Entry 1

Going into this class I had my doubts about the teaching methods of this teacher. I spoke to a former student of Clarissa’s and she explained to me how the semester would be structured. This filled my heart with dread. I thrived off of the structured lecturing of my Gen Chem 1 class, how would I fare in a situation such as this?

We are now a few weeks into this course and even though we have not yet taken the first exam I am feeling confident in myself. I realize now that this course is very dependent on the individuals ability to maintain self discipline. To be able to tucker down and get the material under your belt before you come into class.

Many of my who attend CNM, including myself, have jobs outside of school and it can be difficult to find the time to read a whole chapter out of the Gilbert Chemistry textbook. Even thought the Openstax and Gilbert chapters don’t exactly match in terms of material in the chapters. I find that the Openstax textbook distributes the majority of the same material in much more succinct terms making it quicker to read and easier to digest. This is opposed to the massive chapters in the Gilbert Textbook that can leave me overwhelmed and confused.

Another method I have found that helps me to succeed in getting the information required is to make attempts at the homework, if not, try and finish the homework before even coming into class. this gives you a chance to apply the information you just read in the books. Doing so, I find, helps to solidify my learning before even coming to class.

One of my favorite parts of this class so far is the ability to apply your newfound knowledge in class. Like previously mentioned this gives us the opportunity to get solid foundations for the information that will help us on the test. The ability to ask questions in class from the expert on these problems is something that might otherwise be lost in a conventional lecture class.

In addition to the “lecture” class the approach overall that CNM takes towards the labs is in my opinion superior to UNM’s methods. To ask the students to make an entire procedure and safety data sheets etc. about experiments that are foreign to them is an approach I’m not entirely convinced in. In the words of a Wise man, “You don’t know, what you don’t know…” asking students to design experiments they know nothing about surely can’t be conducive to meaningful learning. the structure that the CNM labs provides is able to give a more deep understanding of the material in lab and how it correlates to what is being discussed in class.

Overall, I am enjoying this class so far. We will see as the semester goes on how I am able to maintain self discipline in order to do well in this class but I will continue to strive for excellence in all things I do.