Academic Handbook Course Descriptors and Programme Specifications
LCHEM4114 General Chemistry Lab Course Descriptor
Course Code | LCHEM4114 | Discipline | Bioscience and Chemistry |
Credit Points | 5 | US Credits | 1 |
FHEQ Level | 4 | Date Approved | August 2022 |
Core Attributes | Engaging with the Natural and Designed World (ND) | ||
Pre-Requisites | |||
Co-Requisites | LCHEM4119 General Chemistry |
Course Summary
This is the first-year lab course accompanying LCHEM4119 General Chemistry. It introduces basic chemistry laboratory techniques while exploring a range of experimental topics including qualitative and quantitative analysis and the characteristics of chemical and physical processes.
Course Aims
- Enable students to perform and interpret the results of laboratory experiments and demonstrations to better understand the fundamentals of chemistry and to enhance their abilities to collect, organise, and interpret experimental data.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
Knowledge and Understanding
K1a | Acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of the principles of chemistry through the practice of chemistry. |
K2a | Describe in writing and summarise verbally the procedures used, the results obtained, and the meaning of those results in chemical experiments. |
Subject Specific Skills
S1a | Apply the principles of chemistry to interpret the results of laboratory experiments. |
S2a | Manipulate small quantities of samples and accurately determine extensive and intensive physical properties such as mass, volume, density, and freezing and boiling points. |
S3a | Monitor and control the progress and analyse the products of chemical reactions |
Transferable and Professional Skills
T1a | Understand the significance of and be able to express the limits of certainty in measured values. |
T2a | Demonstrate an ability to problem solve a variety of tasks. |
T3a | Interpret experimental results and draw appropriate conclusions from them. |
T4a | Display a developing technical proficiency in written English and an ability to communicate clearly and accurately in structured and coherent pieces of writing. |
Teaching and Learning
Teaching and learning strategies for this course will include:
A minimum of 25 contact hours, focused on laboratory-based practice, which may also include interactive group teaching, co-curriculars, individual meetings, in-class presentations, and exams.
Course information and supplementary materials are available on the University’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).
Students will receive individualised developmental feedback on their work for this course.
Students are required to attend and participate in all the formal and timetabled sessions for this course. Students are also expected to manage their directed learning and independent study in support of the course.
Assessment
Formative
Students will be formatively assessed in class through class activities, and during office hours. Formative assessments are ones that do not count towards the final grade but will provide students with developmental feedback.
Summative
AE: | Assessment Activity | Weighting (%) | Duration | Length |
1 | Practical Skills assessment | 100 | 25-30 hours |
Practical Skills assessment indicative content:
- Lab reports
Further information on the structure of summative assessment elements can be found in the Summative Assessment Briefs.
Feedback
Students will receive feedback in a variety of ways: written (including via email correspondence); oral (within office hours or on an ad hoc basis) and indirectly through class discussion.
Feedback on examinations is provided through generic internal examiners’ reports and are made available to the student on the VLE.
For all other summative assessment methods, feedback is made available to the student either via email, the VLE or another appropriate method.
Indicative Reading
Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is used as part of the approval/modification process only.
Books
- Gilbert, Kirss, Foster & Bretz. Chemistry, an Atoms-Focused Approach, 3rd ed. W.W. Norton. ISBN: 978-0-393-42854.
Electronic Resources
- Poll Everywhere
Indicative Topics
- Purification through recrystallization
- Melting point determinations
- Interpreting atomic spectra
- Characteristic reactions and qualitative observations
- Determination of an empirical formula
- Inorganic synthesis
- Calorimetry
- Quantitative analysis and/or titration
Title: LCHEM4114 General Chemistry Lab Course Descriptor
Approved by: Academic Board Location: Academic Handbook/Programme specifications and Handbooks/Mobility Courses |
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Version Number | Date Approved | Date Published | Owner | Proposed Next Review Date | Modification (As per AQF4) & Category Number |
3.0 | August 2023 | August 2023 | Dr Helen Dawe | August 2027 | Category 2: Change to summative assessment |
2.0 | October 2022 | January 2023 | Dr Thomas Gilbert | August 2027 | Category 1: Corrections/clarifications to documents which do not change approved content.
Category 3: Changes to Learning Outcomes |
1.0 | August 2022 | August 2022 | Dr Thomas Gilbert | August 2027 |