews St.
Urbana, IL 61801
Are you ready to start?
Put your CD into the CD drive of your computer and open Netscape (3.0 or later version) or Internet Explorer (4.0 or later version).
From the File menu in Netscape, open the file organic.html on the disk "Organic".
This welcome page explains how to open the lecture notes on the CD and how to connect to the 331 web page.
Click the 331 index button on the welcome page and go to the Chem 331 web page. The button looks like this:
Take a look at the course information page. This document tells you what you need to know about the format of the course. Note that there is a due date for each of the 40 lecture quizzes and the 4 hour exams. You can take these exams anytime up to the deadline.
The grading policy is explained in the document. You final grade will be based on your percentage of the total points in the course. If you earn 70% of these points, you will receive an A; 55% to 69.9% of the points, you will receive a B.
Let's go to the main webpage.
Click the the button for either the Summer-331 homepage or the Fall-331 homepage to go to the password-protected sites. You will see a dialog box. Enter the login ID and password I gave you when you contacted me.
You should see a page with a number of buttons. It will look something like this.
Click the Help button and read the file on ChemWeb. ChemWeb is a free drawing program for chemical structures that saves structures in a format that is readable on the web. On CCSO computers, the program is located in the Classes folder under Chem331. If you are using another computer, you can download a copy for yourself from SoftShell. Now open the program ChemWeb and make a picture. Save this picture to the desktop of your computer.
Go back to the homepage and check out some of the other buttons.
- Open your personal gradebook with the password button.
- Open the calendar. You can add entries to your personal calendar by clicking on the highlighted number on any date.
Click the lecture notes button.
You will go to a list of lecture notes on the web. Read "Introduction to Course Notes". At the bottom of this list.
Note the Navigation button at the top left of the page.
Use this to go back to the contents page or home, to the main web page. Page forwarge and page back buttons take you to different lectures within the list. Use these buttons instead of the back and forward buttons on your browser.
Go to Lecture 1 and read the information on this page.
Click on the buttons on the button bar at the top.
The self-test will help you test your understanding of the lecture material. There are 4-6 questions per lecture. Click the button to select your answer. These are not graded.
The references button gives you a reading assignment. Assignments from Carey's book are there now. Send me a message if you wish to use another text.
The my notes button allows you to keep your personal notes on this lecture on the sever. Only you have access.
The targets button gives you a list of key points you should understand before you move on to the next lecture.
When you are ready, click on the quiz button and take the first on-line quiz. You will have 2 tries for each 20 minute quiz. Only the higher score will count. Remember that the clock starts as soon as you open the quiz.
Use the WebBoard conference.
Go back to the homepage and click on the WebBoard Conference button. Use your login ID and password.
At the top of the page is a button bar.
Click on the Preferences button.
You can check and add to your personal information here. Don't modify the signature file. That is where I put the code for your picture.
The frame on the left lists the conferences. There will be one for each lecture and a general conference. A plus mark means that there are messages within. Click to see them. Click on the name of the topic within the conference to see it displayed on the right.
Use the General conference to practice and to ask about grades and other procedures in the course.
Go to the Practice conference now.
Post a message. You may see some html code for your picture. Don't erase that. Leave a message beneath it and include a picture.
- First, find a picture someplace on the web.
- Hold your mouse button over it until a menu appears.
- Select "Copy this image location" from the menu.
- Paste this location into your message.
- Click the attach file button.
- Click the Post button.
- Click the button for image, then click on Browse. Find the picture you made with ChemWeb and select it.
- Post
Do you have any questions about this?
You must participate in a conference once each week that you are actively involved in the course. The conference times are listed.
Now you're finished with orientation.
Please use the conference whenever you have questions. Take the first survey (on the quiz page) as soon as you can. Contact me by e-mail after you complete the quiz for lecture 8 and are ready to take the first exam.