CHEM 1610

Professor Morkowchuk is a fantastic lecturer. She does her absolute best to make chemistry interesting which believe me, is no easy feat. She also will present topics in relatable ways with examples which, although cringy at times, is effective in teaching the material. I have to agree with previous sentiments though. Her tests are not the best written -- I think she limits the amount of mathematical questions due to the incredibly large number of students she has in her class, but they are still rather tricky, especially early on in the semester when you do not know what to expect. I HIGHLY recommend following along with the textbook reading schedule found on the syllabus. Trust me, this is nothing compared to the reading you will be doing for Physics (which I took first in my first year for a weird reason). I'm a slow reader who takes color-coded notes on what I read and I could still get through just about every reading in under an hour. The readings help reinforce what you hear in class, or vice versa.

Getting back to her exams though, since everyone seems worried about those, they really aren't that bad if you know what to expect. I'd say the best way to study for the exams is to go through all the lecture notes (She puts them all online, which is really nice) and/or textbook reading notes, a few of the CRITICAL mathematical problems. Do not waste your time going through obscure mathematical problems, because there are usually only 2/3 per test with 1/2 of those being very easy. Only practice ones that you spent a lot of time on in lecture doing an example or the like. Then, most importantly, go back through the previous exams she gave from the last few years. This is critical because you'll pick up on little trick questions that point to minor topics covered in lecture that you may have missed because it was such a minor detail, but becomes important on the exam.

Also, the clicker quizzes are very annoying. Those things were the singular reason I got an A- in the course instead of an A. It is 15% of your grade for what I view to be a crapshoot at times. Thankfully, she drops the 3 lowest. So, if you don't miss any quizzes and you take advantage of the easy ones early on and get lucky a few times later in the semester (unlike myself), you'll be fine. Homeworks are very easy. Don't worry about those at all.

Lisa was a good professor and explained things pretty well but taking CHEM with Welch or Columbus would definitely be easier as they have group tests. Lisa wrote down notes using the projector which was nice so you knew what was very important for the tests. She has clicker questions every day for attendance and on Friday's she gives mini-quizzes that always have trick questions. She likes to put tricks on her exams too- so make sure you know all of the exceptions to all of the weird rules. The homework was mastering chemistry so it wasn't too hard but it was just annoying. The second test was definitely the hardest so make sure you study hard for that one. The final in her class was pretty slight... the only hard questions were the conceptual ones but make sure you know how to use the equations from throughout the semester. Also, she does curve the class at the end of the semester which was really nice.

TLDR; take it with Welch or Columbus if you want the easy route, take it with Lisa if you actually want to learn the material.

Really nice person, but exams are quite difficult

She's the best professor in my opinion, but also the toughest. You'll definitely come out having learned chem, but it will be no easy task. Even though she says its not needed, read the textbook. Her tests come directly from the book.

The main gripe with this class among all students is that her tests are almost all conceptual based, which means the homework is of little help to prepare for the exam. The textbook definitely helps, but even then some of the material is still not even in the book itself. Be prepared not to do super well in this class, and don't take this class if you're looking for an easy A

Maybe it's just me but I think I'm one of the only people who like Lisa's class. She's a relatively new professor and may not be the best at designing tests but her lectures give a very crystal clear picture of what she's trying to teach.

Dr. Morkowchuk is a very smart woman; however, she struggles communicating the material to her students. She writes lecture notes on a piece of paper and uses a camera to beam it onto the projector. Simple concepts that students learned in high school become unnecessarily complicated when she explains them. She definitely tries to teach the material well but the class is so dry and boring that it is impossible to stay focused. The only reason people come to lecture is to get the participation points from clicker questions. Her exams are not always reflective of the material taught in class or shown in the text book. I strongly recommend you take chemistry from a different teacher.

Lisa is alright, she's pretty straight forward and explains things pretty well. The class was pretty boring though and sometimes I felt like the tests didn't represent the way we learned the material well but overall it was fine.

Lisa was pretty good at explaining concepts in class and in office hours, but the tests seemed disproportionately hard compared to in class material. Wasn't necessarily a difficult class, but reviewing notes thoroughly before tests is a must.

Lisa was a very solid teacher. She likes to use a lot of analogies to help understand complex material. While she isn't as fun as Welch, you can't go wrong taking her class. The tests were quite difficult, however, as there were few multiple choice questions worth a lot.

Lisa was awesome! I loved intro to chem because of her teaching style. She writes out her notes on the projector and explains difficult concepts with clarity. I regret not taking a second semester of chemistry with her. Some of her exams were very difficult, others were easy. She was approachable and made herself available outside of class. Definitely would recommend!