I like her as a person because you can tell she knows what she's talking about, planned the lectures well, and wrote a pretty great, thorough lab manual. But this class needs to be more than 2 units. It takes probably over 5 hours weekly, not including the 3 hour 50 minute lab section and the 40 minute quiz.
Rudest professor I've ever encountered. There was a mistake in the grading system on one of my larger assignments, and Professor Van Koppen was extremely rude and still didn't give me ANY points on my assignment because my work "didn't deserve any points anyways", even though it did because I spent 6 hours on it. She only cares about research :) .
Lab reports make up most of your grade. They are time consuming, and if you have a TA that grades strictly, make sure you are very detailed and attend office hours for help (you do not want to miss easy points). Study previous quiz/review/pre-lab questions before quizzes. Quizzes can be tough, don't underestimate them! Grading policies are strict.
I never actually met Professor Van Kopek face to face, but her lectures were clear and straightforward, and the grading criteria was well established from the beginning. The quizzes are hard, but once you get the hang of the wording and style, good grades are attainable. Would definitely take Van Koppen again.
I love Dr. van Koppen. She is so kind and accessible. Her grading is very straightforward and her rubrics are extremely clear. Despite taking this series online, I learned a lot and feel prepared for in person labs. I do recommend choosing a good TA and if anything feels off, contact Dr. Van Koppen ASAP. Not hard to get an A if you work hard.
Online labs suck, but what really sucks is if you get a terrible TA in this course. The rubric is not clear & includes so many details, it's impossible to cover them all without going over page limits. If you get a nice TA, you're lucky. Wish I switched sections because mine sucks & now I'm probably getting a C.
I don't understand at all how this is a 2 unit class. Each week, you have to watch lecture & experiment videos, write lab report+review questions, write a pre-lab for the next lab and take a 40-minute quiz. I spend MUCH MORE TIME on this than my 4 or 5 unit classes.
Terrible transition to online. labs are very confusing, w/ vague rubrics and inconsistent grading styles from different TAs. Learning online makes it very difficult to understand what is being taught. A 20 min lecture, a lab video, and section per week doesnt mirror an in-person experience at all, yet the expectations are just as strenuous.
Your grade really depends on your TA. Each TA I had each quarter varied A LOT. But the most annoying thing was the fact that Petra would sometimes change the GRADING RUBRIC and wouldn't say anything. I lost a couple of points for not having something on my lab report even though it wasn't mentioned in the version I had downloaded.
The lectures themselves were easy to understand. here comes the bad part: VERY LITTLE guidance and clarity given on the labs themselves, lack of clarity on the rubrics and organization is basically nonexistent. Conflicting information coming from the lectures, personal office hours, and from the TAs. Very disorganized, unhelpful for online!!
Depends on your TA and your performance on quizzes. With the quizzes, you also have to watch lectures, complete 2 labs, and go to section meetings each week. This was very time consuming but, with effort, you can succeed. I only had a few conversations with the professor and she seemed very kind and caring as she helped me with issues with my TA.
Depends on your TA and how you perform on quizzes. Besides the quizzes, you also have to watch lectures, complete 2 labs, and go to section meetings each week. This was very time consuming but, with effort, you can succeed. I only had a few conversations with the professor and she seemed very kind and caring as she helped me with issues with my TA.
This class is immensely difficult even if you get a good TA. Manageable but I wouldn't add this class to your schedule if you have other challenging classes. Zoom is required even though it would be more appropriate recorded.
The class wasn't really taught by her; everything kinda depends on your TA. Honestly, this isn't a hard class. You just have to read the rubric extremely carefully if you want to excel in this class. The quizzes aren't too bad either.
The class itself is not too bad but the problem is that Petra often removes the lab rubric and REEDITS them after the lab has been introduced. Sometimes she doesn't even inform us of this. So for my lab report, I was missing sections that were not EVEN mentioned in the rubric I had and lost points.
Grade completely depends on TA. Had a pretty nice TA fall quarter, passed with a B. Winter quarter, TA grades super harsh, even took off points for not putting the degree sign when talking about degrees C. Quizzes are not too difficult, and I do recommend going to office hours if you have questions because they walk you through the problems.
She is inspiring and really cares that you understand the material. The labs are from a manual she wrote and she 100% knows her stuff. Great attitude, seems really interested in what she's teaching. She wants you to succeed and get interested in chemistry. There are weekly meetings, assignments and quizzes but expectations are clear + manageable.
This is a review for 1BL (course code unavailable). Not a hard class if you pay attention and don't mind writing up tedious lab reports. HOWEVER, she keeps removing the lab rubric from the course website and editing them AFTER THE LAB HAS ALREADY BEEN INTRODUCED. To add insult to injury, she doesn't even tell us about the updates.
Your grade LITERALLY depends on your TA. For Chem 1AL my TA was great and also didn't grade too harshly, the averages on labs were 80% and up. This quarter my TA is EXTREMELY STRICT like the lab report grades are about 50-60%. Completely ridiculously.
Not super hard but each lab is a lot of work. Every week a pre-lab, lab report, and quiz are due. Each pre-lab and lab report takes several hours. :( Grading depends on how tough your TA is.
She grades unnecessarily hard, and makes the grading for labs unclear and excessive. This class is way too much work for 2 credits. She has been the worst professor I have had during online learning, it's like she wants her students to do poorly despite working very hard on the labs. I wouldn't take this class if I didn't need it for my major.
Tests are insanely disproportionate in difficulty compared to what is taught; much of my final was things I hadn't learned yet. TAs lead sections but its a hit or miss, some explain concepts and others skim past them. Online schooling meant my peers and I were left struggling to stay afloat in this 2 credit course.
Petra is a solid professor. She's readily available outside of class and she also answers all your questions, even if some of the questions are graded questions. Overall, she's very helpful, and if you have grading issues, you can always email her, and chances are that she'll be on your side. Def more work than a 2 unit class, however.
Lectures and labs are recorded. Class really just depends on your TA as the TA grades your lab reports and you meet with TA for a discussion once a week. Each week a prelab, lab report and quiz are due. WAY MORE WORK THAN 2 UNIT CLASS!