<p>Hello UCSB students,</p>
<p>I am a new freshman for fall 2013. I am planning to take Chem 1A.
I heard this is a fast pace course.</p>
<p>I would like to know how I can get prepared ahead of time (say this summer).
Any online materials to help me study?</p>
<p>Thank you very much.</p>
<p>Newucsbstudent</p>
<p>Chem 1A consists of “Stoichiometry, chemical reactions, gas laws, and kinetic theory, chemical equilibrium, and acid-base chemistry” based off of the course description. I suggest you watch all Khan Academy videos that consist of these topics during the summer.</p>
<p>many thanks!</p>
<p>you don’t need to prep ahead of time unless you want to. What you do need to do is spend some time learning how to effectively study math and science material. You can find plenty of websites online with suggestions, often from profs at various colleges. Here is one link to get you started: [The</a> Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses](<a href=“How to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses - Cal Newport”>How to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses - Cal Newport)</p>
<p>What it boils down to, though, is practice. You need to work problems, lots of them, until you can do them easily. Then when you take the exam, which will be a collection of problems just like the ones you have spent the time learning to master, you will do fine. You might nod your head in agreement here, but we are talking about a serious amount of effort. As a start you ought to plan on spending 9 hours outside of class studying and practicing each week for every math/science class. </p>
<p>As for where to get those practice problems, that’s easy. There are a series of books called Problem Solver, such as “Chemistry Problem Solver”. Best $20 you’ll ever spend! Like a SAT prep book, it has chapters on each topic with worked answers. Simply turn to the chapter matching what you are covering in class, cover the answers, start working. Check each answer against the solution, spend time thinking about what you did right or wrong. Its not a fun process, in fact its tedious, but if you can work the sample problems the test will take care of itself.</p>
<p>Khan Academy is a valuable source, and you can also find free classes on ItunesU. Classes help build understanding, but they are not enough. Not even close! Until you can sit down and solve problems without difficulty you don’t know the subject, and that takes practice.</p>
<p>Thanks Mikemac for your valuable feedback. This is great info. I will read/reread to ensure I grasp the key concepts. Thanks again. This will definitely help me.</p>
<p>Glad to help. If there’s one takeaway I’d make sure you see, though, is that reading alone is not enough. It’s only when you are successfully solving problems that you know the material in the degree you need to succeed, and that takes practice.</p>
<p>I’m prepping for Chemistry since I haven’t reviewed it in 2 years by doing a self-study style course in Chemistry through Duke that’s on itunes U. They basically compiled .pdfs from various textbooks (open source textbooks), practice problems and self-check style tests, along with videos from MIT OCW, kahn academy, and some other sources. I’d recommend it pretty highly!</p>
<p>You won’t need to worry about being prepared for Chemistry at UC Santa Barbara, because the department requires all incoming freshmen to take the ALEKS Chemistry assessment, find out what they have forgotten (or perhaps never truly learned) from high school math and science, and then learn in ALEKS. You’ll even get a nice juicy reward for making the effort.</p>
<p>Hang tight, and read you email carefully when you see the word “ALEKS.”</p>
<p>[ALEKS</a> – Assessment and Learning, K-12, Higher Education, Automated Tutor, Math](<a href=“http://www.aleks.com%5DALEKS”>http://www.aleks.com)</p>
<p>God ALEKS is so painful to do, but it really helps you learn the material. As long as you know chemistry basics (chemical formulas, valence electrons, balancing chemical equations, Stoichiometry), you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>ALEKS was designed by UC Irvine Cognitive Scientists, Software Engineers, Chemists, and Mathematicians to jam knowledge into your long term memory. it certainly works. The pain level depends entirely on what you truly did master from High School. A lot? Not much pain in ALEKS. A little? Gear up for the pain.</p>
<p>Aleks is more annoying and time consuming than hard. But it’s actually helpful and will tell you how to go about a problem. The beginning of Chem 1A is easy. Don’t let that fool you. The last couple chapters are terrible and that’s what the majority of your final will be testing on. So if you get a good grade on that first midterm, that is NOT a sign to take it easy. It only gets worse. Not trying to scare you. Just be warned.
In terms of preparing, do not miss the summer Aleks assignment. There’s not really that much preparing to do. You can read ahead I guess but you’ll have no idea what your professor will focus on. Just make sure you keep up during the course. Professors love pulling test questions from book problems to reward kids who did the legwork.</p>
<p>Hi, I’m also a Freshman entering the 2013 Fall quarter who also found your suggestions very helpful. Any advice for the rest of the Chem 1 series? :)</p>