Chem 14C Web Tutorials Extra Credit Project
Goal: Write a tutorial, to be posted on Dr H's web site, and earn extra credit. Of course you'll learn a lot about the topic of your tutorial as well.
Project web site: web.chem.ucla.edu/~harding/ec_tutorials.html
Have you ever struggled with a Chem 14C concept, and wished there was a tutorial to help you understand? Here is you chance to contribute to a web archive of tutorials just like this.
Start by picking a Chem 14C concept. Any concept might be a good choice (as long as it does not duplicate a concept in the tutorials portion of the course web site). You'll derive more learning for yourself the concept is one that troubles you. If you cannot think of a topic, ask your Chem 14C classmates for ideas. The course discussion board can be another good source of topics: look for frequently asked questions. You must submit (by email; please use the link at the project web site) the title of your tutorial, along with a one-sentence description, to Dr H for approval before you begin writing. Tutorials that have not been approved ahead of time cannot be accepted. You don't want to waste time writing about an unapproved topic, do you?
The next step is to write your tutorial. Look at tutorials section of the course web site to get ideas. Think of what makes your selected topic difficult, and focus on that. Remember also that tutorials are designed for people struggling with the basics of a topic, and not (in general) for people who already have a good knowledge of the topic. Your tutorial should include chemical structures and other diagrams, where appropriate. Using software such as ChemDraw to produce the structures and diagrams in preferred, but hand drawn art is allowed as long as it is neat and clear. Remember to run the spellchecker! There is no set length minimum or limit, but don't be unnecessarily wordy.
You can also make a video tutorial. In this case, upload it to YouTube, and submit the link. Video tutorials make more sense for certain topics, but are much harder to revise than written tutorials.
Once you are satisfied with your tutorial, submit it to Dr H as a word document (not a pdf) by email. Please use the link at the project web site. Include your name and ID number. (These will be removed before the tutorial is posted.) Once approved, your tutorial will be added to the Chem 14C tutorials page, so everyone can read it (and learn from it), and (eventually) vote for it.
Submitted tutorials will be checked for plagiarism. If your submission is found to be plagiarized, you'll be banned from the project, and possibly reported to the Office of the Dean of Students for further sanctions. Possible sanctions include suspension or dismissal from UCLA, so don't plagiarize!
Extra credit for your tutorial will come in two parts. You'll earn zero to five points at the time of submission, depending upon the tutorial's quality and value to your classmates. At the end of the course additional points will be awarded based upon your classmate's votes. The additional points will be taken from a pool of 200 points (total for both lecture sections; this number may change). More votes = greater part of the pool. The pool point total will be set at the end of the quarter so that the tutorials with the most votes get 10–15 points in addition to their base value. Every tutorial that gets at least one vote will earn at least one point from the pool.
Every two-week period, each Chem 14C student has ten votes to cast. (The two-week periods are the same two-week periods that the discussion board uses.) You can divide your votes among the existing Chem 14C tutorials in any way you'd like. You can cast all ten for one tutorial, or five votes each for two tutorials, or three points for each of two tutorials and one point for four or.... You don't have to cast all your votes, but unused votes do not carry over to the next voting period. Cast your votes by sending an email to DrH (please use the link at the project web site); include your name, ID number, the tutorial number(s) that you are voting for, and the number of votes for each tutorial.
Base your votes on the quality and usefulness of the tutorials. This means that at the end of the quarter, the most votes will belong to the tutorials submitted earliest, and to the tutorials that are highest quality (or both).
There will be a place on the course discussion board to discuss these tutorials. Based upon these discussions, you may wish to revise a tutorial that you've written. If you wish to revise, just submit the revision by email to Dr H (please use the link at the project web site), and state that it is a revision. Submitting a revision will not reset your vote total.
You may decide to completely change your tutorial, i.e., discard an existing tutorial and write on a new topic. This is allowed, but submitting a completely new tutorial resets your vote count. You may only have one tutorial posted at a time. Please use the link at the project web site to submit a revised or replacement tutorial.
Your tutorial can be the work of a single person, or of a team. If it is a team project, please include names and ID numbers of **all** team members at the time of first submission. For team projects, the extra credit will be divided equally among all team members.
Any errors in these tutorials are not eligible for error bounty extra credit points. If you find an error, bring it to the attention of the author by posting in the extra credit tutorials section of the course discussion board.
So go write that tutorial! Have some fun, learn something, and earn some extra credit!
These instructions and policies are subject to change without notice during the quarter.