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Melanie Harvey

Instructors have provided the following information to generally describe what to expect in their classes.

Chemistry

Class format

I teach CHEM 120, 122, and 140 in various formats. In each of these courses, students are provided with “fill-in” note packets with practice problems and a full course of lecture videos covering the course material. In face-to-face sections of CHEM 122, students will meet for four hours of “lecture” each week to practice problems and work on challenging topics together. In hybrid sections of CHEM 122 and CHEM 144, students will complete lecture materials online and meet in-person each week for a three-hour lab. In all my in-person labs, students will contribute to a laboratory research project. In CHEM 140, students work in lab to extract, separate, isolate, and test antimicrobial compounds/antibiotics produced by bacteria isolated by the microbiology students at JCCC. In CHEM 122, students collect and analyze soil samples collected from local restored prairie areas for total organic carbon to measure soil health related to carbon sequestration. More information on these research projects can be found at https://blogs.jccc.edu/melanieharvey/. Since CHEM 120 is completely online, the lab for the course is a “kitchen chemistry”-type lab and requires students to have access to a kitchen and includes a supplies/ingredients list. For all online exams, video proctoring will be used. For hybrid classes, exams will generally be taken in-person on lab days.

Resource Use

Students will need a lab coat and goggles for all in-person labs. Most course resources will be in Canvas. For CHEM 140 a textbook is required, and the accompanying materials will be used, including an online homework/quiz system.

Assessment

All my courses use both exams and announced quizzes for assessment. Students may also be required to take a lab exam and/or give a research poster presentation in addition to completing weekly lab assignments.

Homework Policy

Students are expected to keep up with all material and complete assignments when due. There will be videos assigned as homework and online quizzes to complete in Canvas. Most practice is ungraded. In CHEM 140, the electronic homework is graded for completion.

Attendance Policy

Students must attend labs. While attendance is not taken for lecture sessions, students will not be able to make up work they miss. Most lab experiences are only offered once per semester and make-up opportunities are usually not available. Students that miss more than two lab periods may fail the course unless the material missed can be completed later.

Availability

I am available via email. I also have posted office hours, usually right after class. I am available other days for zoom meetings. I’m happy to set up appointments with students that need to meet with me.